Determinants of Faculty Gender Ratios Across Institutions and Departments

Faculty gender ratios vary considerably across institutions, and past research (Tolbert and Oberfield 1991; Bach and Perrucci 1984) has shown that certain characteristics of institutions have a significant effect on these gender ratios. Understanding the drivers of faculty gender ratio variation is important since the concentration of women in particular types of institutions contributes to gender differences in earnings, career patterns and employment outcomes. This thesis tests the hypotheses, drawn from theories of organizational behavior, that gender ratios of assistant professors are influenced by employers’ discriminatory preferences, the gender composition of the student body, and women’s preferences for employment in teaching vs. research universities. In addition, it is hypothesized that public institutions and institutions located in highly-populated areas will have a greater proportion of female assistant professors. The explanatory variables suggested by the hypotheses are examined using cross-sectional data from two separate years, and a fixed-effects analysis is used to obtain unbiased estimates. The results support all of the hypotheses except for the preference of women for employment in teaching universities. This thesis also attempts to explain the variation in faculty gender ratios across economics departments. It is hypothesized that the departmental model will be more accurate than the institutional model since hiring decisions are made at the departmental level. The results, however, do not support this hypothesis. The implications of this thesis for future studies of inter-organizational variation in faculty gender ratios are discusse

Gender equality in Turkish higher education

The moulds of masculinity and femininity determined by society are not only determinants of the way in which individuals behave in society, but also determinants of the production and distribution of the resources. The steady development of societies can be achieved when men and women have the equal power with equal opportunities and resources to shape their own lives and to contribute to their families, societies and countries. The internationally recognized indicators of aforesaid gender mainstreaming are the areas of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. In Turkey, even though the legal basis of equality of women and men in these areas have been strengthened through legislative regulations enforced, the need to overcome the obstacles women face when participating to social life as complete and equal individuals and taking all precautions for this is still ongoing. In this study, gender equality in the Turkish higher education system was examined. For this purpose, the schooling rates in higher education, employment rates and participation rates in decision making mechanisms in management of women were examined in the light of gender equality indicators. In this study, which was conducted by document reviewing among qualitative research methods, official websites and documents of international organizations and Turkish official institutions were examined in order to access reliable documents related to Turkish Higher Education and gender equality variables. The survey concluded that while the schooling rates in the Turkish higher education and employment rates of women are high, the proportion of female academicians decreased as the academic degrees increased and that the horizontal disintegration patterns between the scientific areas are more visible on the basis of sub-branches. Furthermore, it has been found out that women are not adequately represented in decision-making mechanisms, even though they provide the necessary conditions. © 2018, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved

Efficiency and Equity as Goals for Contemporary U.S. Immigration Policy

As the United States has entered its postindustrial stage of economic development, mass immigration has again become a distinguishing feature of the U.S. economy. In all of its diverse forms, immigration presently accounts for anywhere from one-quarter to one-third of the annual growth of the U.S. labor force. By the turn of the 21st century, it could conceivably comprise all of such growth. Immigration is the one aspect of population and labor force growth that public policy should be able to shape and control. Unfortunately, however, the extant public policies that govern the size and composition of the immigrant and refugee flows are largely unrelated to emerging economic considerations. The revival of mass immigration is not taking place in a vacuum. Indeed, it appears that the labor market is being radically transformed. The demand for labor is increasingly favoring those workers with skill and education. There are diminishing needs for job seekers without these human capital endowments. On the labor supply side, it is unfortunately the case that the United States already has a significant number of adults who are ill-prepared for many jobs that are being created. To assist in this effort to enhance efficiency, immigration policy should be flexible. It should be capable of responding to changing domestic economic conditions. Currently, the nation\u27s immigration policy is dominated by political motivations that give priority to family reunification and humanitarian goals. Immigration can be a short run means to provide skilled and educated workers to fill critical worker shortages. But in the long run, equity considerations derived from the nation\u27s multiracial and multicultural character of the labor force also come into play. It is imperative that citizen workers be prepared for the high quality jobs in the growth industries of its postindustrial economy. Immigration must not inhibit market pressures from encouraging employers to provide better opportunities for training and employment of citizens. The obverse is also true. It is essential that immigration does not provide only workers who can be employed in the declining occupations and industries. With a sizeable adult illiteracy problem already, the nation can ill-afford to increase the pool of unskilled and poorly educated workers, which increases the competition among such workers for the shrinking number of jobs available to them

Black Male Student Success in Higher Education: A Report From the National Black Male College Achievement Study

The report presents insights from interviews with successful male African-American college students, highlighting factors that helped them succeed in a range of contexts: getting to college, choosing colleges, paying for college, transitioning to college, matters of engagement, and responding productively to racism

Arizona’s Rising STEM Occupational Demands and Declining Participation in the Scientific Workforce: An Examination of Attitudes among African Americans toward STEM College Majors and Careers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008), science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations constitute a growing sector of Arizona’s economy. However, the number of African Americans earning degrees related to these occupations has not kept pace with this growth. Increasing the participation of African Americans in STEM education fields and subsequent related occupations in Arizona is vital to growing and maintaining the state’s economic stature. This objective is made even more compelling given that each year, from 2008– 2018, there are 3,671 projected job openings in STEM fields in Arizona. This study explores the extent to which the attitudes held by African Americans in Arizona toward STEM related majors and careers influence their likelihood of joining the state’s scientific workforce. Our analyses reveal the importance of career consideration, confidence in one’s ability to be successful in a STEM related field, and family support of the pursuit of STEM education and careers.Educatio

Collaboration and Gender Equity among Academic Scientists

Universities were established as hierarchical bureaucracies that reward individual attainment in evaluating success. Yet collaboration is crucial both to 21st century science and, we argue, to advancing equity for women academic scientists. We draw from research on gender equity and on collaboration in higher education, and report on data collected on one campus. Sixteen focus group meetings were held with 85 faculty members from STEM departments, separated by faculty rank and gender (i.e., assistant professor men, full professor women). Participants were asked structured questions about the role of collaboration in research, career development, and departmental decision-making. Inductive analyses of focus group data led to the development of a theoretical model in which resources, recognition, and relationships create conditions under which collaboration is likely to produce more gender equitable outcomes for STEM faculty. Ensuring women faculty have equal access to resources is central to safeguarding their success; relationships, including mutual mentoring, inclusion and collegiality, facilitate women’s careers in academia; and recognition of collaborative work bolsters women’s professional advancement. We further propose that gender equity will be stronger in STEM where resources, relationships, and recognition intersect—having multiplicative rather than additive effects

Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads

Recommends investing in research, innovation, and a dynamic science and engineering workforce with the participation of underrepresented minorities. Suggests ways to improve access, motivation, affordability, and supports to raise degree completion rates