Climbing the Academic Ladder Doctoral Women Scientists in Academe: A Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (1979) / Chapter Skim
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CONSTRAINTS, BARRIERS AND POTENTIAL
CONSTRAINTS, BARRIERS AND POTENTIAL
Pages 11-18
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From page 11... ...
Sex Differences in Scientific Aptitude There are certain widely held ideas concerning areas of sex differences, and in the past it has been difficult -- for specialists as well as for nonspecialists -- to assess the validity of these ideas due to inadequate knowledge or research about human behavior. There is now an encyclopedic compilation and discussion of the results of psychological research on sex differences by Maccoby and Jacklin (1974)
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From page 12... ...
However, even if it were found that more boys than girls were genetically endowed to be facile in mathematics, there are obviously other factors that contribute to the 14-fold difference in the number of women and men who have received science doctorates. One broad consideration relates to the fact that, at all levels of schooling, until recently fewer girls than boys have proceeded to the next level even though, at each level, girls have regularly received higher grades.1 This attrition of girls and young women from the educational ladder has had an effect on all areas of endeavor, including the pool of doctoral scientists.
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From page 13... ...
The factors that assume importance at this time and ultimately produce distinct educational outcomes for men and women require investigation. Traditionally, this was the time at which training diverged -- boys could take mechanical drawing while girls could not.
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From page 14... ...
. Women students who subsequently completed doctorates were most likely to have earned BA's, if not from women's colleges, then from baccalaureate institutions that had a long and continuous history of women graduates who attained doctorates, and that offered strong academic preparation in several areas of study (Tidball and Kistiakowsky, 1976)
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From page 15... ...
Additionally, women faculty generally rate themselves as unsuccessful, particularly when they compare themselves with male peers. Elements of professional activity that correlate most strongly with self-assessments of success differ for women and men faculty: women emphasize a variety of elements that includes teaching, alliance with women-related issues, and association with successful men; men exhibit a strong positive focus on the research image of the institution and a strong negative emphasis on teaching (Tidball, 1976)
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From page 16... ...
candidates are more likely than their male classmates to believe that faculty members expect most career goals to be held mainly by men. The extent to whicn the faculty members of a department do, in fact, attribute these goals primarily to male students is inversely related to the strength of career commitment among women graduate students in that department.
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From page 17... ...
On the other hand, the practical support structures that would enable women to engage more freely in their work are not regularly and dependably available. Discrimination against women, as students and as professional scientists, has been well documented.
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From page 18... ...
2. The marked difference between single-sex and coeducational colleges in focussing women's interests in the sciences suggests the need for closer study of the influence of higher education environments on sex differences.
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