All Entries in the "Research/Study" Category
Women Are Scarce Among the Top Earners at America’s Most Prestigious Universities
The report from the American Association of University Women found that women were only 24 percent of the top-10 earners at 130 elite universities. At eight of the 130 universities, there were no women among the top-10 earners. A woman was the highest-salaried employee at just 18 percent of the institutions surveyed.
Study Documents a 20 Percent Drop in Publishing Activity After Women Academics Give Birth
The study led by researchers at the University of Colorado suggests that persistent differences in parenting roles are the key reason that men tend to publish more research papers than women. Because publishing is closely linked to promotion, this gender gap could have long-term impacts on academia.
Women Making Snail-Like Progress in College Coaching and Sports Administration
The latest report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida finds that women held the head coaching job for only 41 percent of all women’s athletic teams in the NCAA’s Division I. In contrast, 95.8 percent of all head coaches for men’s teams in Division I are men.
The Gender Gap in College Enrollments of Recent High School Graduates
New U.S. Census Bureau data shows that in 2019, 61.3 percent of male high school graduates had enrolled in postsecondary education by October of that year. For women high school graduates in 2019, 69.3 percent were enrolled in college by October.
Women in the Health Sciences Face Significant Barriers and the Pandemic Made Things Worse
In a study conducted prior to the pandemic, scholars at Florida International University found several significant barriers facing early-career women researchers in the health sciences. The authors state that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated women’s opportunities to achieve success in the field.
Stanford University Study Finds That Lack of Self Confidence Can Explain Part of the Gender Pay Gap in STEM Fields
Researchers found that women earned $61,000 in their first jobs compared to $65,000 for men, despite having the same degrees and grade point averages. According to the subjects’ answers to questions about their capabilities, the researchers concluded that a portion of the pay gap between men and women could be explained by a gap in self-confidence.
A Snapshot in Time of Gender Disparities in School Enrollments in the United States
Overall, boys and men are slightly more likely than girls and women to be enrolled in school. But in the traditional college years of 18 to 21 and traditional graduate school years between 22-29, women are significantly more likely than men to be enrolled in school.
Paid Maternal Leave Has Long-Term Health Benefits for Women Who Receive It
The results of a study of a large group of women who gave birth in the late 1970s showed that women who were given paid maternal leave had lower blood pressure, a lower body mass index, lower cholesterol levels, were less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise when they reached the age of 40.
Study Finds That Women Presenters at Economic Conferences Are Treated Differently Than Men
Researchers found that women are asked more questions during a seminar and the questions asked of women presenters are more likely to be patronizing or hostile. The authors point to their results as yet another potential explanation for their under-representation at senior levels within the economics profession.
Study Finds Early Academic Excellence Does Not Lead to Future Occupational Success
A study by women sociologists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of British Columbia found that women parents who achieved straight A’s in high schools supervised on average about the same number of employees as did male students who flunked their high school courses.
Scholars Call for an Increase in the Number of Women Mentoring Men
Much attention has been paid to the value of junior women in business working with a mentor. The authors of a new study state that “by mentoring men, women may be able to reduce gender bias, normalize interactions between the genders, and create a new generation of allies.”
A Woman’s Appearance Impacts Their Perceived Credibility on Sexual Harassment Claims
A new study by researchers at Colby College in Maine, Princeton University in New Jersey, and the University of Washington finds that women who are young, “conventionally attractive” and appear and act feminine are more likely to be believed when making accusations of sexual harassment than other women.
Gender Differences in Well-Being for College Graduates Ten Years After Earning Their Degrees
Ten years after earning their bachelor’s degree, women worked on average 37.7 hours a week, compared to 42 hours for men. For full-time workers, women had an average income of $71,518 compared to an average income of men of $91,524.
Dartmouth Researchers Finds a Persistent “Chilly Climate” for Women in College Classrooms
The researchers found that men students speak 1.6 times as often as women in college classrooms. When students didn’t have to raise their hands to participate in class, men spoke three times more often than women.
The Gender Gap in Medical School Enrollments Is Widening in Women’s Favor
All told, in 2020, there were 94,243 students enrolled in U.S. medical schools. Women made up 51.5 percent of total enrollments. For the past five years, women’s enrollments have increased by at least 3 percent each year. During the same time period, the enrollment of men has declined slightly.
New Consortium to Research Concussions Among Victims of Intimate Partner Violence
Males and females experience IPV, but violence against women tends to result in more severe and chronic injuries. Due to the high degree of physical aggression associated with this type of abuse, there is a significant risk for traumatic brain injury. A new research group is seeking to learn how this head trauma affects cognitive and psychological functioning in women.
Did Women Leaders Do a Better Job Managing the Pandemic Than Their Male Counterparts?
An analysis of 175 countries around the world, lead by Leah Windsor, a research assistant professor in the Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis, found that there were slightly lower reported fatality rates in countries led by women. But these results were not statistically significant.
A Look at Gender Disparities in Union Membership and Wages
Women who were members of labor unions in 2020 had an average weekly wage of $1,067. For women who were not union members, the average weekly wage was $862. Thus, for women, on average, nonunion workers made only 81 percent of the wages of union members.
Gender Gap in Employment and Salary for Students Who Earned Doctorates in 2019
For 2019 doctoral recipients who had a job offer, 49.3 percent of women had accepted positions in the academic arena. For men who had job offers, only were 34.3 were heading to academia. Some 27.1 of women doctoral recipients in 2019 had job commitments in the corporate world compared to 48.4 percent of men.
Study Warns That Women Graduate Students in Chemistry Are Not Receiving Adequate Support
A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon finds that insufficient interactions with advisers and peers, as well as financial problems, are derailing career aspirations of women and minority groups pursuing graduate degrees in the nation’s highest-funded chemistry programs.
Affirmative Action for Women in Hiring Decisions in Hotel Management Can Improve the Bottom Line
New research led by the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management suggests hotel companies that promote a woman over an equally qualified man are perceived as fairer and less discriminatory, creating a stronger organizational culture and higher financial performance.
The Gender Gap in Financing Doctoral Education
About one out of every five women who earned a doctorate paid for their degrees primarily from their own funds or saving. For men who earned doctorates in 2019, only 11.4 percent used their own funds or savings as the primary source for paying for their education. The average graduate student debt for women was 41 percent higher than the average for men.
College Athletic Powerhouses Receive a Grade of F in Gender Equity in Leadership Posts
In the Fall of 2020, there were 23 women who served as president or chancellor of the 130 educational institutions that make up the Football Bowl Subdivision of the NCAA’s Division I. There are only 12 women among the 130 athletic directors at these colleges and universities.
Study Examines the Athletic Performance of Transgender Women
Of the 200,000 women who participate in college sports, it is estimated that about 50 are transgender athletes. The National Collegiate Athletic Association requires that transgender women undergo testosterone suppression treatment for a year before becoming eligible for women’s events. A new study argues that one year is not enough to ensure fair competition.
Gender Differences in the Age of Doctoral Degree Recipients in the United States
On average, women who earned doctorates were 31.9 years old when they received their doctoral degrees. For men, the average age was 31.3. But when we break the figures down by age group, we see more pronounced differences.
The Gender Gap in Faculty Positions at the University of Michigan
Data from the University of Michigan shows that in 2019, women make up 35 percent of all tenured or tenure-track faculty at the university. As is the case nationally, the gender gap is the most pronounced at the full professor level.
Women Are Far Less Likely Than Men to Die as a Result of Work-Related Injuries, But the Gap is Shrinking
New statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that in 2019, 437 women died from work-related injuries. This was 8.2 percent of all work-related fatalities due to injury. But the number of fatalities suffered by women due to work-related injuries is up 27 percent from 2015.
The Year in Review: Notable Research on Women in Higher Education in 2020
Over the course of 2020, WIAReport has published a large number of posts highlighting research on women in higher education. In case readers missed some of these posts, here are links to some of the items published over the past year that related to research on women in higher education.
Ranking the States by the Percentage of Women Among Their Doctoral Degree Recipients
There is a wide disparity between the states in the awarding of doctoral degrees to women. For example, in Alaska, women earned 61.9 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2019. In contrast, women earned only 30.4 percent of all doctorates in the state of South Dakota.
Northwestern University Study Examines Men and Women’s Perceptions of the Ultra-Thin Body Type
The authors conclude that “men do not find the ultra-thin body ideal for women as attractive as women believe men do. These gender-based misconceptions may contribute to the negative effects of viewing ultra-thin media images on women’s body image.”
The Large Gender Gap in Doctoral Awards in Specific Academic Disciplines
While women have generally closed the gender gap in doctoral degree awards, there are a number of specific disciplines where women continue to lag men in earned doctorates by a substantial margin. In many other fields, women earn more than three quarters of all doctorates awarded by universities in the United States.
Study Led by UCLA Faculty Finds Prenatal Stress of Mothers May Negatively Impact a Child’s Aging Process
The researchers found evidence that maternal stress during pregnancy adversely affects the length of a baby’s telomeres — the small pieces of DNA at the ends of chromosomes. Shortened telomeres have been linked to a higher risk of cancers, cardiovascular and other diseases, and earlier death.
Academic Study Examines the Best Way to Increase Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards
A new working paper of the European Corporate Governance Institute, written by scholars at Washington University, the University of Alabama, and Northwestern University, finds that shareholder influence is more effective in diversifying boards of directors than mandates by governments or financial organizations.
National Science Foundation Reports a Slight Drop in Doctoral Degree Attainments by Women
The National Science Foundation reports that in 2019, 17,994 American women earned doctorates at U.S. colleges and universities. From 2016 to 2018, more than 18,000 American women earned doctorates each year. Women earning doctoral degrees has increased 10.2 percent since 2010. For men the increase has been 13.1 percent.
AAUP Report Examines the Status of Women in the Academy
Among the key findings of the report from the American Association of University Professors is that for tenure-line faculty members, women make up 50.0 percent of assistant professors but only 45.0 percent of associate professors and 32.5 percent of full professors.
