TENURED FACULTY GENDER MAKEUP Although recent
efforts have been made to increase the number of women in
tenure-track faculty positions, they continue to lag behind as a
total portion of tenured faculty at UCLA. All figures are from
1999-2000, the latest year for which complete statistics are
avaliable. SOURCE: Academic Personnel Office, Chancellor’s Office,
Gender and Equity Committee Original graphic by VICTOR CHEN/Daily
Bruin Web adaptation by STEPHEN WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
In response to a report by the Gender Equity Committee in
October 2000, UCLA has taken steps over the past year to increase
the number of women in the workplace.
The report, which found that there are still fewer female
tenured faculty as compared to males, prompted the university to
seek expansion of its childcare services for faculty members and
the establishment of a new vice chancellor position and four new
committees to address the gender equity issue.
Sherie Morrison, chair of the microbiology, immunology and
molecular genetics department and a member of the committee that
released the report, said the benefits of increasing the number of
women in the faculty extend beyond gender equality.
“It’s important to have women well represented on
faculty, because the female viewpoint is different, and it’s
good for students to be exposed to that,” Morrison said.
“We also need them to serve as role models for other
women,” she continued.
The equity committee, appointed by former Vice Chancellor for
Academic Personnel Norman Abrams, found that in terms of total
monetary compensation, men earn 11.4 percent more on average and
that there are differences in the rates at which men and women are
promoted.
Figures from the 2000 report showed that 265 of the 1,128, or 23
percent, of tenured faculty, which includes associate and full
professorships, were women.
According to a later report in May 2001, it was found that in
the 1998-99 academic year, women accounted for 14 of the 51
tenure-track faculty appointments. During the 1999-2000 school
year, that number was 11 out of 61 and as of May of this year, 22
of the 65 faculty hired for the 2000-01 year were women.
The 2001 report stated that if present trends continue, it would
take more than 50 years to achieve gender equality in tenured
faculty positions.
“The issues of not having as many women as men are complex
and have been around a long time,” Morrison said.
In most cases, Morrison said, the disparity can be attributed to
child-rearing responsibilities falling primarily on women. Morrison
herself worked part-time at Columbia University while raising a
child to stay on track for tenure.
“In science, if you stop, the field moves so rapidly that
your skills get outmoded,” she said, adding that working
part-time allowed her to keep up with her field.
According to the 2000 report, though the childcare at UCLA is of
high quality, it cannot accommodate many faculty.
Donna Vredevoe, Abrams’ successor as vice chancellor, said
increasing childcare is important for attracting female
faculty.
She said that Chancellor Albert Carnesale has been working to
increase funds to expand the number of children handled by the
university’s childcare facilities. Plans are in place to
expand the facilities to manage 100 additional children.
The administration is also screening candidates for the new
position of vice chancellor for diversity, which will take effect
January 2002.
Meanwhile, the equity committee has recommended the creation of
four follow-up committees: a health sciences committee to review
compensation practices in the medical sciences; a data committee to
collect data for sophisticated analysis; a climate committee to
analyze important non-salary aspects of faculty life; and an
oversight committee that monitors and coordinates the other
three.
“(The committees) have been jointly working over the
summer and are making substantial progress in terms of data
collection,” Vredevoe said.
She said that continual efforts are made to ensure assessing
achievement for tenure is as objective a process as possible.
She also said that time taken off for childbearing ““ or
child rearing in the case of male faculty ““ does not affect
the pursuit of tenure, nor are faculty members penalized for the
lost time.
She further encouraged female students to consider university
teaching careers.
“If they consider a career in teaching, they will see that
the system will support them and will find an excellent working
environment,” she said.
According to Joe Mandel, vice chancellor of legal affairs, his
department has litigated fewer than a handful of cases involving
alleged gender-driven tenure denial.
Nevertheless, Morrison said she is disappointed with the rate of
progress in achieving gender equality in faculty positions, and
that more efforts are necessary.
“Although progress has been made, there is so much that
needs to be done,” she said.