New Professional Demands, Old Professional Problems: Gender Equity and Satisfaction in the Changing Academy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: Faculty and Student Diversity on Campus

Abstract

Women’s membership in the professoriate is no longer openly questioned in Western institutions. However, in many ways higher education continues to favor men’s accomplishments. Questioning gender equity in academia is particularly salient as institutions employ more contract instructors, who are primarily women. The purpose of this study was to investigate how new professional demands impact faculty members’ job responsibilities and satisfaction as mediated by gender and organizational status. Using a data set of 35,000 instructors from over 1,000 universities, the researchers found that women reported spending more time than men in unpaid tasks for every role except instructor. Men reported significantly more hours in paid tasks compared to women, but spent less time doing unpaid work as they achieved rank.

Authors

• Nancy S. Niemi, Yale University

• Julia B. Smith, Oakland University