"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 1960s, became active in
issues of academic women in the early 1970s
. . .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 McGuigan, Center for Continuing Education
of Women, U. Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1970.
The introduction documents the opposition in the 1860s
&’70s 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 & PhD.
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 PhD degrees varies
greatly with the field of study!
Compare BA with
PhD 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, 1990, 2000
M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03
1993
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
PhD-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 21st 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
andAdvance
math.”
M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project
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/poster14.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
decreases at increasingly
higher levels in many
organizations. Valian
proposes that the
“accumulation of small
disadvantages” accounts
substantially for the attrition.
•
Examples of “small”
include:
• Small disadvantages
acting over long time
periods produce
significant disparities.
Can be modeled
mathematically!
• Valian proposes that
“gender schema” applied
by men and women alike
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
graduate students must take).
their 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 gapsM. G.inKivelson
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
1960s. Her focus was on men and women trained in or
working in the sciences during the period from the mid1960'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/poster14.htm
M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan
Project Advance Nov '03
Specifics. . . start with UCLA
• Prior to mid ’90s - “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 ’60s and ’90s had
very different ratios of women/men
Current faculty - Date of Hire by Gender
Count
Positive and
negative
trends.
The effects of
the broader
political climate
should not be
overlooked.
60
50
40
30
Men
20
Women
GENDER
10
0
0
1
1957
1965
1962
1971
1968
HIREDATE
1977
1974
1983
1980
1989
1986
1995
1992
1998
1972: Title IX and CACSW
M. G. Kivelson - University of Michigan Project Advance Nov '03
1996:
Proposition 209
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
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