Abstract of Science and Engineering Careers in Academe-Chapter 6
Author(s):
Garrison Sposito
Women on Science and Engineering Faculties
Sposito begins by commenting on the increased public awareness of the contributions of women to science and engineering research. However, he notes the career paths of women in academe are static. Two thirds of the women in science and engineering faculties do not have tenure, and the absolute number of women who hold the rank of professor or associate professor is very low.
Sposito then indicates that the statistics for women in academe vary with different scientific and engineering fields. For example, in the University of California system 105 of the 1000 tenured faculty members in the life sciences are women, but of the 1000 tenured faculty in the physical sciences/mathematics only 47 are women. He believes that interventions are necessary to increase the low percentage of female science and engineering faculty and that these interventions must deal with the following issues:
- The "Glass Ceiling" The rate of advancement of women in academe is significantly less than that of men, even when the comparison is normalized for educational background, years of professional experience or research productivity. Many sources of data support the conclusion that the "glass ceiling" operates at the associate professor rank at most research universities.
- The "Rules of the Game" author states that there exists an unwritten set of rules that underlie the functioning of academic departments on a daily basis. The associate professor aspiring to tenure must be made aware of these "rules," in order to reach his/her final goal. Many women in academe, however, do not learn these rules until they have a professional disaster.
- The "Biological Clock" The author observes that the university environment is hostile towards familial obligations. These familial obligations are not integrated into professional activity but viewed as a variance against the norm. This is particularly acute in the case of women who face the conflicting demands of motherhood and profession, especially when trying to meet the requirements for tenure.
Sample Interventions
Sposito reviewed the discussion held at the Irvine Conference on the effectiveness of interventions presently in place. He pointed out that many of the programs are directed towards scientists and engineers who have just begun their careers and that very few of the programs are geared specifically towards the problems that women face. The author highlighted some of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) programs for increased recruitment and retention:
- Visiting Professorships for Women (VPW) This program allows women scientists and engineers to undertake research, teaching, and other activities at host academic institutions in the United States. The visiting professors activities should:
- contribute to scientific knowledge through her research.
- enhance the research and instructional programs at the host institution.
- serve as a role model by influencing women students at the host institution who may be planning careers in science and engineering.
- help to improve the skills of the returning staff member.
- Faculty Awards for Women (FAW) This program recognizes the contribution of women faculty in science and engineering. The nominees must hold tenure, but do not necessarily have to be professors. The women who are recognized receive research grants for continued work.
- Career Advancement Awards (CAA) This program is designed to increase the research capability of women. It provides awards to experienced postdoctoral investigators (must be scientists and engineers) for research related expenses. Eligibility is limited to women who hold faculty or research related positions in U.S. colleges, universities, or related institutions.
- Research Planning Grants (RPG) This program is designed to increase the number of new women investigators participating in NSF research programs.
Other interventions:
- President's Post Doctoral Fellowship Program. This program was started by the Office of the President of the University of California in 1984. The program's main objective was increasing the competitiveness of women and racial/ethnic minority with PhDs for faculty appointments at institutions of higher education.
- Academic Career Development Program (ACDP) This program was also started by the University of California to prepare women and minorities for careers in academe. This program has four major components: Graduate Outreach and Recruitment, Graduate Mentorship Awards, Research Assistantships/Mentorships, and Dissertation-Year Fellowships.
- Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) This program is designed to increase the number of minority biomedical research scientists. It also focuses on the recruitment of underrepresented minorities into undergraduate and graduate science programs. Faculty members at qualifying institutions receive grants for biomedical research projects that employ students, both undergraduate and graduate, as part of the supported research team.
On Target for Women?
The author comments that none of the interventions discussed above were designed by women faculty members for women faculty members. He states that in this respect there are effectively no programs available solely to promote the careers of women scientists and engineers in academe. This does not mean that the present programs do not contribute positively towards increasing the number of women in science and engineering academe. However Sposito believes that more aggressive steps need to be taken to promote the advancement of women.
Future Directions
Sposito highlighted four broad strategies that could be implemented at universities to address the problems that women in science and engineering face:
- Establish an office on The Status of Women Faculty Members, whose director is a senior female professor with line responsibility to the chief administrative officer of the campus. Her responsibilities would involve monitoring appointments, merit advances, grievance claims, and intervention programs, as well as facilitating networking among female faculty.
- Revise the tenure procedure on campus to ensure that women faculty members are reviewed by their peers during the probationary period. Evaluations must be based on a deep understanding of what it means to be a woman on the faculty (i.e. taking family commitments into consideration instead of straight qualitative or quantitative analysis).
- Create a family-friendly workplace environment. Steps should be taken to establish flexible work schedules, job sharing and fully subsidized proximate child care as standard features of campus programs for the faculty.
- Allow maximum flexibility in working conditions. These should be consistent with the responsibilities of carrying out teaching and research.
Garrison Sposito, Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, member of the Executive Committee of the Center for the Teaching and Study of American Cultures at Berkeley