Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 181
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
Appendix 1-4
The Surveys
The committee designed the surveys to collect information that has gone largely uncollected—or has been done for a few universities, but not across many institutions. As noted earlier in the chapter, the committee designed the departmental survey to focus on processes, particularly tenure, promotion, and hiring, as well as on departmental characteristics. The faculty survey, on the other hand, was designed to assess the resources individual faculty received and to collect sufficient information on faculty to allow for comparisons across fields or by ranks.
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) was contracted to craft the final survey instruments and implement the surveys. The surveys were developed during September 2004. The departmental questionnaire was primarily a mailed instrument. The faculty questionnaire was primarily a Web-based instrument. For both surveys, multiple follow-ups occurred by mail for departments and by e-mail for faculty.
The theoretical population for the departmental chair survey consisted of 534 departments. This represents 89 departments from the 89 Research I institutions multiplied by the six disciplines: biological sciences, chemistry, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mathematics, and physics. In actuality, a few institutions did not offer all six programs. One institution, Rockefeller University, had an organizational structure that seemed very different from the traditional notion of a “department.” This school was not included in the survey. As a first step, the committee consulted the institutions’ Web sites and identified the names of the six programs. The names of each program and a link to the program’s Web site are listed at the conclusion of this summary.1
In the case of biology, 87 units were identified. Biology was the most complicated, since it is an evolving discipline. Biology “departments,” as thought of in the traditional sense and possessing initial decision-making authority for hiring, tenure and promotions, are called by a variety of names. They are often at least minimally interdisciplinary among the biological sciences, so some units included biochemistry or biophysics; in other cases, the units were subsets of the biological sciences. Departments of molecular and cellular biology are an example of this latter case. In one instance, all the departments had been merged into a single school and so this was included for that institution.
In chemistry, 87 departments were identified. The majority were departments of chemistry, while a few were chemistry and biochemistry. In civil engineering, 69 departments were identified. Often civil engineering was bundled with environmental engineering, and less often with construction engineering, architectural
1
Note that URLs may have changed between the preparation and release of this report.
OCR for page 182
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
engineering, or mechanical engineering. In electrical engineering, 77 departments were identified. Electrical engineering departments often included computer engineering. In mathematics, 86 departments were identified. One of the remaining three institutions only offered mathematics as part of an undergraduate college, and so it was excluded. In a few instances, mathematics departments also included statistics. In one case, a joint mathematics and computer science department was included. Finally, in physics, 86 departments were identified. One of the remaining three institutions only offered physics as part of an undergraduate college, and so it was excluded. About half of the departments included astronomy in the department.
The result of this was 492 departments. Initially, the committee’s goal was to examine a sample of departments. After further reflection, however, the committee decided a census would be more fruitful. Partly, this reflected a concern that there would be very few responses for women. For example, the questionnaire asked how many faculty were hired in the past 2 years. While many departments were hiring, few hires were women. To increase this latter number, all departments received the sample. Second, the advantage of the census lies in being able to make comparisons between disciplines, e.g., chemistry versus biology, for all Research I institutions.
In all 417 departments responded to the questionnaire. This gives an overall response rate of 85 percent, which is a respectable response. By discipline, electrical engineering had the lowest response rate, while physics had the highest. One might speculate that the fact that AIP sent the survey, and was familiar with physics departments from other survey projects, might have contributed to the higher return for physics departments.
Discipline
Responded
Sample
Percent
Biological sciences
76
87
87
Chemistry
76
87
87
Civil engineering
55
69
80
Electrical engineering
59
77
77
Mathematics
74
86
86
Physics
77
86
90
To generate the faculty sample, the committee collected faculty rosters, for assistant, associate, and full professors, at each of the 492 departments. This was done by consulting each department’s Web site for a faculty list. Second, the committee identified the assistant, associate, and full professors in the department. This step was more complex. The committee started with the faculty roster on the individual institution’s departmental Web sites. If it identified these three types of faculty, then those faculty members’ names were entered into a spreadsheet. If the Web site did not identify faculty members’ ranks, then the committee turned to university catalogues. In the event that this failed (because catalogues were not available on line), the committee examined individual faculty members’ Web sites.
OCR for page 183
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
The following faculty were not included: lecturers, instructors, emeriti professors, research professors, adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, and courtesy appointments. In addition, jointly appointed faculty, where the department in question was the secondary appointment, were not included. Thus, an associate professor of chemistry with a joint appointment in biology, would be counted in chemistry, but not in biology. This process resulted in a final tally of approximately 16,400 faculty.
There are obvious, potential limitations to this approach. Specifically, departmental roster Web sites and college catalogues may be out of date. Recently hired faculty may not have been added to Web sites, while faculty who have left positions might not have been removed. Faculty may have received promotions that have yet to be reflected on departmental Web sites. As a result, it is likely that a few professorial faculty will be missed or misplaced.
Third, the committee identified the gender of each faculty member. This was done primarily by relying on faculty names and photographs on departmental roster Web sites. Where there was some question as to the faculty member’s gender, internet research was attempted, and failing that, the department was called. The results of these efforts are captured in the following table.
Population of Faculty in Six Disciplines at Research I Institutions
Department
Gender
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Total
Biology
Male
1222
481
427
2130
Female
262
176
199
637
Total
2767
Chemistry
Male
1513
331
408
2252
Female
150
72
101
323
Total
2575
Civil engineering
Male
787
371
302
1460
Female
57
50
78
185
Total
1645
Electrical engineering
Male
1579
575
531
2685
Female
79
76
70
225
Total
2910
Mathematics
Male
2153
565
445
3163
Female
151
76
102
329
Total
3492
Physics
Male
1994
413
407
2814
Female
119
49
67
235
Total
3049
Total
10066
3235
3137
16438
OCR for page 184
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
The committee then took a systematic sample of 50 faculty per gender, rank, and field. Fowler (1993) describes the general procedure: “When drawing a systematic sample from a list, the researcher first determines the number of entries on the list and the number of elements from the list that are to be selected. Dividing the latter by the former will produce a fraction. Thus, if there are 8,500 people on a list and a sample of 100 is required, 1/85 of the list (i.e., 1 out of every 85 persons) is to be included in the sample. In order to select a systematic sample, a start point is designated by choosing a random number from 1 to 85. The randomized start ensures that it is a chance selection process. Given that start, the researcher proceeds to take every 85th person on the list.” In some cases, because there are so few women in a particular field at a particular rank, all were selected.2
Pre-notice letters were sent to deans/provosts and to department chairs to alert them to the forthcoming questionnaires and also to ask for their assistance and encouragement in filling out the form. Anecdotally, feedback from the administration was positive and encouraging. The departmental census was offered as both a mail-based and Web-based questionnaire. The departmental questionnaire was mailed in November, 2004. A series of follow-ups was undertaken.
The faculty questionnaire was designed as a web-based survey, although some respondents requested a hard copy from the contractor. Faculty received an e-mail request to fill out the survey along with a link to the survey, hosted on the contractor’s server.3 Faculty received multiple e-mail follow-ups.
Some faculty had to be removed or re-classified for various reasons. These included accidental duplication of a faculty member in the sample, faculty member was deceased, information regarding faculty member (i.e., rank) was incorrect, and faculty member was no longer at the institution (and had not moved to another Research I institution). The most frequent problem was that the data on the departmental Web sites was incorrect; usually out of date. The final sample involved 1,834 individuals.
2
The sample was sent to the contractor. Once it was confirmed to have reached the contractor, the original file was deleted. Neither the committee nor the National Academies would know the names of potential respondents to the faculty survey.
3
Fortunately, almost all e-mails were correct. “Bounce backs,” or non-working e-mails, were corrected. It is possible, though, that the wrong e-mail was collected and used, but that the contractor was not aware that this was an incorrect e-mail, and the respondent was never contacted.
OCR for page 185
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
Final Sample, Including Respondents, Non-respondents, Refusals, Removals
Department
Gender
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Total
Biology
Male
59
53
42
154
Female
58
55
44
157
Total
311
Chemistry
Male
64
49
43
156
Female
48
50
44
142
Total
298
Civil engineering
Male
61
55
36
152
Female
44
56
56
156
Total
308
Electrical engineering
Male
51
54
51
156
Female
53
50
45
148
Total
304
Mathematics
Male
69
43
43
155
Female
53
46
44
143
Total
298
Physics
Male
61
42
50
153
Female
58
48
56
162
Total
315
Total
679
601
554
1834
Of these 1,834 individuals, 91 had to be removed from the sample, because they should not have been included in the population (e.g., were deceased, no longer at a Research I institution, or not one of the three professorial ranks). Overall, 41 men and 50 women or 24 professors, 29 associate professors, and 38 assistant professors were removed.
OCR for page 186
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
Individuals Removed from Sample
Department
Gender
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Total
Biology
Male
2
5
1
8
Female
1
3
8
12
Total
20
Chemistry
Male
1
2
1
4
Female
1
1
4
6
Total
10
Civil engineering
Male
1
3
2
6
Female
1
1
0
2
Total
8
Electrical engineering
Male
0
0
0
0
Female
2
3
2
7
Total
7
Mathematics
Male
5
4
8
17
Female
4
2
7
13
Total
30
Physics
Male
0
2
4
6
Female
6
3
1
10
Total
16
Total
24
29
38
91
Approximately, 1,743 individuals made up the corrected sample. Of these 1,347 responded to the questionnaire. Additionally, 1,278 filled out the survey, while 69 individuals responded by refusing to complete the survey.
OCR for page 187
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
Respondents (Including Those Who Responded by Refusing)
Department
Gender
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Total
Biology
Male
46
33
34
113
Female
49
44
31
124
Total
237
Chemistry
Male
51
34
32
117
Female
39
41
32
112
Total
229
Civil engineering
Male
40
38
26
104
Female
31
48
48
127
Total
231
Electrical engineering
Male
35
31
42
108
Female
40
39
31
110
Total
218
Mathematics
Male
44
25
25
94
Female
35
36
27
98
Total
192
Physics
Male
50
34
30
114
Female
41
34
51
126
Total
240
Total
501
437
409
1347
OCR for page 188
Gender Differences at Critical Transitions in the Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty
Non-respondents
Department
Gender
Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Total
Biology
Male
11
15
7
33
Female
8
8
5
21
Total
54
Chemistry
Male
12
13
10
35
Female
8
8
8
24
Total
59
Civil engineering
Male
20
14
8
42
Female
12
7
8
27
Total
69
Electrical engineering
Male
16
23
9
48
Female
11
8
12
31
Total
79
Mathematics
Male
20
14
10
44
Female
14
8
10
32
Total
76
Physics
Male
11
6
16
33
Female
11
11
4
26
Total
59
Total
154
135
107
396
To conclude:
1,834 individuals comprised the sample.
1,743 individuals comprised the corrected sample (excludes removals).
1,347 individuals responded (includes refusals).
1,278 individuals provided some data.
396 individuals did not respond.
The response rate for the survey (number of completed questionnaires divided by number of valid sample elements) is 1,278/1,743 or 73 percent.
Immediately following this text are the list of 492 departments surveyed, the departmental questionnaire, and the faculty questionnaire.
