Gender Differences in Faculty Satisfaction Levels at Harvard University

A new survey of Harvard faculty by the university’s Office for Faculty Development and Diversity finds that 81 percent of all faculty members are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their job. Some 15 percent of all faculty at Harvard said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied.

Despite improvement from previous survey, some gender gaps remain. Tenured women faculty were the least satisfied and tenured men were the most satisfied. Tenure-track men and women fell in between. The survey also found that women faculty members reported greater personal stress than their male counterparts. Much of this stress was associated with child care issues or elder care. Claudia Goldin, the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard, stated, “the data shows not just that women feel the most stress, but probably that they are the ones responding to the crises with their children and parents.”

Women faculty reported that they spend twice as much time per week on household duties than male faculty members. Professor Goldin said that “this makes the work-life issue much more important at universities. But it also reveals that more women believe they can handle both.”