What’s chilly about the climate for women scientists and

engineers?

Findings from the University of Michigan’s NSF ADVANCE Project

Nature of chilly climate

Varies by field and institution

Must be examined locally

--to identify particular issues

Can only be remedied locally

--in response to particular issues

Theories Regarding Gender Differences in Career Outcomes

Gender Difference Model (Sonnert & Holton, 1996)—Men and women are different; Women’s difficulties in science are a function of things about

women that need to change

Deficit in Science Model (Sonnert & Holton, 1996)—Aspects of academic science or science in general operate as barriers to women’s participation;Science needs to change

Accumulation of Advantages and Disadvantages (Valian, 1999) —“Like interest on capital, advantages accrue. Like interest on debt, disadvantages also accumulate. Very small differences in treatment can, as they pile up, result in large disparities in salary, promotion, and prestige.”

FacultyMember(Gender

Differences)

SatisfactionThriving

Reasons for Gender Differences in Career Outcomes Reasons for Gender Differences in Career Outcomes

Environmentin

Science and Engineering

(Deficits in Science) DissatisfactionStruggling

Disadvantages Accumulate

Advantages Accumulate

Design of Baseline Climate Survey

• Primary design (reported here):

Instructional Track:

Female scientists compared with:

Male scientists (random subsample)

Female social scientists (all those in colleges with scientists)

• Secondary design:

Track by Gender:

Instructional vs. Primary Research vs. Clinical

Male vs. Female Scientists

Survey Sample

Scientists and social scientists in 10 colleges at UM

– LSA

– Engineering

– Medicine

– 7 Smaller Colleges

(Dentistry, Pharmacy, Public Health, Natural Resources, Nursing, Information, Kinesiology)

Included all faculty of color who were scientists

Survey Respondents

Total sample: 1398

– Respondents: 536

• 308 Instructional

• 95 Primary Research

• 117 Clinical

• 16 Unclassified

Instructional Track Sample

• 308 Tenure-Track Faculty: (41%)

– 135 female scientists (52%)

– 100 male scientists (30%)

– 73 female social scientists (47%)

Topics in Survey of Academic Climate and Activities

• Focus is Departmental and Institutional Climate• Other topics covered (mostly to assess equivalence):

– Professional employment history and status– Household characteristics– Career satisfactions– Teaching load– Service load– Resources (Effort and Satisfaction)– Recognition– Productivity

Focus Groups and Interviews

• Cover some issues not covered, or covered differently in survey; using here to suggest possible limitations of survey data

Household Characteristics

Women scientists and engineers (like women

social scientists):

-- more likely not to have a partner (20%)

--more likely to have a partner employed

fulltime (80% vs. 40% of male scientists)

Implications for pressures to leave and to stay

Implications for satisfaction with balance

Considered Leaving UM for Partner Career

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

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Tenure Track Instructional Faculty

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Female Scientists

Male Scientists

Female Social Scientists

Faculty Members as Partners

Senior female, focus group: “I would have probably been out of here about five years ago, if it weren’t that my husband is on the faculty here, and so it’s not easy for me to leave, and go out looking elsewhere.”

Satisfaction with the Balance Between Professional and Personal Life

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

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Work and Family Balance

Senior female, focus group: “The expectations for what you have do here, as a faculty member…I don’t see how those expectations leave any time for a person to raise a family.”

Overview of Findings re Career Patterns and Satisfactions

No differences between male and female scientists in many aspects of experiences (counter to gender differences model):

--postgraduate career stages--value same aspects of career--similar teaching responsibilities--view selves as equivalent in terms of productivity and

recognition

With few exceptions (service and mentoring), where they differ is in their experience of the climate that is the context for their work (potential support for both deficit and cumulative effects hypotheses)

Service

• Difference in committee service (women scientists higher than both men scientists and women social scientists)

• No difference in committee leadership

• Difference in interest in leadership (women scientists higher)

Number of Committees Served On Each Year

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Number of Committees Chaired

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Importance of Having Department/College Leadership Position

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Female Social Scientists

Senior female, focus group: “I do think that there is more pressure…for women to be represented on every single committee, and thank god there’s [more than one] of us, but it still seems like you’re expected to be kind of the social guru, or…cruise director.”

Non-Committee Service Roles for Women Faculty Members

Mentoring(for Assistant Professors only)

Women scientists report lowest levels of mentoring

--by males --in department

--anywhere

Number of Areas* of No Mentoring for Assistant Professors (N=95)

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

*Role model, Networking,* Advancement, Publishing, Department politics,* Obtaining resources,* Advocating for me,* Balancing work and family* (All above 37%; *above 50% WS receive no mentoring)

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Institutional Climate Overall

Overall Rated Satisfaction with Position at UM

Gender Discrimination in Past 5 Years

Unwanted Sexual Attention in Past 5 Years

Overall Satisfaction with Current Position at UM

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

* All things considered, how satisfied are you with your current position at UM?

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Job-Related Gender Discrimination* at UM in Past Five Years

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

*At least one of the following six specific areas checked: hiring, promotion,* salary,* space/equipment or other resources,* access to administrative staff, graduate student or resident/fellow assignment; *more than 15% WS report that item

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Gender-Related Discrimination Experiences

 

Senior female, interview: “… one of the reasons the department didn’t put me up [for tenure] was they said, ‘Well, she had a baby, so we don’t have to put her up yet.’ And I had not requested … [to] stop my clock.  

Senior female, interview: “There’s issues of equity, of allocation of… the physical resources of space…. My situation: I have the smallest office in the department, including post-docs, assistant professors, visiting professors. And being somebody that has multiple research projects, a lot of student responsibility--my stuff just doesn’t even fit.”

Gender-Related Discrimination Experiences

Senior female, interview: “In [my] college, the women faculty are not treated the same as the male faculty by staff. For example, when we’re addressed, we’re addressed on a first name basis, instead of as ‘Professor’…the other thing is that they will not take care of our needs similar to the male faculty.” Senior female, interview: “It’s very common for requests that were made by male faculty to be honored, and the women faculty to be not treated with the same amount of respect.” 

Individuals Reporting Unwanted Sexual Attention in Past 5 Years

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

*Within the past 5 years, have you experienced any unwanted and uninvited sexual attention?

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Eight Scales Assess Features of Department Climate

Significant group differences in all but one (Scholarly isolation);

Women scientists always lowest:

• Positive climate (6 items)• Tolerant (of diversity) climate (4 items)• Gender egalitarian atmosphere (9 items)• Felt surveillance (4 items)• Tokenism (2 items)• Department chair as fair (3 items)• Department chair creates positive environment (3 items)

Department Gender Atmosphere as Egalitarian

Matching arrows denote statistically significant differences

* Mean. rating of condescension towards women, sexist remarks, equal access to lab/research space, adequate collegial opportunities, gendered treatment in recruitment and career advice, attention paid to women when speaking, appropriate gender representation in senior positions, and sex discrimination.

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Chairs

• Junior female, interview, “I would think that a mechanism is important. You know, so far…when something unfair happens, you bring it to the dean, and the dean says, go back and ask your chair. So it’s a cycle…the fox is in charge of the henhouse.”

• Senior male, focus group, “What would change the environment, at least in the school in which I have my primary appointment…would be some women as chairs. It’s a stunning lack.”

Does Institutional Climate Matter?

• In survey data, predicts both satisfaction and productivity for both women scientists and for sample as a whole

• Senior female, focus group, “This is not a place where junior faculty come and develop into senior faculty. This is a place where they’re going to buy senior faculty superstars and let those junior faculty struggle.”

• Another senior female responds, “We eat our young.”

Impact of Climate on Individuals

• Junior female, interview, “I’m still here, but after lots of fighting and lots of renegotiation…. It takes a lot of energy just for nonsense…this nonsense doesn’t have to be there. (later) I’m not talking about nurturing, no, or support, no. If they would just leave me alone I would appreciate that.”

FacultyMember

Satisfaction;Thriving

Effects of Climate on Career Outcome Effects of Climate on Career Outcome

Career Outcome

Dissatisfaction;Struggling

Positive Climate

Negative Climate

Positive climateTolerant atmosphereEgalitarian atmosphereMentoringTransparent policies & proceduresFair department chair

DiscriminationHarassmentSurveillanceStereotyping Tokenism Vague or secret policies and procedures Unfair department chair

Do Bad Experiences Cumulate?

• Not easy to answer with our data; cross-sectional data and most variables measured in the present, BUT

• Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Rated for Past 5 Years

• Can Examine Whether Reports of Past Discrimination and Sexual Harassment “Predict” Current Satisfaction and Climate Ratings– They do—for women scientists, and for three groups combined

Conclusions about Gender Differences?

• In most areas pertaining to career patterns and satisfactions, women and men scientist faculty at UM very similar (including in impact of climate on satisfaction and productivity)

• Two-career households and solo households make professional/personal issues more important for women scientists– Similar to women social scientists

Conclusions about Deficits in Science for Women?

• Service demands (including informal and impact on teaching) problematic, especially in context of felt lack of influence/leadership– Worse than for women social scientists

• Mentoring of female assistant professors in science inadequate in most areas

• Institutional climate is chilly for women scientists and matters for all groups– Much worse for women scientists than women social

scientists– Chairs’ role is critical in creating/influencing climate

Conclusions about Cumulative Disadvantages?

• Most data compatible with this hypothesis, but most also do not provide good test

– Is evidence that (past) gender discrimination and sexual harassment relate to (current) satisfaction and evaluations of the climate

– Suggests that interrupting/preventing early experiences of disadvantage may have longterm payoff