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Women in Biology Internet Launch pages

Page 3a: A chilly climate in academe

This section of the Women in Biology Launch Page addresses the problems in academe, particularly in the experience of women. See the main chilly climate page for other issues affecting women in all science career paths, and for discussions of balancing private and professional lives. Also see the Reports page for government and private studies with statistics on these issues.

If you just arrived, please start at the first page for an introduction to the site and an index (you can use the buttons at left to navigate all pages). The starting page also provides a special section for all recent additions to this site; these will eventually be moved to their appropriate category as new resources are added.

recommended Links I consider to be of particular interest or use. Your mileage may vary.
Direct quotations are in color.

 

Section contents:
*Academe

  • women presidents
  • publishing
  • leaving
  • tenure
  • the MIT report
  • other reports
  • Summers affair
  • chilly classroom
  • fixing it
    		•

    *A chilly climate in academe?

    "I have always believed that contemporary gender discrimination within universities is part reality and part perception. True, but now I understand that reality is by far the greater part of the balance."--MIT President Charles Vest

    Please see the main chilly climate page for other links relevant to women's experience in science and private lives page for personal issues. Reports and statistics on a separate page.

    *General issues

    *Women in the academy
    • Balancing professional with personal and family life: this section is on a separate page, including links on having your career and a baby
    • Why aren't women represented up the faculty ranks proportional to their representation in the PhD pool? Science magazine published an article in August 2005 asking this question. You can't get to that article for free, but others have commented, including
    • Interview with Virginia Valian from the New York Times (registration may be required). "[I]n academia...What seems to happen is that men and women start out on roughly equal footing. They get almost the same salaries, and they begin at the same rank, assistant professor. But if you look several years down the line, the differences in their career paths become apparent. The men are earning more, and they are being promoted at a faster rate than the women are. " Also, see this review of Valian's book Why so slow? which addresses why this happens.
    • From Inside Higher Ed, a Q and A with authors of a new collection on women in science issues called Why Aren't More Women in Science? Top Researchers Debate the Evidence.
    • New NIH website: Women in Biomedical Careers
    • Women, Work and the academy: Strategies for responding to "post civil rights era" gender discrimination.
    • Joan Steitz discusses the effect of subtle bias.
    • Interesting articles on women in academe from Campus Progress
      • Madame President: Why the new female president at Harvard is an exception to the rule.
      • Mommy Tracked How the tenure process discriminates against female professors.
    • Report: from the AAUP, Faculty gender inequities, 2006. Discussed in The Chronicle here
    • Accomplished women: An article from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute bulletin, describing the by-now-familiar conflicts for women in academic science, including marginalization and exclusion from decision making.
    • Testimony from the American Chemical Society
    • Surviving and thriving in academia: a survival guide for women and minorities. This is a very thorough and practical guide to finding your way into academe; what you should do to survive there; and strategies to consider if things go against you. Although written for psychologists, this guide offers information that spans all disciplines, in a straightforward tone that neither exaggerates the negatives nor covers them up. recommended
    • the Accidental Mentor: Learning the ropes from the woman professor next door.
    • Cat-fight or trouble maker? Stirring up trouble between women faculty.
    • An NSF report on the dearth of senior faculty
    • Do women avoid competition?
    • This article posits that there are fewer women in science because they got better jobs, and men can't figure out better options. "My personal explanation for men going into science is the following: 1. young men strive to achieve high status among their peer group 2. men tend to lack perspective and are unable to step back and ask the question "is this peer group worth impressing?.....A lot of men are irrational, romantic, stubborn, and unwilling to admit that they've made a big mistake."
    • Crashing the top, an article about women academics and the conflicts they still face, from Salon.
    • New AWIS site on the Chilly Climate in Academe: www.chillyclimate.org. Great idea and lots of resources!
    • Attracting and retaining women in science and engineering from the AAUP.
    • Sexism on campus today
    • From Discover Magazine, Nov. 2002 issue:
    • A Chilly Climate in Academe, essays and references. recommended
    • Yes, but what happens if you compare men and women directly? Some studies:
      • an article about the Swedish study showing that women fellowship candidates had to have vastly better qualifications than men to get the same score from reviewers. And if it happened in Sweden, it surely happens elsewhere. The original study is here
      • Along the same lines, here's a letter to The Chronicle describing an experiment by a neuroscientist, who sent identical CVs out for review with different names--Brian and Karen. She writes: "The results were chilling: BOTH male and female faculty were SIGNIFICANTLY more likely to indicate that they would hire the applicant when they had received Brian's vitae!.... With literally identical records, Brian sails through external reviewers without a problem but Karen needs further scrutiny." The data for this experiment are now published: Steinpreis et al. (1999) The impact of gender on the review of the curricula vitae of job applicants and tenure candidates: A National Empirical Study. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 41, 509-528.
      • A similar study is described here
    • Academe's equality myth.
    • Tutorial from Virginia Valian on gender schemas and science careersapti
    • Women in academia assess the need for affirmative action
    • How babies alter careers, and push women off the tenure track. "It shows that so long as we continue to identify the ideal academic worker as someone who works full time, 60 hours a week for 40 years straight -- surprise! -- that will overwhelmingly be men."
    • The glass ceiling, a column from The San Francisco Chronicle about the experience of women academics. "Academic departments tend to be a kind of gerontocracy, run by people who grew up when smart women became teachers or nurses. Their colleagues at other universities are also men; there is something just wrong about a woman sitting in a faculty discussion."
    • A story from Biomednet about the recent EMBO meeting, "The Glass Ceiling for Women in the Life Sciences," reports that only 12% of EMBO's membership is female. Unfortunately, not many men went to the meeting.
    • Stages in the path to equity for women science faculty
    • Equal opportunity in academia: myth or reality?, text of a talk by an American statistician in an Australian math journal. A quote: "[O]nce a woman enters the workplace, she soon discovers that her male counterparts are moving ahead of her. She is making some progress, but much more slowly than for equivalent work from men. Furthemore, if and when she does move up the ladder, she continues to discover that the gap between her gains and rewards widens as her own accomplishments relative to those gains increases."
    • A review of a book arguing that affirmative action has had little effect on faculty diversity. From The Chronicle.
    • Committee on Women's Issues from The American Association of University Professors
    • The glass ceiling in academe: a case study from one school.
    • No girls allowed: when is it okay to exclude?
    • Gender bias in academia 1999 reports "Although the number of women granted PhD's and hired as professors rose steadily in the past two decades.....[t]he ratio of tenured male to tenured female professors has remained unchanged for twenty years."
    • Organizing women faculty. "Organizing faculty is like herding cats.....It is a constant struggle to persuade women colleagues that we need to work together if we want to change our institutions in any significant way." Got THAT right.
    • Newsletter from the University of California System called WAGE (We Advocate Gender Equity) provides a digest of issues inside and outside the UC system.
    • From Science's Nextwave, Knocking on the doors of the ivory tower: women navigate into academic medicine. Password may be required
    • Morning in American Science: universities investigate women faculty issues. From Science's Nextwave site (password may be required.
    • Don't go it alone: how starting women faculty can avoid damaging isolation.
    • Panelists Offer Strategies for Raising the Number of Women Scientists in Academe
    • Falling off the academic bandwagon: women are more likely to quit at the postdoc to PI transition.
    • Women in Higher Education is a magazine. Some content free on line.
    • Slow progress in academic medicine:
      • Sart with Hamel et al (2006), New Engl J Med 355;3 www.nejm.org july 20, 2006. Despite equal numbers at the student level, " ....women who enter academic medicine have been less likely than men to be promoted or to serve in leadership positions. As of 2005, only 15 percent of full professors and 11 percent of department chairs were women. " And this extends to publications, where women are not represented in commentary or as senior authors as often as you mght expect.
      • A Targeted Intervention for the Career Development of Women in Academic Medicine. Reshma Jagsi; Joan R. Butterton; Rebecca Starr; Nancy J. Tarbell, Arch Intern Med 2007;167 343-345
      • Promoting the Career Development of Women in Academic Medicine Ann B. Nattinger, Arch Intern Med 2007;167 323-324. Although children and families inevitably contribute, that's not all: Female and male faculty seem to have similar preparation for academic careers in terms of performance as medical students, residents, and fellows and with respect to research experience on entering an academic career. Therefore, preparation for an academic career is likely not a major cause of differences in productivity. But the available data suggest that the academic productivity of junior female faculty members is adversely and differentially affected by poorer initial recruitment packages, including items such as laboratory space, secretarial support, and start-up funds.
      • Women in Academic Medicine: New Insights, Same Sad News, a 1999 editorial from the New England Journal of Medicine about a study that found women MDs have a higher probability of entering academic medicine than men, but a lower chance of advancing through the ranks to tenured full professor. The editor (Catherine de Angelis) goes on to say, "I believe mentors are more important than role models, and I do not believe equal opportunity for women will ever be possible. I would settle for equity -- that is, freedom from bias or favoritism."
      • Why women leave academic medicine: are we backsliding?
    • The presidency: a number of women have made it into highest levels of administration.
      • Princeton's new president is Shirley Tilghman--a prominent woman in biology reaches the corridors of power, as seen from The Chronicle.
      • Of mentors, women, and men from The Scientist, reflects on Shirley Tilghman's rise to presidency of Princeton and issues of women in science generally.
      • Finally, from The Chronicle: Parity and the presidency: a conference of women university presidents.
      • Women provosts at elite research universities. " The growing numbers of female provosts, and their many accomplishments, excite experts who predict that elite universities will finally hire more women as presidents."
      • WOmen college presidents
      • Related, the new Dean of Duke's Med School reflects on climbing through the glass ceiling (may require subscrption to NEJM)
      • However, one concern is that these incredibly highly achieving women lead to unrealistic expectations about those at the level just below. As the saying goes, we know we've achieved equity not when the superstars make it, but when the average woman has the same chance of success as the average man.
      • Remembering Denice Denton
        This page is sad to report the passing of Denice Denton, the Chancellor of UC-Santa Cruz. An engineer and the former Dean of Engineering at U-Washington, Denice was a passionate advocate for women in science, and for diversity in academe. I was fortunate to meet her in 2005 when she spoke at USC as part of our WISE program. We have lost a powerful voice and the circumstances of her death should cause all of us to reflect as well as mourn.
        • UCSC's page has all the official news.
        • Report from Inside Higher Ed covers more of the conflict leading up to her death.
        • Another article from The Chronicle of Higher Ed discusses the firestorm that met her when she went to UCSC.
        • There are numerous reports in the media, but their links and access are variable. Try Google. Be warned: You may be shocked to find viciously anti-woman, anti-gay commentary on some of the blogs that discuss this sad event.
        • Postscript: In November 2006, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Denton was on medical leave, and had been treated for severe depression including in-patient stay at a hospital until the day before her suicide. This compounds the tragedy. What sort of profession do we have?
    • Grants
      • "Gender Differences in Major Federal External Grant Programs," analyzed the outcomes of grant applications submitted by men and women to federal agencies from 2001 to 2003. As described in this Chronicle article, the National Institutes of Health give significantly more grants to men than to women.
      • Congratulations to the recipients of the NIH pioneer awards! Unlike last year, women are well represented this time. Well done all!
    • Gender effects in publishing
    • Women who choose to leave . A disturbing trend is the number of women who choose to leave academics. Some of these opt out early, at the postdoc to professor transition. However, many women who have ostensibly "made it", who are tenured and respected, often without children or family conflicts, are also choosing to leave academe in their prime years.
    *Tenure in a chilly climate

    *The MIT Report (1999) offered convincing evidence for subtle and pervasive gender discrimination against women faculty at MIT. The Institute has admitted the problems (which undoubtedly affect many other institutions) and has taken steps to remedy them. This report got national press and spawned new discussion of the issue, as you can see below. A must read for anyone interested in gender equity in science.

    • A study on women faculty at MIT provides the actual report (although most of the confidential data are absent). Also available in .pdf format.
    • You can read more about the report in this Chronicle of Higher Education article, which describes what's missing in the public version, or in this New York Times article, which includes interviews. This article from Nature (may require a subscription) provides more data and background.
    • But it's not over yet. To find out what happened next, see this essay by one of the women who initiated the study.
    • Read an online discussion on the Chronicle of Higher Education website (6/99). Lots of anecdotes about women facing gender bias in academe--and some women received threats after participating.
    • Creating fairness for women scientists: lessons from MIT from the Beagle starts with the MIT report and goes on to analyze sources of perceptual gender bias and suggest strategies for dealing with it.
    • After the MIT report, an article from from The Chronicle (12/99), describes the effects of MIT's study on the women involved and women at other institutions. recommended.
    • It's lonely at the top, an article from Science's Nextwave site, discusses the ongoing efforts of women faculty at MIT and neighboring Harvard to improve things.
    • Women and tenure at MIT discusses many aspects of faculty life and persistent underrepresentation of women at higher levels
    • The report isn't without criticsm.
      • This article introduces one of them, who dismisses the results--mainly because MIT chose not to publish the data! (She also thinks that if you ask for a larger salary, you'll get it. Not in my experience.)
      • A conservative anti-feminist organization argues that the MIT women actually aren't as good as the men, so they deserve less money. (PDF file here). Of course, if you are given fewer resources, you produce fewer papers, but they didn't address this fundamental issue of causality. This is the same organization that previously suggested that the MIT report lied about the data for internal political reasons. As part of their mission statement, this group also "oppose[s] court imposition of what the democratic process rejects." By their logic, the southern USA should still be racially segregated.
      • A discussion of the IWF article is on The Chronicle web site.
      • The e-zine Salon also is critical in an article called Sex and Science But they got a lot of letters with the opposite viewpoint!
    • More from MIT:a report on women faculty in engineering addresses many of the issues relevant to women faculty in other scientific and technical disciplines.
    * 2006 update from MIT MIT responded to the original report with an aggressive program to recruit and retain women, other universities investigated their campuses, and university presidents pledged to make it better. However, as time went by, attention dropped, and now, it seems, there has been some backsliding. *Other universities have also investigated:
    • All in one place: A collection of all the Gender faculty studies at research 1 universities
    • The University of Illinois reports that " the status of faculty women at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999 is not good and is in need of improvement. The solution in our minds is a very aggressive hiring policy targeted at increasing the number of faculty women at all ranks and across all colleges. But an aggressive hiring strategy will not succeed unless we can demonstrate to potential recruits that the women at the UIUC face a nondiscriminatory employment situation, a supportive climate, and a gender-equitable salary policy. This report suggests otherwise. "
    • Stanford University made a report in 1998 on the same subject: "We need to assess why Stanford, while making some small growth in overall numbers, is hiring and promoting proportionately so few of these growing pools of women scholars."
    • University of Colorado, Boulder states "Not only are women being paid substantially less than men on average at CU-Boulder, but the average salary for women relative to male employees is even below the national average of 74%. "
    • Johns Hopkins University reports that "When deans, directors, and, in some cases, key department chairs, have clearly stated that achieving gender equity is an important priority, it has sent a clear signal to faculty of both sexes that it is legitimate to invest time and energy in this effort."
    • University of Southern California white paper on gender equity. USC set up a WISE program (women in science and engineering) that fosters women faculty interactions and provides support for women faculty and their staffs. USC has increased the fraction of WISE women faculty considerably since this program began.
    • University of New Hampshire assembled a comprehensive report that also examined why women leave the faculty: "push" factors related to unsatisfactory work conditions were the primary reason for resignation for almost all of the women. "Pull" factors, tempting or necessary alternatives to their positions such as other jobs or family responsibilities, were important in some women's decisions to leave. However, alternatives were usually sought or considered only after the "push" factors of negative work environments became intolerable.
    • Loss of diversity at Ivy schools (PDF)
    • article about gender equity concerns at U Wisconsin Med School
    • Boston Globe article describes efforts to boost women at U Wisconsin
    • 9 universities meet to discuss women science faculty. "Institutions of higher education have an obligation, both for themselves and for the nation, to fully develop and utilize all the creative talent available," the leaders said in a unanimous statement. "We recognize that barriers still exist" for women faculty (31 Jan 2001). Another report about this meeting is on Women's E-news
    • THey met again in 2005...now that MIT has a woman president!
    • Sometimes it just doesn't work out. A UWashington lawsuit started when 5 five female faculty members claimed academic and pay discrimination, and now is a class-action suit that could affect over 1000 women hired in the late '90s. Only 25% of tenure track faculty there are women.
    • Enhancing Campus Climate for Academic Excellence: The Millenium Project at the University of Arizona aims to to "enhance the development of an institutional culture at the University of Arizona that fosters productivity, creativity and academic excellence." You can read the executive summary (.pdf) or the whole report on line.
    • Princeton University's task force has reported on women in science. Bottom line: as at other institutions, there's been progress but there is more to do. " In surveys, considerably fewer women than men reported a sense of collegiality, inclusion and job satisfaction. Female assistant professors were also less likely than males to report being mentored.... Twenty-four percent of women surveyed reported that their colleagues "occasionally" or "frequently" engage in unprofessional behavior on gender-related matters."
    • University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) report on the Climate for Faculty (Feb. 2003). From the summary: The academic medical workplace is a particularly difficult one for women. It has taken more than 15 years for the proportion of women faculty who are professors to increase one percent.
    *The Summers Affair, or, the former president of Harvard causes a furore. He rather misses the point while inserting foot in mouth. Some women may not be as good as some men, but (1) there is no correlation between child play with dolls or trucks and scientific accomplishment as an adult; (2) if the failure to have a good representation of women is because they aren't as willing or able as men, why does female representation in science vary so much in different countries? That is, Hungary has 50% women physicists. Are they evolving faster there? (3) And shouldn't able women have just as much chance as able men, even if there aren't as many of them? The real kicker in his comments was that he essentially ignored years of work on this subject and spoke down to an audience that takes this subject seriously. * A chilly climate in the classroom? Also see education for more general information about teaching, course preparation, and encouraging girls in science)
    • Student ratings of professors are not gender blind
    • Is there gender bias in student evaluations? from the ASCB Women in Cell Biology Newsletter. Both male and female professors are evaluated similarly as to competence, knowledge, organization, presentation, and enthusiasm. However, female professors must measure up to another standardÑthey are expected to be personable, approachable, warm, and nurturing. Interestingly, female faculty who do not fit these expectations are rated lower by both female and male students.
    • List of articles about gender bias in student evaluations.
    • Intervening when male students demonstrate negative behavior towards women
    • The Chilly Climate, by Bernice Sandler, an essay on how women students are treated differently, by men and women faculty alike as well as by their fellow students.
    * Fixing things


    *Go to page 1(History, Education, Organizations)
    *Go to page 1a (Reports and Studies)
    *Go to page 2 (Careers)
    *Go to page 2a (Faculty issues)
    *Go to page 3 (Chilly Climate)
    *Go to page 3b (Personal life)
    *Go to page 4 (Books, Miscellaneous)
    *Go to index

      © S. L. Forsburg .

    Standard disclaimer: Any opinions are my own and do not represent the views of my employer.