INDEX A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ISU ADVANCE

SPECIFIC BARRIERS TO WOMEN'S ADVANCEMENT


Over the past three years, the ADVANCE TEAM has conducted a preliminary assessment of barriers to recruitment, retention and promotion of STEM women faculty. We organized a national conference on retention of women in STEM in 2002, hosted the visits of experts on diversity in STEM and higher education, and held two retreats for women STEM faculty (2003 and 2005). Four topical areas were discussed at both retreats: work/life balance, tenure and promotion, department and campus climate, and salary and resources. Chairs and deans from five colleges (Liberal Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture, Family & Consumer Sciences, Veterinary Medicine) participated. In addition to the retreats, individual interviews were conducted by ISU sociologists with women faculty in the College of Engineering (Bird & Litt, 2004). These data were used to identify the following pervasive barriers perceived by STEM female faculty.

  • Women are challenged by a lack of transparency in departmental policies and procedures, criteria for measuring performance, and resource distribution. Women, and especially women of color, are unclear about expectations regarding service and feel pressured to dedicate more time to service activities, which detract from the research activities required for advancement.

  • Women are isolated in some STEM departments, due to the high percentage of males in their departments. The situation for women of color is further exacerbated by the low number of under-represented faculty of color in STEM departments. Women report feeling left out of informal networking opportunities (e.g., exercise groups), which excludes them from information regarding resources available, formal policies, informal practices, and even colleagues' research.

  • Women report a lack of effective mentoring. Despite a university-wide mentoring and orientation program, women reported poor guidance and input on department, university, and disciplinary expectations/practices. This impairs women's rate of promotion and leadership readiness.

  • Women struggle to maintain work/family balance and receive little support for it from ISU. Pressures to maintain pre-established schedules for tenure and promotion, despite pregnancy and child-rearing obligations, magnify this struggle. Inadequate policies for partner accommodation leave many couples in tenuous states regarding future employment. Because female faculty are more likely than male faculty to have partners employed full-time, and women in academia are more likely than men to be partnered with other academics (Jacobs & Winslow 2004a), women are disproportionately affected by inadequate policies. ISU's isolated location adds difficulty for partners seeking non-university jobs. Single women also find Ames' social atmosphere limiting.



    • Back to Initiatives