Department Culture in Canadian Sciences & Engineering: An Empirical Test of the Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success Model

Abstract

We tested four proposed dimensions of a Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS; i.e., supportive leadership, freedom from gender bias, equal access to opportunities, and support for work-life balance) on a sample of women faculty from Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE) departments/units. The results of our serial and parallel mediation analysis confirmed the CCWAS dimensions, and further indicated that a positive NSE department/unit culture supports women’s career satisfaction and may reduce their emotional exhaustion. Accordingly, our findings suggest that investing in local gender equity interventions to improve department/unit culture may be an effective way to improve women’s experiences and help retain women in academic NSE positions, as a result.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ We recognize that gender identity is not limited to the binary of man/woman. However, for the purposes of this analysis and the limitations of our particular dataset/sample, we refer to gender as a binary concept.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Women in Sciences and Engineering Program.