What’s Data Got to Do with It? How to Measure Change in Academic Work Environments

Karen Stamm, Lisa Harlow, Marimer Santiago Rivas, Barbara Silver, & Helen Mederer University of Rhode Island Presented at the 34 th Annual Meeting of the Association for Women in Psychology March 14, 2009, Newport, RI

Diversity in the Sciences

   Diversity is important in the pursuit of scientific knowledge (National Science Foundation, 2005) However, a gender gap in the sciences exists Women represent only 20% of the engineering, and math faculty in STEM fields – science, technology,

Climate Change

   Good news – positive change is occurring Gender gap is narrowing (Feist, 2006) Still, STEM women face many challenges     Stereotype threat (Steele, 1997) “Leaky pipeline” Accumulation of disadvantage (Valian, 1998) Chilly climate

NSF ADVANCE Program

   ADVANCE is an initiative by the National Science Foundation to promote the careers of women faculty in STEM fields The University of Rhode Island received a 5-year ADVANCE Institutional Transformation award At URI, the ADVANCE Program has focused on:   Recruitment Faculty Development    Work-Life Climate Change Measurement and Evaluation

Academic Work Environment Survey

   All tenure-track faculty at the University of Rhode Island were asked to participate The survey was distributed twice: 2004 and 2007 (M)ANOVAs were conducted with main constructs as dependent variables and gender as the independent variabl e

Academic Work Environment Survey

 Main constructs      Climate Career attitudes Interpersonal/work issues Spouse/partner issues Work and gender       Mentoring Teaching Service Research Productivity Recognition Resource satisfaction

2004 Climate Survey

   Distributed during the 2004-2005 academic year Approximately 277 faculty (118 women, 144 men, and 9 unknown gender) completed the survey About 40 % of all tenure-track faculty completed the survey

2004 Climate Survey Results

      Women reported: More interpersonal work challenges More workplace discrimination Delaying or not having children Greater willingness to leave URI to accommodate partner’s career Endorsed a belief in combining career and family        Men reported: Greater career satisfaction, More positive work environment Greater workplace equity Greater departmental influence More work-life balance Endorsed traditional views of gender-work roles  No Gender Differences on:      Research Productivity Teaching Service Resource Satisfaction Recognition

2007 Climate Survey

    Revised version of 2004 climate survey Distributed during the 2007-2008 academic year Approximately 241 faculty (129 women, 110 men, and 2 unknown gender) completed the survey About 38% of tenure-track faculty completed the survey

2007 Climate Survey Results

 Women reported:       Higher ratings of mentoring importance More workplace discrimination More work-life conflict Delaying having children Placing greater emphasis on a partner’s career Endorsed a belief in combining work and family   Men reported:    Greater gender equity Greater positive work environment Endorsed traditional views of gender-work roles No gender differences on :       Career Satisfaction Research Productivity Teaching Service Resource Satisfaction Recognition

Usefulness of Climate Data

    Importance of collecting social science data Dissemination of findings    Executive summary College meetings Reports on website Benchmarking    Recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in STEM Use climate data in conjunction with benchmark indicators Collection of benchmark indicators to track the ADVANCE Program Other analysis plans: longitudinal cross-sectional data  Unique participants (took survey in 2004 or 2007)  Repeat participants (took survey in both 2004 and 2007)

Limits of Climate Data

   Length of survey Timeframe for measuring climate change  How long does climate change take? Is 5 years enough time?

Longitudinal data    Had planned 3 surveys Only did 2 surveys Used the time to revise the survey

Strategies for Promoting Women in

STEM  3-level model of climate change  Individual  Interactional  Institutional  Effective climate change must target all 3 levels  Measure variables at different levels

References

    Feist, G. J. (2006). How development and personality influence scientific thought, interest, and achievement. Psychology. Special Issue: The Psychology of Science. 10(2), 163-182.

Review of General National Science Foundation. (2005). More women receive Ph.D.s, but female senior faculty are still rare . Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104363 Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52(6), 613-629.

Valian, V. (1998). Why so slow? The advancement of women. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.