An Analysis of the FORWARD to Professorship WorkshopWhat Works to Entice and Prepare Women for Professorship? (original) (raw)
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Women, the doctorate, and equity in engineering education
1997 International Symposium on Technology and Society Technology and Society at a Time of Sweeping Change. Proceedings, 1997
A common explanation for the under representation of women in faculty appointments in science, mathematics and engineering (SME) fields is that women drop out of graduate school without completing their degrees and thus are under-represented among those qualified for such appointments. This study explores both the empirical validity and textual sources for this explanation. An analysis of enrollment and graduation records for three cohorts entering graduate school at North Carolina State University from 1985 to 1987 for ten departments casts doubt on the notion that there are gender differences in completion rates. Close scrutiny of the literature often cited in support of claims about women's attrition reveals that such claims are not based on contemporary research findings. The study concludes that graduate attrition may no longer be key to understanding the under representation of women among science, mathematics, and engineering faculty. A better explanation may come from understanding how a later stage of training, the postdoctoral position, presents a new structural barrier to women's career advancement in SME fields.
The Woman Engineering Academic: An Investigation of Departmental and Institutional Environments
Equity & Excellence in Education, 2000
T he presence of women faculty in academia was virtually nonexistent until the onset of nondiscriminatory policies such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1972 Title DC legislation stipulating the recruitment and hiring of women and people of color (Finkelstein, 1990; Moore & Sagaria, 1991). Although such legislation has resulted in a moderate increase, women are disproportionately represented in the lower ranks of the professoriate (Finkelstein, 1990; National Center for Education Statistics, 1993). The American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) 1988-89 annual report produced disturbing news for women faculty, specifically women of color, finding that "only 49 percent of female faculty held tenure, compared to 71 percent of male faculty. Though minority women's share of faculty slots grew slightly during the eighties their chances for achieving tenure seemed to be lower than average" (Vandell & Fishbein, 1989, p. 3). Women of color are distinctly underrepresented given the fact that "only 2 percent of all tenured professorial positions were held by women of color" JPhillip, 1993, p. 42). Moreover, women faculty, including women of color, tend to be concentrated in the humanities and social science disciplines (Finkelstein, 1990). Historically, women's low representation in science and engineering was said to be due in large part to their lack of "ability, interest or both" (Horning, 1984). Although female participation in engineering and science increased during World War II (Petrides, 1996; Reynolds, 1992), their representation has remained minimal in both the industrialized and academic markets (Strober, 1992). Since engineering is still considered a "masculine" discipline, "the stereotypical views of female behavior often interfere with reality when female faculty are interviewed and evaluated. It is often presumed that family responsibilities will interfere with women's professional activities" (Baum, 1989, p. 557). According to Baum, qualified women applicants are not given the opportunity to become engineering faculty because it is presumed that women will not have the time to serve as effective members of the professoriate given their family obligations. But it also may be
2009
Abstract: Many studies have shown that women are under-represented in tenured ranks in the sciences. We evaluate whether gender differences in the likelihood of obtaining a tenure track job, promotion to tenure, and promotion to full professor explain these facts using the 1973-2001 Survey of Doctorate Recipients. We find that women are less likely to take tenure track positions in science, but the gender gap is entirely explained by fertility decisions. We find that in science overall, there is no gender difference in promotion to tenure or full professor after controlling for demographic, family, employer and productivity covariates and that in many cases, there is no gender difference in promotion to tenure or full professor even without controlling for covariates. However, family characteristics have different impacts on women's and men's promotion probabilities. JEL Codes: J4, J71
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty presents new and surprising findings about career differences between female and male full-time, tenure-track, and tenured faculty in science, engineering, and mathematics at the nation's top research universities. Much of this congressionally mandated book is based on two unique surveys of faculty and departments at major U.S. research universities in six fields: biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics. A departmental survey collected information on departmental policies, recent tenure and promotion cases, and recent hires in almost 500 departments. A faculty survey gathered information from a stratified, random sample of about 1,800 faculty on demographic characteristics, employment experiences, the allocation of institutional resources such as laboratory space, professional activities, and scholarly productivity. This book paints a timely picture of the status of female faculty at top universities, clarifies whether male and female faculty have similar opportunities to advance and succeed in academia, challenges some commonly held views, and poses several questions still in need of answers. This book will be of special interest to university administrators and faculty, graduate students, policy makers, professional and academic societies, federal funding agencies, and others concerned with the vitality of the U.S. research base and economy.
WOMEN FACULTY IN ENGINEERING COLLEGES: IS GENDER-EQUALITY EVIDENT
International Journal of Management Research and Business strategy, 2014
Research surrounding the issues related to unequal participation of women in Science and Engineering professions has been ongoing for several decades. Today engineering does attract women, although gender disparity of participation in Engineering and Allied Sciences are common worldwide. The present study has been taken up with a view to focus on the representation of women as faculty in engineering institutions. The primary data set is drawn from the publicly available data uploaded on the web portals of 31 Engineering Colleges in Karnataka. The study is limited to the three departments of Electronics & Communication, Computer Science Engineering and Mathematics. Overall, the basic descriptive statistics shows prevalence of women faculty in Engineering academics is encouraging. Gender-equality in terms of occupying faculty positions is clearly evident in Computer Science Engineering branch. A relatively lower representation is observed in Electronics & Communication, despite the availability of higher number of women Doctorates in this branch. Empowering women in science is a high priority for the Government, which is apparent from the various schemes and programs the government undertakes towards bringing equity in science-based professions. With a paradigm shift taking place in the working culture of universities, there is a strong pressure on teaching staff to take up additional tasks other than teaching. In the present state of development, where academic careers are becoming highly demanding, it is high time that female academicians should concentrate on their careers, at the sacrifice of family commitments.
On Gender Disparity in Engineering Academia
2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
This Research, Full Paper presents a study that sheds some light on the gender related disparities that women face in engineering academia. STEM has always been a male dominated field with, for example, less than ten percent women in electrical engineering jobs, a figure that continues in academia, but dwindles when it comes to senior academic positions at universities. Though studies have uncovered that such disparities exist in academia, little is known about difficulties that female engineering university teachers face in low-and middle-income countries in South Asia. In this study, twenty-five female (N=25) and eighteen male (N=18) university teachers from the electrical engineering and computer science departments of three different universities in Pakistan were interviewed, using a semi-structured interview methodology. The interviewees had between one and twenty five years of teaching experience, holding junior teaching positions, all the way to Professor. Interview questions were mainly related to job responsibilities, tasks assigned, authorities given to them and comparisons to male colleagues. Data collected was analyzed using phenomenological research techniques, with different meaning units listed and then clustered into seven common themes. Challenges related to gender disparity in academia were mainly reported by female participants. Only five of the women in this study had persevered despite challenges and had either improved or were in the process of improving their qualification. These were also the women that seemed more driven and claimed to have had more support from their family, home and from the workplace. The rest of the women were somewhat uncertain about their professional progress and preferred to remain in their 'comfort zone' i.e. at a lower rank and lesser salary. The importance of this study is in the fact that it highlights the problems that female academics face in a region of the world where such studies are few and far between. Though women university teachers in Asia and the Middle East could relate more to these problems, the insights gained from this study could benefit women in this profession in any part of the world.
Women in Engineering: A Review of the 2006 Literature
As in past literature reviews, we identified sources via keyword searches of academic and press databases. In order to cast a wider net, we scanned the tables of contents of 70 peer-reviewed journals in disciplines such as engineering, education, psychology, management, sociology, science and technology studies, women's and gender studies, and general social sciences. The search led us to many sources we might not have found via the keyword searches. In total, we obtained over 400 items and eventually used 168 of these for the review. Also in July of 2006, UMBC held the 3rd annual Faculty Horizons workshop for aspiring STEM faculty. Seventy-one graduate, postdoctoral and new faculty women and men attended UMBC's event. Science Foundation. Participant feedback included "This was a fantastic overview of seeking and succeeding in an academic position," and "The information I learned could help so many women and minorities. More of us would become professors if we knew what to expect as a faculty member."
2010
You may browse and search the full, authoritative version for free; you may also purchase a print or electronic version of the book. If you have questions or just want more information about the books published by the National Academies Press, please contact our customer service department toll-free at 888-624-8373. Assessing Gender Differences in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty presents new and surprising findings about career differences between female and male full-time, tenure-track, and tenured faculty in science, engineering, and mathematics at the nation's top research universities. Much of this congressionally mandated book is based on two unique surveys of faculty and departments at major U.S. research universities in six fields: biology, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics. A departmental survey collected information on departmental policies, recent tenure and promotion cases, and recent hires in almost 500 departments. A faculty survey gathered information from a stratified, random sample of about 1,800 faculty on demographic characteristics, employment experiences, the allocation of institutional resources such as laboratory space, professional activities, and scholarly productivity. This book paints a timely picture of the status of female faculty at top universities, clarifies whether male and female faculty have similar opportunities to advance and succeed in academia, challenges some commonly held views, and poses several questions still in need of answers. This book will be of special interest to university administrators and faculty, graduate students, policy makers, professional and academic societies, federal funding agencies, and others concerned with the vitality of the U.S. research base and economy.
Journal of Technology Transfer, 2006
Using multi-staged methods developed in this research for coding/analysis of interview data, this article portrays women's reported experiences of participation, performance, and advancement in academic science and engineering in a major technological institution. The methods and findings have implications for understanding the complexity underlying women's participation and performance, and for practices and policies to support advancement of women faculty, particularly those in research universities.
Women Engineering Faculty: Expanding the Pipeline
The Journal of Women in Educational Leadership, 2006
The purpose for this case study was to explore the features of undergraduate engineering departmental and college support that influenced the persistence of women students. Women engineering faculty members were among the participants at three Land Grant universities in the Midwest. The data revealed the theme, Expanding the Pipeline, and demonstrated how women engineering faculty perceived their role in helping to encourage women students to persist in engineering majors. In 1997 women made up nearly half of the U.S. labor force, but only slightly more than one-fifth of the science and engineering labor force. Of those scientists and engineers, women were most present as social scientists (more than half) and as physical scientists (22%). Women engineers constituted 9% of the engineering workforce in 1997 (National Science Board, 1998). Approximately 2% of bachelor's degree-level graduates of engineering disciplines in the U.S. in 1975 were women. The number of women completing undergraduate engineering degrees rose to more than 10% by 1981, but by 1998 still less than 20% of undergraduate engineering degrees were obtained by women (National Science Board, 2002). A 35 year study of trends of incoming freshman to higher education by Astin, Oseguera, Sax, and Korn (2002) found that career interests of men and women in traditionally male fields such as medicine, law, business, and engineering had converged. A modest increase in women's interest and a decline in men's interest were attributed to the case of engineering. A gender gap of 10.7% in student aspirations for engineering was the largest of any of the sex-stereotypical careers, with smaller gaps in elementary education, allied health, business, and nursing. The rationale for a qualitative study was to explore the types of undergraduate engineering departmental support that influenced the persistence of women students. The perceptions of women undergraduate engineering students, women engineering faculty, and engineering department chairs were examined. Six female engineering faculty members 6