NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by a grant between the National Academy of Sciences, the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (Contract No. DHHS P.O. 263-MD-423043). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I.Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts and Dr. Wm. A.Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
PANEL FOR THE STUDY OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE CAREER OUTCOMES OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PH.D.S
J.Scott Long, Chair Chancellors’ Professor
Department of Sociology Indiana University
Lilli S.Hornig
1 Little Pond Cove Road Little Compton, RI 02837
Georgine M.Pion Associate Professor
Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies Vanderbilt University
Anne E.Preston Professor
Department of Economics Haverford College
Lee B.Sechrest Professor
Department of Psychology University of Arizona
OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PERSONNEL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (through January 2001)
M.R.C.Greenwood, Chair Chancellor
University of California, Santa Cruz
John D.Wiley, Vice Chair Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Kenneth J.Arrow Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, Emeritus
Stanford University
Ronald G.Ehrenberg Irving M.Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics
Cornell University
Carlos Gutierrez Professor of Chemistry
California State University, Los Angeles
Nancy B.Jackson Principal Member of the Technical Staff and Chief of the Catalysis Steering Committee
Sandia National Laboratories
Donald Johnson Retired Vice President, Product and Process Technology
Grain Processing Corporation
Martha A.Krebs Senior Fellow
Institute of Defense Analysis
Stephen J.Lukasik Independent Consultant
Los Angeles
Claudia I. Mitchell-Kernan Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Dean
University of California
Michael T.Nettles Professor of Education
University of Michigan
Debra W.Stewart Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School
North Carolina State University
Tadataka Yamada Chairman,
Research and Development SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals
A.Thomas Young Former President and Chief Operating Officer
Martin Marietta Corporation
Ex-officio Member
Robert C.Richardson F.R.Newman Professor
Department of Physics Cornell University
NRC Staff
Charlotte Kuh Executive Director
Marilyn J.Baker Associate Executive Director
COMMITTEE ON WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Lilian Shiao-Yen Wu, Chair Consultant to Corporate
Technical Strategy Development Thomas J.Watson Research Center, IBM Corporation
Uma Chowdry Director,
Business Planning and Technology E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company
Ralph Cicerone Chancellor
University of California, Irvine
Alice S.Huang Senior Councilor for External Relations
California Institute of Technology
Kathryn O.Johnson Owner/Principal
Johnson Environmental Concepts, Matrix Consulting Group
Willie Pearson Professor of Sociology
Wake Forest University
William Phillips Fellow,
Atomic Physics Division National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Darryll J.Pines Associate Professor,
Department of Aerospace Engineering University of Maryland
Sue V.Rosser Dean,
Ivan Allen College Georgia Institute of Technology
Sally Shaywitz Professor of Pediatrics,
School of Medicine Yale University
Preface and Acknowledgments
Issues of gender differences in science and engineering careers continue to merit discussion. In many fields of science and engineering, especially in the life and social sciences, the number of women receiving bachelor’s degrees equals or exceeds the number of men. Yet it continues to be the case that women are underrepresented as professors and elsewhere in the upper echelons of science and engineering. Outside the life and social sciences, the proportions of women shrink, being smallest in engineering. A careful statistical study of these differences has not been conducted for almost twenty years, and many barriers to women in science and engineering have been lowered in that time. This study documents the changes that have occurred, both in the representation of women in science and engineering and in the characteristics of women scientists and engineers.
This report is the result of the labor of many hands in addition to the deliberations of the panel. The tireless efforts of Jim Voytuk were greatly appreciated. Charlotte Kuh served as a member of the Panel until she moved to the National Research Council. Her efforts, both administrative and substantive, were critical to the successful completion of this report. Early drafts were improved by the comments of Mary Frank Fox who
served as a consultant to the Panel, and by the comments of Lowell Hargens, Patricia McManus, Sharon Harlan, Ed Hackett and Barbara Reskin. The panel is also grateful to the following members of the NRC staff who helped on this project as it moved from building useful data sets from the raw NSF data to completed analyses: Rink van der Have, Stephane Baldi, and Ramal Moonesinghe. Linda Skidmore served as the initial project officer.
This study would not have been possible without funding from the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the National Research Council.
The report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published reports as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Margaret Burbidge, University of California, San Diego; Uma Chowdhry, DuPont; Jonathan Cole, Columbia University; Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas, Austin; Derek Neal, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Gerhard Sonnert, Harvard University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Judith Liebman, University of Illinois Champaign. Appointed by the National Research Council, she was responsible for making certain that the independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rest entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Finally, the panel would like to dedicate this report to the memory of Mary Ellen Jones, Betty Vetter and Robert McGinnis. Mary Ellen served as a helpful member of the Panel until her death. Betty’s tireless work with the Scientific Manpower Commission (later renamed the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology) kept a constant statistical eye on the status of women in science and engineering. Robert McGinnis was a pioneer in the sociology of science and scientific careers and an inspiration for scholars in the field.
J.Scott Long
List of Tables and Figures
FIGURES
1–1 |
Percent of Ph.D. by minority status, field, and year of Ph.D., |
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3–1 |
Summary of the pipeline to the Ph.D., |
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3–2 |
Percent of those enrolled in college who are women, |
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3–3 |
Percent of doctoral degrees awarded to women in the natural and social sciences from 1920 to 1996, |
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3–4 |
Total number of S&E doctoral degrees and percent of S&E doctoral degrees awarded to women and percent of S&E doctoral degrees awarded to women among those who are citizens or permanent U.S. residents, |
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3–5 |
Percent of Ph.D.s awarded to women, by field and year of survey, |
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3–6 |
Number of Ph.D.s awarded to women, by field and year of survey, |
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3–7 |
Percent of degree recipients who are women by years, |
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3–8 |
Percent of the fathers of Ph.D. recipients who have college degrees, by sex of Ph.D. scientist and year of survey, |
3–9 |
Percent of the mothers of Ph.D. recipients who have college degrees, by sex of Ph.D. scientist and year of survey, |
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3–10 |
Percent of fathers with college degrees, by field and sex, |
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3–11 |
Percent of mothers with college degrees, by field and sex, |
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3–12 |
Carnegie types of baccalaureate degrees for women, |
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3–13 |
Carnegie types of baccalaureate degrees for men, |
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3–14 |
Distribution of Ph.D.s among programs of differing quality, by field, |
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3–15 |
Mean time between undergraduate degree and doctorate, by field and 5-year period during which the Ph.D. was received, |
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3–16 |
Gender differences in average time between undergraduate degree and doctorate, by field and 5-year period during which the Ph.D. was received, |
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3–17 |
Percent of doctorates who received funding from loans, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–18 |
Differences between percent of women and percent of men who received funding from loans, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–19 |
Percent of doctorates who received funding through research positions, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–20 |
Differences between percent of women and percent of men who received funding through research positions, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–21 |
Percent of doctorates who received funding through teaching assistantships, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–22 |
Differences between percent of women and percent of men who received funding through teaching assistantships, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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3–23 |
Percent of men and women who are married, by year of Ph.D., |
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3–24 |
Percent of married scientists, both men and women, with children six or younger living at home in 1995, by sex and years since the Ph.D., |
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3–25 |
Percent of married women with young children at home, by years since the Ph.D. and year of survey, |
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4–1 |
The percent of women among new Ph.D.s., among all scientists and engineers available to work in science and engineering, and among those working full time, by year of survey, |
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4–2 |
The percentage of the full-time scientific and engineering labor force that is female, by field and year of survey, |
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4–3 |
Distribution of professional ages in the science and engineering labor force, by sex and year, |
4–4 |
Change over the career in the percent of life scientists with Ph.D.s from the 1970s who are working full time in science and engineering and outside of science and engineering, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–5 |
Employment status of those not working full time for combined fields, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–6 |
Percent of female Ph.D.s who are working part time, by field and year of survey, |
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4–7 |
Rates of unemployment and being out of the labor force (i.e., not seeking work) for combined fields, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–8 |
Percent of women who are unemployed, by field, and year of survey, |
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4–9 |
Percent of women who are not employed and not seeking work, by field and year of survey, |
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4–10 |
Distribution of labor force outcomes, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–11 |
Reasons for part-time employment, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–12 |
Percent who cite family reasons for working part time, by sex and year of survey, |
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4–13 |
Predicted percent with full-time employment in 1995, by sex and familial status, |
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4–14 |
Predicted percent of women with full employment, by year of survey, |
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4–15 |
Differences in predicted labor force status between single women and married women with young children, by year of survey, |
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4–16 |
Changes in labor force status if elapsed time between the baccalaureate and Ph.D. was more than 10 years, by sex for 1995, |
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4–17 |
Difference between men and women in mean years of work experience by years since the receipt of the Ph.D., by year of survey, |
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4–18 |
Difference between mean work experience of men and women, by familial status, years since the Ph.D., and year of survey, |
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4–19 |
Ratio of the percent of women who are working full time in S&E to the percent of men who are working full time, by field and year of survey, |
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4–20 |
Predicted percent of women with full-time employment, by marital status and year of survey, |
5–1 |
Employment of full-time scientists and engineers in the academic and industrial sectors, by year of survey and gender, |
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5–2 |
Sector of employment for full-time scientists and engineers, by field and year of survey, |
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5–3 |
Percent employed in academia and industry, by gender, cohort, and year of survey, |
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5–4 |
Percent of academic scientists in each work activity, by year of survey, |
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5–5 |
Percent of scientists in industry in each work activity, by year of survey, |
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5–6 |
Difference in the percent of men and the percent of women with management positions in industry, by year since Ph.D. and year of survey, |
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5–7 |
Percent of scientists in government in each work activity, by year of survey, |
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5–8 |
Combinations of sector and primary work activity in 1995, by gender, |
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6–1 |
Percent of the doctoral labor force that is working full time in academia and percent of the full-time labor force that is working in academia, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–2 |
Women as a percent of all Ph.D.s, as percent of all full-time scientists and engineers, and as percent of all full time academic scientists and engineers, by year of survey, |
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6–3 |
Gender difference in the percent of Ph.D.s working full-time who have academic jobs, by year of survey, |
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6–4 |
Percent of the full-time academic labor force that is female, by field and year of survey, |
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6–5 |
Number of women working full time in academia, by field and year of survey, |
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6–6 |
Percent of the full-time academic labor force that is female for those who received their Ph.D.s more than 10 years ago, by field and year of survey, |
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6–7 |
Percent of the full-time academic labor force that is female for those who received their Ph.D.s in the last 10 years, by field and year of survey, |
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6–8 |
Sex specific distribution of career ages of scientist in the fulltime academic labor force, |
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6–9 |
Distribution of career ages of scientists in the full-time academic labor force, |
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6–10 |
Student enrollment in higher education, by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
6–11 |
Employment of full-time academics, by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
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6–12 |
Percent of full-time academics who are women, by Carnegie type and year of survey, |
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6–13 |
Percent of all academics, of men, and of women who have tenure-track positions, by year of survey, |
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6–14 |
Percent of full-time academics with faculty positions, by field and year of survey, |
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6–15 |
Percent of full-time academics with faculty positions, by Carnegie type and year of survey, |
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6–16 |
Percent of academic scientists with faculty positions, by years since the Ph.D. and year of survey, |
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6–17 |
Percent with tenure-track positions in 1995, by sex and years since the Ph.D., |
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6–18 |
Difference between men and women in the observed proportions with faculty positions and the adjusted predictions after controlling only for years since the Ph.D., |
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6–19 |
Gender difference in adjusted proportions with tenure-track positions, by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
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6–20 |
Gender difference in adjusted proportions with tenure-track positions, by field and year of survey, |
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6–21 |
Differences in the adjusted proportion having tenure-track positions between: a) those with young children and those who are single; and b) those are married without young children and those who are single, by sex and survey year, |
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6–22 |
Percent of those in faculty positions and those with off-track positions who are women, by Carnegie type and year of survey, |
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6–23 |
Distribution of non-tenure track academics among work activities, by sex, Carnegie type of institution, and year of survey, |
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6–24 |
Percent of tenure-track academic scientists with tenure, by professional age and year of survey, |
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6–25 |
Percent with tenure in 1979, by gender and years since Ph.D., |
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6–26 |
Percent with tenure in 1995, by gender and years since Ph.D., |
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6–27 |
The percent tenured by mean career age, by field and sex in 1995, |
6–28 |
Percent tenured by mean career age, by sex and Carnegie type in 1995, |
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6–29 |
Difference between men and women in the observed proportion with tenure and the adjusted prediction after controlling for field, career age, and Carnegie type of employer, by year of survey, |
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6–30 |
Difference between men and women in adjusted proportions with tenure, by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
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6–31 |
Difference between men and women in adjusted proportions with tenure, by field and year of survey, |
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6–32 |
Differences in the percent of men and the percent of women with tenure, using observed proportions and adjusted proportions, controlling for professional age, field, and type of institution, |
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6–33 |
Percent of faculty who are associate or full professors, by year since the Ph.D. and year of the survey, |
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6–34 |
Percent of faculty with a given rank in 1979 and 1995, by sex and years since the Ph.D., |
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6–35 |
Difference between men and women in the observed proportion of full professors and the adjusted proportions controlling for field, career age, and Carnegie type of institution, by year of survey, |
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6–36 |
Differences between men and women in the adjusted proportion who are full professors, by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
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6–37 |
Effects of being married compared to having children on the probability of being a full professor, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–38 |
Percent more publications by the average man compared to the average woman in increasingly similar groups of academic scientists in 1995, |
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6–39 |
Percent of academic scientists who are women, by type of institutions, type of jobs, and year of survey, |
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6–40 |
Percent of scientists in given types of positions who are female, by field and year of survey, |
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7–1 |
Median incomes in 1995 dollars for full-time, year-round workers in the U.S. labor force and for full-time scientists and engineers, by gender, |
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7–2 |
Percent greater median income for full-time, year-round workers in the U.S. labor force and for full-time scientists and engineers, |
7–3 |
Median salaries for women and men, by years since the Ph.D. and year of survey, |
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7–4 |
Percent higher salaries for men, by Ph.D. cohort and year of survey, |
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7–5 |
Median salaries of full-time employees, by field of Ph.D. and year of survey, |
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7–6 |
Relationship between median salary and percent female, by field and year of survey, |
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7–7 |
Percent higher salaries for men, by field and year of Ph.D., |
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7–8 |
Median salaries by sector of employment and year of survey, |
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7–9 |
Median salaries by primary work activity and year of survey, |
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7–10 |
Percent higher median salaries for male Ph.D.s, by sector of employment and year of survey, |
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7–11 |
Percent higher median salaries for male Ph.D.s, by primary work activity and year of survey, |
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7–12 |
Effects of age, field, sector, and primary work activity on gender differences in salary, |
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7–13 |
Explained variation in salary regressions, by sex and year of survey, |
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7–14 |
Gender differences in salary for those with industrial jobs, controlling for age, field, and work activity, by year of survey, |
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7–15 |
Gender differences in salary for those with government jobs, controlling for age, field, and work activity, by year of survey, |
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7–16 |
Percentage higher salaries for academic men after controlling for structural variables, by year of survey, |
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7–17 |
Gender differences in salaries by Carnegie type of institution and year of survey, |
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7–18 |
Percent higher salaries for tenure-track men by years since the Ph.D., by year of survey, |
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7–19 |
Percent higher salaries for tenure-track men, by rank and year of survey, |
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7–20 |
Percentage higher salaries for men after controlling for different sets of variables, by year of survey, |
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7–21 |
Ratio of male to female median salaries for increasingly similar groups of scientists and engineers, 1979 and 1995, |
TABLES
2–1 |
Years since the Ph.D. as determined by the year of the Ph.D. and the year of the SDR survey, |
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3–1 |
Mean prestige of Ph.D. program, by sex, field, and decade of Ph.D., |
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3–2 |
Percent increase in total time between baccalaureate and doctorate and registered time to degree between 1970 and 1944, by field, |
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3–3 |
Difference in the percent of women and percent of men with interruptions of more than one year between the baccalaureate and the doctorate, |
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4–1 |
Numbers of engineers working full time in S&E, by sex, subfield, and year of survey, |
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4–2 |
Numbers of mathematicians working full time in S&E, by sex, subfield and year of survey, |
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4–3 |
Numbers of physical scientists working full time in S&E, by sex, subfield, and year of survey, |
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4–4 |
Numbers of life scientists working full time in S&E, by sex, subfield, and year of survey, |
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4–5 |
Numbers of social and behavioral scientists working full time, by sex, subfield, and year of survey, |
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4–6 |
Mean years since Ph.D., by field, sex, and year of survey, |
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4–7 |
Percent of doctoral scientists and engineers with full-time employment within science and engineering, by sex, field, and year of survey, |
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4–8 |
Percent of doctoral scientists with full-time employment outside of science and engineering, by sex, field, and year of survey, |
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4–9 |
Percent of scientists from the 1970 cohort who are working full time in S&E or outside of S&E, by sex, field, and year of survey, |
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4–10 |
Percent of men and women within five years of the Ph.D. who have postdoctoral fellowships, by years of survey and field, |
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5–1 |
Percent employed in each sector, by gender and year of survey, |
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5–2 |
Difference between the percent of women and the percent of men employed in each sector, by year of survey and field, |
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5–3 |
Primary work activity in academia by field, 1995, |
5–4 |
Difference in the percent of men and the percent of women in academic work activities, by year and field, |
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5–5 |
Primary work activity in industry, by field in 1995, |
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5–6 |
Difference in the percent of men and the percent of women in industrial work activities, by year and field, |
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5–7 |
Primary work activity in government, by field in 1995, |
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5–8 |
Difference in the percent of men and the percent of women in governmental work activities, by year and field, |
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6–1 |
Distribution of full-time academic positions among Carnegie types of institutions, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–2 |
Gender difference in percent of full time academics in Ph.D. granting/medical institutions and in Research I/medical institutions, by year of survey, |
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6–3 |
Percent of full time academics who are female, by Carnegie type of institution, field, and year of survey, |
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6–4 |
Effects of citizenship, being at a private institution, prestige of doctoral program, and time from baccalaureate to Ph.D. on adjusted proportions in tenure-track positions, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–5 |
Effects of changes in citizenship, being at a private institution, and familial status on adjusted proportions with tenure, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–6 |
Mobility between 5 and 15 years after the Ph.D. from tenuretrack positions to off-track, untenured faculty, tenured faculty, and nonacademic positions between 5 and 15 years after the Ph.D., by sex and year of survey, |
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6–7 |
Percent of tenure-track faculty in each rank for combined fields and Carnegie types of institutions, by sex and year of survey, |
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6–8 |
Effects of time from baccalaureate to Ph.D. and prestige of Ph.D. on adjusted proportion who are full professors in the twentieth year of their career, |