Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

ISSN for PRINT: 1072-8325

For Online Access

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2007, Volume13

Issue 1

98 pages

DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1

Issue price - $58.00

Faye Linda Wachs
Cal Poly Pomona, USA

Jill Nemiro
Cal Poly Pomona, USA

Faculty at Cal Poly Pomona initiated a campus-wide study to assess the experiences of women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines and to explore what factors were perceived as critical to advancement by successful women on campus. Focus groups with female faculty and administrators at various stages in their career were conducted to address questions of retention, tenure, promotion, and overall job satisfaction. Workload, work-family conflict, and climate emerge as key factors in faculty satisfaction and attributions of success. Ironically, the type of mentoring relationships and professional development cited as key by senior women were rendered improbable for junior female faculty by increasing workloads and work-family conflict. Gender schemas (Valian, 2004) continue to play a role in the increase in workloads and the type of work women are more likely to be asked to do. Women in departments that recognized and accommodated faculty needs, and included faculty in the decision making process, reported much higher levels of satisfaction and productivity than those in inflexible departments. Understanding these issues is critical to overcoming the effects of discrimination such as the continuing shortage of female faculty, especially at the top ranks. Addressing how gender schemas shape the type of work women do within departments and the relative valuation of that work in the RTP (retention, tenure, promotion) process is critical to creating an institutional climate in which female faculty can succeed.

DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v13.i1.40 Download article, 77-94 pages

Article price - $35.00

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