The professional labor market in the United States remains sex segregated both horizontally and vertically. The academic labor market, in particular, is segregated horizontally with women overrepresented in some disciplines and underrepresented in others, particularly the natural and mathematical sciences. Even within a single field, women are more likely to specialize in particular subfields than in others.
Despite the influx of large numbers of women into academic positions in recent decades, in the United States, women still tend to hold lower-level and untenured positions while men are disproportionately represented in the upper ranks, producing vertical sex segregation. Globally, women are underrepresented at the rank of full professor. Furthermore, women have made more progress integrating the academic staff of predominantly undergraduate institutions in the United States,, especially women’s colleges or former women’s colleges, rather than at universities that award graduate degrees. I expect that women faculty will be more satisfied with their jobs at a former women’s college than at a former men’s college in the same metropolitan area in the United States.
A work climate survey was sent to the population of 341 tenured and tenure track faculty at two highly selective private liberal arts colleges, one formerly all-male and the other formerly all-female. The response rate was 70%, yielding 237 respondents. Contrary to expectations, multiple regression revealed women were more satisfied at the former men’s college than the former women’s college. Specifically, women faculty at the former women’s college were less satisfied than their male peers with their opportunities for advancement in rank while gender had no effect at the former men’s college. I argue suggest that increasing the number of women teaching at the former women’s college constitutes a greater threat to the elite status of that institution than at the former men’s college.
The professional labor market in the United States remains sex segregated both horizontally and vertically. The academic labor market, in particular, is segregated horizontally with women overrepresented in some disciplines and underrepresented in others, particularly the natural and mathematical sciences. Even within a single field, women are more likely to specialize in particular subfields than in others.
Despite the influx of large numbers of women into academic positions in recent decades, in the United States, women still tend to hold lower-level and untenured positions while men are disproportionately represented in the upper ranks, producing vertical sex segregation. Globally, women are underrepresented at the rank of full professor. Furthermore, women have made more progress integrating the academic staff of predominantly undergraduate institutions in the United States,, especially women’s colleges or former women’s colleges, rather than at universities that award graduate degrees. I expect that women faculty will be more satisfied with their jobs at a former women’s college than at a former men’s college in the same metropolitan area in the United States.
A work climate survey was sent to the population of 341 tenured and tenure track faculty at two highly selective private liberal arts colleges, one formerly all-male and the other formerly all-female. The response rate was 70%, yielding 237 respondents. Contrary to expectations, multiple regression revealed women were more satisfied at the former men’s college than the former women’s college. Specifically, women faculty at the former women’s college were less satisfied than their male peers with their opportunities for advancement in rank while gender had no effect at the former men’s college. I argue suggest that increasing the number of women teaching at the former women’s college constitutes a greater threat to the elite status of that institution than at the former men’s college.
The professional labor market in the United States remains sex segregated both horizontally and vertically. The academic labor market, in particular, is segregated horizontally with women overrepresented in some disciplines and underrepresented in others, particularly the natural and mathematical sciences. Even within a single field, women are more likely to specialize in particular subfields than in others.
Despite the influx of large numbers of women into academic positions in recent decades, in the United States, women still tend to hold lower-level and untenured positions while men are disproportionately represented in the upper ranks, producing vertical sex segregation. Globally, women are underrepresented at the rank of full professor. Furthermore, women have made more progress integrating the academic staff of predominantly undergraduate institutions in the United States,, especially women’s colleges or former women’s colleges, rather than at universities that award graduate degrees. I expect that women faculty will be more satisfied with their jobs at a former women’s college than at a former men’s college in the same metropolitan area in the United States.
A work climate survey was sent to the population of 341 tenured and tenure track faculty at two highly selective private liberal arts colleges, one formerly all-male and the other formerly all-female. The response rate was 70%, yielding 237 respondents. Contrary to expectations, multiple regression revealed women were more satisfied at the former men’s college than the former women’s college. Specifically, women faculty at the former women’s college were less satisfied than their male peers with their opportunities for advancement in rank while gender had no effect at the former men’s college. I argue suggest that increasing the number of women teaching at the former women’s college constitutes a greater threat to the elite status of that institution than at the former men’s college.
Keywords
gender
higher education
occupational segregation
professions
