Women in Academics

Information for Students and Women in Academic Careers

Congratulations! As a student who has been accepted by the University of Chicago, half your battle is over! You have joined a prestigious university with a very challenging academic program. However, the other half of the battle is getting through your education at this university and earning your degree of choice. Many women find this road very difficult and intimidating. Although the U of C retention rates for males and females are equal for undergraduates, the truth is that in many disciplines the academic world is mostly a man's world.

Issues for Students to Consider

Whether it is the boy in your humanities class who thinks he's smarter than you, or the fact that you feel intimidated that you are one of the few girls in your physics class, the university has a strong stance on gender discrimination in the classroom. The University reports that concerns can be grouped into the following three categories:

Classroom Culture
Insofar as some students perceive biases in the classroom, we encourage faculty to discuss the relationship between issues of gender and pedagogical practice.

Academic Culture
Some graduate students perceive a relationship between gender and success in an academic discipline. Issues raised include progress toward degree, problems with collegiality within an insufficiently diverse faculty, and, in some instances, difficulties finding mentors. The University's recent establishment of the Gender Studies Center and program should help remedy this situation for those students studying gender issues. We suggest that members of the center be consulted in future studies of gender issues involving the University community.

Social Environment
Some students, particularly undergraduates, report difficulties establishing and maintaining appropriate social relationships and boundaries with their peers. We encourage the University to make better known its resources for advising and assisting students with questions and concerns in this area. These resources include residence staff, College Advisers, and Deans of Students.

Pursuing an Academic Career
In spite of the concerns discussed above, it is not uncommon for students of the U of C to pursue careers in academia after being immersed in this environment. In fact, the University of Chicago has a significant number of students who choose to go into academia. As a woman of the twenty-first century, you might easily expect unequal opportunities in the work force to be a thing of the past, especially in a highly intellectual environment such as the University of Chicago. However, as with many other occupations, the gender composition of academia is marked by the under-representation of women.

To highlight this issue, here are a few general facts and data on university faculties around the country:

  • Women represent 41% of the nearly 1 million faculty members in the U.S.
  • Women faculty are disproportionately under-represented at research institutions.
    • In 2-year institutions, women account for 42% of full professors.
    • In 4-year liberal arts colleges, women account for 23% of full professors.
    • In research universities, women account for 17% of full professors.
  • Women don't progress as fast as their male colleagues.
    • For each year after securing a tenure-track job, male assistant professors are 23% more likely to earn tenure.
    • For each year after earning tenure, male professors are 35% more likely to be named full professors.

    • And here are a few comparative statistics more specific to the University of Chicago:

    • Percent female in graduate schools (Autumn 2004)
      • Biological Sciences -- 49.77%
      • Humanities -- 51.94%
      • Physical Sciences -- 26.30%
      • Social Sciences -- 45.76%
    • Percent female in faculty - 2004-2005 (All Faculty / Tenured Faculty)
      • Biological Sciences -- (23.3% / 19.6%)
      • Humanities -- (34.6% / 30.8%)
      • Physical Sciences -- (8.9% / 6.7%)
      • Social Sciences -- (26.9% / 25.2%)
      • Overall -- (23.1% / 20.4%)

    These numbers reflect several factors worthy of attention for the undergraduate students who are considering taking this path, as well as the graduate students who are already on this path.

    The Issues

    The Tenure Clock Vs. the Biological Clock

    The issues facing women on the road to academia can be generalized into two main categories: environmental and policy issues. The former category involves the more immediate working environment within departments, and the latter entails policies in departments that, while not intentionally aimed at discrimination against women, were frequently designed without women in mind. One of the most prominent examples is the tenure system. By the time a woman completes graduate school and has built up enough credentials to be in contention for a faculty position at a university, she is usually in her 30s. If she has chosen to wait to start a family, her biological clock essential begins ticking at the same time as the 6-year tenure clock. In the panel discussion "Women as a Minority in Science: A University of Chicago Forum," Richard Saller, provost of the University, acknowledged that there is much work to be done in both environment and policy. While there is often passive good will within departments towards women, focused and active efforts for significant and measurable changes are still lacking.

    Academic Couples

    Another issue involving policy that inadvertently deters women from continuing on the academic track is the common occurrence of having a spouse or partner who is also in the academic field. As it so frequently happens in heterosexual academic couples, the male spouse is older and therefore has a head start in his career. This situation often results in the woman following her husband to a location where no research positions are available to her. Women academics in this situation often temporarily, sometimes more permanently, discontinue attempts at finding full academic positions. Even with same-sex couples, the difficulty of securing two faculty positions in the same institution often causes one to settle for a lesser position.

    Childcare

    Even when both members of the couple are able to achieve their desired positions, the decision to start a family presents another issue that has traditionally affected women more than it has men: the issue of childcare. While the Lab School offers preschool for ages 3 and up at a discounted rate to University of Chicago faculty, infant care prior to the age of 3 is not provided by the University, and faculty members who are in their tenure evaluation period often have children this age. Furthermore, the discount at the Lab School is not available for graduate students who have decided to start a family, and who usually require more financial assistance.

    Self-Perception and Lack of Mentors

    Even without the external strains of university policies and demands of family life, entering a field currently dominated by men poses its own internal strain in the women's perception of their own abilities. In the Women in Science panel, Peggy Mason, associate professor in the Biological Sciences Division and chair of the Committee on Neurobiology, cited her own struggle with issues of self-esteem as a graduate student at Harvard amongst her male peers. Ka Yee Lee, associate professor in the chemistry department, echoed the sentiments and described her experiences amongst mostly male peers in what she termed as an "imposter complex", in which women, as the minority, suffer the fear of being "discovered" that they are not good enough, despite the existence of evidence to the contrary. "[The fear] eats into your confidence," she said, "it eats into your ability." Because of this fear, the woman often feels a stronger need to "prove" herself to be worthy of her position. These concerns and frustrations can often be alleviated by the presence of female mentors who already hold academic positions within the department. However, in some departments such mentors may not be readily available.

    Efforts Toward Solutions

    Closing the Gap

    The recognition of the need for stronger gender equality efforts has led to some notable policy changes at different levels in the University. For instance, to improve the gender discrepancy of faculty in the Physical Sciences Division, which is the largest amongst the divisions, a program has been implemented to hire women straight out of graduate school, as female professors who enter the Division have comparable success rates of attaining tenure to those of their male counterparts. Unlike many other research universities, University of Chicago hires tenure-track professors with the expectation of promotion to tenure. When tenure-track assistant professors are up for reappointments at the 3-year mark of their 6-year tenure evaluation period, most assistant professors are recommended for reappointments, according to Martin Feder, Dean of Faculty in the Biological Sciences Division. In fact, during the 2004-2005 academic year, of the 46 cases up for reappointments, all cases were recommended. Of these, 16 out of the 46 cases, or roughly 35%, are women.

    Stopping the Clock

    To alleviate the pressure of the tenure system, there exists the option of a one-year extension to the tenure evaluation period for faculty with children. However, some women academics are afraid that their taking advantage of this option will be perceived as a sign of weakness. Other women feel that this option only extends their tenure evaluation period by the additional year, even though their professional duties are technically supposed to lessen during this year.

    Parental Leave and Childcare

    The Provost's Office has also reported changes to policies in parental leave based on data collected by a working group of faculty and administrators analyzing issues concerning women faculty and families in general. Unfortunately, with regard to child care, the administration has yet to devise a concrete plan to meet such needs, which is central to resolving the conflict of juggling family and professional life.

    The reality of the current gender discrepancy is the result of multiple compounding factors ranging from general lack of support for female students to the growing demands and compromises involved in raising a family, as well as to the traditional hiring practices of universities. Needless to say, these numbers hardly validate any claims about the innate abilities of women to succeed in certain areas. While this guide can offer little imminent resolution of the issue of child care provisions and the politics of hiring, we can offer the following resources for any women in search of support or channels to voice your concerns and become active in these and other gender inequality issues at the University

    Resources Available at the U of C

    Academic RSOs for Women

    Undergraduate Department Advisors

    National Organizations