Careers Leadership and Speculations on why Academia Loses

"Careers, Leadership, and Speculations on why Academia Loses Women“ Margaret Galland Kivelson - UCLA with thanks to Fran Bagenal of University of Colorado for input I started in academia in the 1960 s, became active in issues of academic women in the early 1970 s. . . and still am. . . so my presentation provides a long range view. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Aside: my favorite publication on the subject of women in academia A Dangerous Experiment, 100 Years of Women at the University of Michigan Dorothy Gies Mc. Guigan, Center for Continuing Education of Women, U. Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1970. The introduction documents the opposition in the 1860 s &’ 70 s to having a state institution of higher education open its doors to women. Experts asserted that – women were intellectually inferior and could never master academic subjects, – they were physically too frail to withstand the rigors of university training, – educating them would make them unfit for their primary roles as wives and mothers. • The issues of 2003 seem much less overwhelming when viewed in the context of this historical review. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

But problems remain. I will focus on women in science. Why? • My own background is in science. • Some issues generic to a broad range of academic disciplines are more extreme in the science/technology area. Start by asking “Does academia lose women in science? ” and, with “yes” as an answer, then “when” and “why”? M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

“The Leaky Pipeline” Starting with 4 million 16 -year-olds in 1977 1 in 1000 women obtained 5 in 1000 men obtained Ph. D. s in NS&E M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Ph. D. s in NS&E Nov '03

Women who are interested in science are a scarce commodity, although that is changing slowly • Critical to changing this situation is to increase girls’ interest in science well before the beginning of High School. • But career differences persist both before and after the Ph. D. The drop-out rate varies by field. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

In most scientific fields (not Computer Science), degrees are increasingly awarded to women. Significant attrition between BA & Ph. D. Determination of attrition from these data requires a definition of the reference year. If 10 years, all fields of science: 53% 42% M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

But the attrition of the percent of women recipients of BA or Ph. D degrees varies greatly with the field of study! Compare BA with Ph. D 10 years later 15% 13% For Physics and Engineering the problem of small numbers of women is possibly more significant than their differential departure from continued study. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

The small number problem is critical on faculties, especially in Physical Sciences and Engineering. • We find that many physical science undergraduate students complete their majors without ever having taken a course from a female professor. • http: //www. clipartconnection. com/ gives free downloads of clipart. – Search for “Professor” – One image is returned. – Surprised? M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Women on “regular” faculty in physical sciences/ engineering. . . here UCLA in 2000 23. 5% of the Academic Senate faculty were women 6. 9% of faculty in Engineering 9. 5% of faculty in the physical sciences M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Most physics departments now have at least one woman. Progress! But often in temporary jobs. Women more likely to have part time jobs. (AIP 2002 Academic Workforce Survey) M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Women are increasingly present in (most) nonacademic employment too. 1980, 1980 1990, 2000 M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03 1999

Women are ill represented on Physics faculties. Also they are concentrated in less prestigious institutions From Blake, 1993 -94 Academic Workforce Report and Ivie and Stowe, 1997 -1998 Academic Workforce Report % of Faculty Positions in Physics held by Women Academic rank Type of Department 1994 (%) 1998 (%) Full Professor 3 3 Associate Professor 8 10 Assistant Professor 12 17 Other ranks 8 13 Ph. D-Granting 5 6 Master’s-Granting 7 9 Bachelor’s-granting 7 11 Total 6 8 M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Caveat • The higher representation of women at the lower academic ranks seems encouraging. – Will not time cure our problems? • Not as quickly as one might expect. Studies show that – Women are more likely to resign positions even when they seem to be doing well. – Men move up faster, leaving a disproportionate representation of women at the lower ranks. – for the Assistant Professor rank, the percentages are skewed by the fact that women are, on average, older than men. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

And salary differentials continue Female, Male • For UCLA Academic Senate faculty, we found an 11% salary difference across the board (not Medical School). – Drops to 9% if we correct for age/years of experience. • Correcting for the fact that women are concentrated in the low paid areas of academia the difference drops to 2%. NOT MUCH. • BUT 2% over a career ADDS UP (82% over 30 years if compounded monthly. ) M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Why should we care about gender equity in academia? in science? • In a 21 st Century society it is essential to have a highly educated work force. . . yet the fraction of college students (men and women) selecting careers in the sciences is decreasing with time. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

First year graduate students in Physics and Astronomy are now mostly foreign (although numbers were affected by visa problems in 2002 -2003) Active efforts to retain women would increase the skilled workforce. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

“Hart-Rudman Report” - 2001 Education as a National Security Imperative “The harsh fact is that the US need for the highest quality human capital in science, mathematics, and engineering is not being met. ” Recommendation “… fund a comprehensive program to produce the needed numbers of science and engineering professionals as well as qualified teachers in science math. ” M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan and Project Advance Nov '03

Getting more women into science will go far to address workforce issues. • But also the rewards of science are great. Science is fun, respected, reasonably well compensated. – For their own sake as well as that of society, women should be encouraged to participate. PDK poster project http: //www. pdksciart. com/poster 14. htm M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Puzzle • Why does it require an effort to bring more women into scientific careers? • There is no single “right answer, ” but let’s consider some pieces of the puzzle. • Some are “generic” and experts have written at length. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

You have listened to this author earlier this semester. What she has to say is important to hear, even if a second time. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

From Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women Virginia Valian (Hunter College) • The representation of women • Small disadvantages decreases at increasingly acting over long time higher levels in many periods produce organizations. Valian significant disparities. proposes that the Can be modeled “accumulation of small mathematically! disadvantages” accounts • Valian proposes that substantially for the attrition. “gender schema” applied • Examples of “small” by men and women alike include: affect our perceptions, for – not being invited to give a talk example, of the value of at a conference, the ideas proposed by – not being allowed to teach the students and colleagues introductory class that all new and our evaluation of their graduate students must take). leadership qualities. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Valian on Gender schema “Schema are hypotheses that we use to interpret social events. ” p. 103 “gender schemas refer to the implicit hypotheses that almost all of us share about the nature of men and women. Gender schema are beliefs about the sexes that we hold – whether we want to or not. ” p. 333 • For instance, there is a temptation to think of men as logical and women as intuitive. – That plays a role in our decisions when hiring for a position in science. • We (both women and men) are likely to think of men as leaders. . . Valian gives data** to support that statement. – As a result, men are often overrated and women underrated by coworkers, students, bosses**. – What is more, they underrate themselves (again she gives evidence**). • The resulting advantages and disadvantages may be small and all but undetectable, but over time they lead to substantial gaps. M. G. in. Kivelson advancement. - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Women disproportionately leave science. The reasons vary. • From the web page of Anne Preston, Haverford College – http: //www. haverford. edu/econ/faculty/preston_research. html Leaving Science: An Analysis of Occupational Exit of Men and Women from Science and Engineering • She used both a written survey and interviews to track careers of alumni of a public university founded in the 1960 s. Her focus was on men and women trained in or working in the sciences during the period from the mid 1960's to the mid 1990's. • Her conclusion: “In a field where occupational exit is already disproportionately high, women are twice as likely to leave scientific employment as men. ” M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Why do they leave? • Preston found – “With a couple of exceptions, female stayers did not convey the excitement and passion for science that was evident in comments of a relatively large subset of the males. ” • She explains this finding in part by showing that personal issues, for example childcare and other family responsibilities, preoccupy women more consistently than men. – no great surprise there. • Others note that women experience less social pressure than do men if they just decide to “stop out” either temporarily or permanently. – Many are tempted to do so when they have young children. – The job market is ill-structured to reabsorb those who have been on the fringes for more than a year or so. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Examples of family considerations • “Every married women with a Ph. D. in [Preston’s] interview sample narrowed the geographical scope of her job search to accommodate her husband. • “The results are consistent and strong; time spent with children has a negative effect on one’s career and this effect can be observed through lower salary and salary growth. ” – These results hold for men as well as women. • “. . . conflicts between family and work are found to be on average more common for women than for men. ” – Aside: family responsibilities involves not only children and elderly or sick family members but also household chores. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Special feature of scientific fields is the rapid rate of change of knowledge • “One of the defining characteristics of science and the fields it encompasses is the high speed at which knowledge is growing and changing. ” – “the rate at which literature within physics is decaying and making way for new findings [is] 6 times the rate at which literature is decaying in English. ” – “. . . a proxy for the rate of growth in knowledge. . . is related to the age of citations in the leading journals in different scientific fields. Age of citations is negatively related to growth of knowledge. Specifically, a field with newer citations (i. e. lower age) in any given year is a field in which knowledge is changing more rapidly, as new research is building on more recent research. ” M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

The rapid evolution of scientific knowledge is particularly challenging for women. It makes it hard to interrupt and then resume a career, or even to keep up in the face of external demands. • “Science is a continually evolving field of study, and often individuals working in science need to work on updating their skills outside of the work day. Married women with children are immediately at a disadvantage if they are taking on more of the family responsibilities than their male counterparts. ” M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Mentoring is more critical for women than for men • Preston attributes this to the isolation of women in predominantly male environments. • “For those men and women who never develop a mentoring relationship, the probability of career continuation and success is much lower for women in science than for men in science. ” M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

The two career family problem. Of greater concern for women than men • Women scientists are highly likely to be married to other scientists, creating inflexible situations. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Conditions may allow women to “make it” • Studies show that for women, success is highly correlated with a “perfect trajectory”, absent significant roadblocks relating to health, major illness or death in family, or making a move for 2 career family. PDK poster project http: //www. pdksciart. com/poster 14. htm M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Specifics. . . start with UCLA • Prior to mid ’ 90 s - “Institutional FTE” enabled appointments of some senior women/minorities thereby establishing a leadership nucleus that could make a start on changing the climate. • Some attention to getting women and minorities onto short lists for faculty appointments. • Maternity leave policies established and partly implemented. • Much talk and little action on child care. • Establishment of Ombudsman office and clearly stated sexual harassment policies helped students and faculty. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

A study of UCLA Academic Senate Faculty shows effects of changing laws: Hire dates of those active in 2000 Peaks in the ’ 60 s and ’ 90 s had very different ratios of women/men Positive and negative trends. The effects of the broader political climate should not be overlooked. Men Women 1996: Proposition 209 1972: Title IX and CACSW M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Change is not unidirectional. • Post 1997 following the passage of an anti -affirmative action initiative in California (proposition 209), UCLA’s attention to diversity in faculty hiring, in my view the most critical component of change, evaporated far beyond what can be understood from limitations of the laws. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Pattern of hiring is of concern. The trend over the years from 1957 on shows an initial increase in the proportion of women among new hires, but peaks in ’ 84 -’ 94 with a downward plunge at the end of the millennium! Confirming my rough extrapolation, in 2001 -2002 the ratio of women to men among new hires dropped even lower to 20%. Five year averages ’ 86’ 90 - ’ 91’ 95 ’ 96’ 00 men men 72% 70% 75% w’mn 28% w’mn 30% w’mn 25% M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Hiring is only the first step • Numbers do not tell the whole story. The present -day experiences of women academics are vastly different from those of most men. – Women feel more dissatisfaction with their work environments, are less likely to feel they fit in, and experience poorer communication with their leadership, all of which leads to frustration and feelings of inadequacy. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Some efforts to recruit/retain women in PS&E are effective • Denise Denton at University of Washington, School of Engineering has succeeded in hiring a record number of outstanding women faculty at a time when few women are joining engineering faculties. • The WISE Program (Women in Science and Engineering led by earth scientist Jean Morrison and chemist Hanna Reisler) at USC is reporting similar success in engineering and physical sciences. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Some elements in common in these successful programs • Focus on hiring and retention of outstanding women in PS&E • Cooperation and support from high level administrators. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

Denice Denton, Dean of Engineering U. Washington. . . introduced a search and evaluation paradigm that led to successful recruitment of women and minorities. Steps include: – aggressive recruitment, – educating search committees in how to make a positive impression on a candidate (and how to avoid illegal, offensive questions), – spousal hiring programs, and attention from the top (www. washington. edu/admin/eoo/forms/ftk_01. html) • Dramatic outcome : UW hired 7 women and 2 minority engineers in five years compared to the few or none hired by competitive schools. Several won Career Investigator awards. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

At USC with strong leadership from Hanna Reisler they are finding: • Both recruitment and retention need attention. • Mentoring works but they do it differently. – All the women faculty meet for lunch once a month. – Isolation of women science faculty is reduced – Women turn to familiar faces when they have problems, and some big problems have been solved. • A footnote: their program is supported by a $20 million endowment from an alumna who wanted to make a difference to women in science. The program supports both students and faculty. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

So what have we learned? • Many women succeed and contribute as effective professionals in scientific and other areas of knowledge, but obstacles exist. They may be hard to eliminate but they can be minimized. • A society that puts generous resources into educating women should make a major effort to benefit from the investment, a thought that has been largely ignored. • Institutions can contribute to retaining women by becoming more family friendly. This would help men as well as women. • It is essential to remind colleagues and administrators that diversity issues require continual attention, at least until we have a gender/minority distribution that approaches that of the society at large. M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03

The most important lesson: It takes effort even just to keep from losing ground! M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03