Publication Date: Friday, May 28, 2004
Gender gap lingers at Stanford
Gender gap lingers at Stanford
(May 28, 2004) Survey reveals continuing issues among faculty
by Alexandria Rocha
Stanford University's female faculty members feel excluded and less valued than their male colleagues, according to a survey that comes several years after a series of lawsuits against the institution regarding gender discrimination.
Though the report released today disclosed discrepancies in pay and rank among male and female faculty, some data shows the university has made improvements in those areas.
The report's conclusions were gathered from a survey completed by nearly half of Stanford's faculty in May 2003 in an effort to better understand the professional climate for the university's female faculty members.
Both male and female faculty members were surveyed in several major areas, including academic responsibilities and workload; perceptions of climate and opportunities; accommodation of work and family obligations; spouse and partner opportunities; as well as overall satisfaction.
One of the survey's major findings revealed that women faculty, especially in the schools of social and clinical sciences, generally have more concerns about their quality of life at the university than their male colleagues. Women also rated their work climate less favorably, were less likely to feel included and valued, and were more likely to report gender discrimination.
Women likewise experienced greater workload pressure and stress, and were concerned about the availability and affordability of quality childcare.
In the late '90s Stanford was sued by a number of women who charged the university discriminated against them. Some of the cases, mostly stemming from instances at the Medical Center, were settled out of court.
The report attributed a possible reason behind these concerns to the under representation of women among the most highly rewarded faculty at Stanford.
The Provost's Advisory Committee has issued a list of recommendations to continue improving the life of female faculty on Stanford. The recommendations address changes and improvements to the university's recruitment practices and retention strategies.
Debra Rhode, chair of the provost's advisory committee, said she was not surprised to see progress still needs to be made in the area of equitable leadership positions between men and women.
"If you look at the people at the top of the reward structure, they almost always tend to be men," Rhode said.
A second finding, however, revealed a more positive outlook on the quality of life for female faculty members. The genders agreed on the most positive aspects of the Stanford environment being the quality of the university's population and the Bay Area location.
"The institution is making good progress in both increasing representation of women on the faculty and certainly in positions of leadership," said Patricia Jones, a professor and vice provost for faculty development.
But "there are some places where additional work needs to be done," she added.
Staff reporter Alexandria Rocha can be e-mailed at arocha@paweekly.com
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