Women in Academia: The Lived Experiences of Selected Mid-Career Women Faculty in STEM

• In Event: Investigating Gender and Sexuality in the Academy

Abstract

Women’s professional advancement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has been a concern to many who consider these fields less friendly to women, especially in academia. This study focused on six mid-career female faculty in STEM fields at a public, selective, liberal arts institution. The researchers designed and presented a phenomenological study utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, to highlight components, interactions, and ideologies that underpin the participants’ perceptions and experiences. Our participant’s lived experiences provided evidence to gender penalty that exists widely in previous literature, but also portrayed active, post-tenure academic lives for mid-career STEM female faculty, entailing challenges and opportunities that continue to unfold in their academic paths.

Authors

• Yi Hao, University of Virginia

• Donna Milligan, College of William and Mary