Science and technology (S&T) disciplines at universities are still largely dominated by men, and few women are found in the highest employment ranks. Using the faculty data from Utah State University, this thesis explores the factors that help explain the difference in career trajectory between men and women in the S&T colleges. While there were few women in S&T colleges prior to the 1990s, more women have been hired since then, and the lower ranks of the faculty corps are starting to reflect the gender composition of the doctoral degree holders in the different fields. This is not the case for full professors and leadership positions, where women are still underrepresented. Analysis of the university careers of faculty in S&T colleges revealed that in the absence of formal guidelines, promotions to full professor were inconsistent, but men were generally promoted faster, especially when hired as associate professors. However, conscious measures by the university to make the promotion process more transparent and formalized reduced the variability in time to promotion to full professor for all faculty and minimized differences between men and women. Recognition of faculty achievement through awards still shows gender bias. Women proportionally receive less awards, especially in recognition of research activities. This study illustrates that clear guidelines reduce gender bias in decisions and improve gender equity in the academia.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-8040 |
| Date | 01 May 2018 |
| Creators | Miegroet, Helga Van |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
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