Abstract
Employing a nationally representative sample of science faculty in U.S. colleges, we investigate 3 explanations for persisting differences in women's faculty representation across science fields even after adjusting for women's variable representation among doctoral recipients. First, we examine labor market factors: (a) differential growth rates and “critical mass” in the supply of women doctoral recipients, (b) growth or contraction in academic and nonacademic job opportunities, and (c) presence of foreign-born scholars. Second, we control for institutional explanations such as differential rates of faculty unionization and less receptivity to women at prestigious or research-oriented universities and fields that are “applied,” “soft,” or “nonlife” sciences. Third, gender role explanations are addressed by controlling for gender differences in work experience, work interruptions, and the prestige of doctoral credentials. After finding that none of these explanations account fully for distinctive patterns among science fields in the faculty gender composition, we discuss how they may reflect differences in academic “cultures.”
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Association of American Medical Colleges (1992). Participation of Women and Minorities on U. S. Medical School Faculties, 1980-1990 Association of American Medical Colleges, Faculty Roster System, Washington, D.C.
Astin, H. S., and Davis, D. E. (1985). Research productivity across the life and career cycles: Facilitators and barriers for women. In: Fox, M. F. (ed.), Scholarly Writing and Publishing: Issues, Problems, and Solutions, Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 147-160.
Baron, J. N., and Newman, A. E. (1989). Pay the man: Effects of demographic composition on prescribed wage rates in the California Civil Service. In: Michael, R. T., Hartmann, H. I., and O'Farrell, B. (eds.), Pay Equity: Empirical Inquiries, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, pp. 107-130.
Baron, J. N., and Newman, A. E. (1990). For what it's worth: Differences across organizations, occupations and the value of work done by women and nonwhites. Am. Sociol. Rev. 55: 155-175.
Becher, T. (1989). Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cultures of Disciplines, Open University Press, Bristol, PA.
Becker, G. S. (1971). The Economics of Discrimination, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Bellas, M. L. (1993). Faculty salaries: Still a cost of being female? Soc. Sci. Q. 74: 62-75.
Bellas, M. L. (1994). Comparable worth in academia. Am. Sociol. Rev. 59: 807-821.
Bernard, J. (1975). Women, Wives and Mothers, Aldine, Chicago.
Beyer, J. M. (1978). Editorial policies and practices among leading journals in four scientific fields. Sociol. Q. 19: 68-88.
Biglan, A. (1973). Relationships between subject matter characteristics and the structure and output of university departments. J. Appl. Psychol. 57: 204-213.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1987). A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Author, Princeton, NJ.
Clark, B. R. (1987). The Academic Life: Small Worlds, Different Worlds, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Cohen, Y., and Pfeffer, J. (1986). Organizational hiring standards. Adm. Sci. Q. 31: 1-24.
Cole, J. R. (1979). Fair Science: Women in the Scientific Community, Free Press, New York.
Douglas, J. M. (1990) Directory of Faculty Contracts and Bargaining Agents in Institutions of Higher Education (Vol. 16), National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions-Baruch College, C.U.N.Y., New York.
Ehrenberg, R. G. (1991). Academic labor supply. In: Clotfelter, C. T., Ehrenberg, R. G., Getz, M., and Siegfried, J. J. (eds.), Economic Challenges in Higher Education, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Chapters 6-10.
Etzkowitz, H., Kemelgor, C., Neuschatz, M., and Uzzi, B. (1992). Athena unbound: Barriers to women in academic science and engineering. Sci. Public Policy 19: 157-179.
Etzkowitz, H., Kemelgor, C., Neuschatz, M., and Uzzi, B. (1994). The paradox of critical mass for women in science. Science 266: 51-54.
Fox, M. F., and Stephan, P. E. (1996). Careers in science: Preferences, prospects, realities. Paper presented at a conference on Science Careers, Gender Equity, and the Changing Economy, co-sponsored by the Commission on Professional in Science and Technology and Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, October.
Gornick, V. (1990). Women in Science: 100 Journeys into the Territory, Simon and Schuster, New York.
Hamovitch, W., and Morgenstern, R. (1977). Children and the productivity of academic women. J. Higher Educ. 48: 633-645.
Hargens, L. L., and Hagstrom, W. O. (1982). Consensus and status attainment patterns in scientific disciplines. Sociol. Educ. 55: 183-196.
Hargens, L. L., and Long, J. S. (2002). Demographic inertia and women's representation among faculty in higher education. J. Higher Educ. 73: 27-59.
Jones, L. V., Lindzey, G., and Coggeshall, P. (eds.) (1982). An Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Justus, J., Freitag, S. B., and Parker, L. L. (1987). The University of California in the Twenty-First Century: Successful Approaches to Faculty Diversity, University of California, Berkeley.
Kanter, R. M. (1977). Men and Women of the Corporation, Basic Books, New York.
Keller, E. F. (1985). Reflections on Gender and Science, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Knorr-Centina, K. D. (1981). The Manufacture of Knowledge: An Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual Nature of Science, Pergamon Press, New York.
Kulis, S. (1998). Organizational variations in women scientists' representation in academia. J. Women Minor. Sci. Eng. 4: 43-67.
Lomperis, A. M. T. (1990). Are women changing the nature of the academic profession? J. Higher Educ. 61: 643-677.
Marwell, G., Rosenfeld, R. A., and Spilerman, S. (1979). Geographic constraints on women's careers in academia. Science 205: 1225-1231.
McGinnis, R., and Long, J. S. (1988). Entry into academia: Effects of stratification, geography and ecology. In: Youn, T. I., and Breneman, D. W. (eds.), Academic Labor Markets and Careers, Falmer Press, Philadelphia, pp. 28-51.
McIlwee, J. S., and Robinson, J. G. (1992). Women in Engineering: Gender, Power, and Workplace Culture, State University of New York Press, Albany.
National Academy of Sciences (1983). Climbing the Ladder: An Update on the Status of Doctoral Women Scientists and Engineers, National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
National Science Foundation (1988). Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 1987, National Science Foundation, Publication 88-331, Washington, DC.
National Science Foundation (1990). Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation, Publication 90-301, Washington, DC.
National Science Foundation (1998). Science and Engineering Indicators, 1998, National Science Foundation, Publication NSB-98-1, Arlington, VA.
National Science Foundation (1999). Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 1998, National Science Foundation, Publication 99-33888, Arlington, VA.
Pearson, W., Jr., and Fechter, A. (eds.) (1994). Who Will do Science? Educating the Next Generation, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Perrucci, C. C. (1986). Gender equity in sociology faculty employment patterns: A cross-university comparison. Sociol. Soc. Res. 70: 235-241.
Petersen, T. (1985). A comment on presenting results from logit and probit models. Am. Sociol. Rev. 50: 130-131.
Pfeffer J. and Davis-Blake A. 1987. The effect of the proportion of women on salaries: The case of college administrators.Adm.Sci.Q. 32: 1-24
Reskin, B. F. (1980). Sex Differences in the Professional Life Chances of Chemists, Arno, New York.
Reskin, B. F. (1988). Bringing the men back in: Sex differentiation and the devaluation of women's work. Gend. Soc. 2: 58-81.
Reskin, B., and Roos, P. (1990). Job Queues, Gender Queues, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.
Rosenblum, G., and Rosenblum, B. R. (1990). Segmented labor markets in institutions of higher learning. Sociol. Educ. 63: 151-164.
Rosenblum, G., and Rosenblum, B. R. (1996). The flow of instructors through the segmented labor markets of academe. Higher Educ. 31: 429-445.
Rossiter, M. (1978). Sexual segregation in the sciences: Some data and a model. Signs 4: 146-151.
Salancik, G. R. (1979). Interorganizational dependence and responsiveness to affirmative action: The case of women and defense contractors. Acad. Manage. J. 22: 375-394.
Shepherd, W. G., and Levin, S. G. (1973). Managerial discrimination in large firms. Rev. Econ. Stat. 55: 412-422.
Sonnert, G., and Holton, G. (1995). Who Succeeds in Science? The Gender Dimension, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Stephan, P. E., and Kassis, M. M. (1997). The history of women and couples in academia. In: Ferber, M. A., and Loeb, J. W. (eds.), Academic Couples: Problems and Promises, University of Illinois, Urbana, pp. 44-79.
Swazey, J., Anderson, M., and Louis, K. S. (1993). Some ethical problems in academic research. American Scientist, Nov.-Dec., pp. 542-553.
Szafran, R. F. (1984). Universities and Women Faculty: Why Some Organizations Discriminate More than Others, Praeger, New York.
Tack, M. W., and Patitu, C.-L. (1987). Faculty Job Satisfaction: Women and Minorities in Peril, George Washington University, ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, Washington, DC.
Thurgood, D., and Weinman, J. M. (1991). Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities. Summary Report 1990, National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, Washington, DC.
Tolbert, P. S. (1986). Organizations and inequality: Sources of earnings differences between male and female faculty. Sociol. Educ. 59: 227-235.
Toren, N., and Kraus, V. (1987). The effects of minority size on women's position in academia. Soc. Forces 65: 1090-1100.
Turner, C. S. V., Myers, S. L., and Cresswell, J. W. (1999). Exploring underrepresentation: The case of faculty of color in the midwest. J. Higher Educ. 70: 27-59.
Vetter, B. M. (1992). Supply and demand in science and engineering. Occasional Paper 91-4, Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology, Washington, DC.
Warner, L. G., and DeFleur, M. (1969). Attitude as an interactional concept: Social constraint and social distance as intervening variables between attitudes and action. Am. Sociol. Rev. 34: 153-169.
White, J. A. (1989). The engineering faculty pipeline: An NSF perspective. Eng. Educ. 79: 547-549.
Wright, R. (1996). The occupational masculinity of computing. In: Cheng, C. (ed.), Masculinities in Organizations, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 77-95.
Yentsch, C. M., and Sindermann, C. J. (1992). The Woman Scientist: Meeting the Challenges for a Successful Career, Plenum Press, New York.
Yoels, W. C. (1974). The structure of scientific fields and the allocation of editorships on scientific journals: Some observations of the politics of knowledge. Sociol. Q. 15: 264-276.
Youn, T. I., and Zelterman, D. (1988). Institutional career mobility in academia. In: Youn, T. I., and Breneman, D. W. (eds.), Academic Labor Markets and Careers, Falmer, Philadelphia, pp. 52-73.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kulis, S., Sicotte, D. & Collins, S. More Than a Pipeline Problem: Labor Supply Constraints and Gender Stratification Across Academic Science Disciplines. Research in Higher Education 43, 657–691 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020988531713
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020988531713