Abstract
Junior faculty at two universities in the Northeast were surveyed regarding their objective job performance as well as attitudes toward work, availability of role models, self-perception and self-evaluation, and incidence and type of sexual discrimination. There were no significant sex differences in marital status; however, two-thirds of the married females reported having no children, whereas less than one-third of the married males had no children. Female junior faculty reported spending somewhat more time on work-related activities at home, generally less willingness to cancel class, somewhat higher likelihood of editing books and/or journals, but less likelihood of writing books and/or journal articles. Males generally felt they were above average in comparison to their colleagues and contemporaries; and they showed a fairly accurate appraisal of their standing vis-á-vis others on the publication dimension. In contrast, females rated themselves significantly lower than the males in comparison to others and showed little discriminative judgment of their relative standing on the publication dimension. Differences in the early socialization of men and women may result in the differential professional socialization of female faculty. Subtle areas of sexual discrimination in the academic experience are suggested. Finally, the authors caution against overgeneralizing from these results.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Astin, A. W., & Panos, R. J. The educational and vocational development of college students. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1969.
Astin, H. S. The woman doctorate in America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1969.
Baltes, P. B. Longitudinal and cross-sectional sequences in the study of age and generational effects. Human Development, 1968, 11, 145–171.
Bardwick, J. M. Psychology of women. New York: Harper and Row, 1971.
Bernard, J. Academic women. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania University Press, 1964.
Brannigan, G. G., & Tolor, A. Sex differences in adaptive styles. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1971, 119, 143–149.
Ferber, M. A., & Loeb, J. W. Performance, rewards, and perceptions of sex discrimination among male and female faculty. In J. Huber (Ed.), Changing women in a changing society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Graham, P. A. Women in academe. Science, 1970, 169, 2184–1290.
Hartman, J. E., Morlock, L., Perkins, J. A., & Tinsley, A. Women in modern language departments, 1972–1973. PMLA, 1976, 91, 124–136.
Kashket, E. R., Robbins, M. L., Leive, L., & Huang, A. S. The status of women microbiologists. Science, 1974, 193, 488–494.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. The psychology of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974.
Oakley, A. Sex and gender. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
Rossi, A. S. Barriers to the career choice of engineering, medicine, or science among American women. In J. M. Bardwick (Ed.), Readings on the psychology of women. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
Simon, R. J., Clark, S. M., & Galway, S. The woman Ph.D.: A recent profile. Social Problems, 1967, 15, 221–236.
Urberg, K. A., & Labouvie-Vief, G. Conceptualizations of sex roles: A life span developmental study. Developmental Psychology, 1976, 12, 15–23.
Warwick, D. P., & Lininger, C. A. The sample survey: Theory and practice. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by a grant to the first author from the Spencer Foundation to Harvard University, Graduate School of Education. The authors wish to thank Jane Platt, Abigail Stewart, and David Winter for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Widom, C.S., Burke, B.W. Performance, attitudes, and professional socialization of women in academia. Sex Roles 4, 549–562 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287199
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287199