Where Are the Women? Accounting for Discrepancies in Female Doctorates in U.S. Geography

Abstract

Although there have been noticeable improvements in recent years, geography continues to be a predominantly male discipline. The percentage of women receiving PhDs in geography has tracked lower than the U.S. average of female PhDs. Previous studies of women's contribution to geography have focused on personal accounts or on the study of some of the most prominent practitioners, with a few studies using basic data on PhDs awarded and Association of American Geographers membership to determine trends. This article provides a comprehensive overview of doctoral degrees in geography by gender, over time, and across all universities in the United States by examining an alternative database, that of doctoral dissertations. The analysis yields three separate types of results. First, historical and contemporary variations among U.S. universities are examined. Second, data indicate that male and female doctoral students differ in the sex of their advisor. Third, a simple regression model explains some of the discrepancies in the proportion of female doctoral students by department. In sum, this article provides a comprehensive empirical study of the factors that might contribute to the continued disparities in female doctoral students in geography.

地理学儘管在近年来有了显着的改进, 但仍然是一门由男性主宰的学门。根据记录, 女性获得地理学博士学位的百分比, 仍然低于美国女性博士的比率。过往针对女性对地理学的贡献之研究, 多半聚焦个人记述, 或是对几位最为着名的学者之研究, 仅有少数研究运用博士学位授予的基本数据和美国地理学家学会的成员资格来判定趋势。本文透过检视替代性的数据集——博士学位论文, 提供依照性别、时间历程以及美国所有大学的地理学博士学位综览。本分析生产出三种不同的研究结果类型。 首先是对美国大学的历史性及当代变异之检验。再者, 数据显示男性与女性博士生的指导教授性别具有差异性。第三, 简易的迴归模型部分解释了女性博士生就系所而言的比例差异。简言之, 本文对于可能导致地理学中女性博士生的持续悬殊差异之因素, 提供了综合性的经验研究。

Si bien es notoria la mejoría ocurrida en años recientes, la geografía sigue siendo una disciplina predominantemente masculina. El porcentaje de mujeres que reciben el PhD en geografía ha marcado por debajo del promedio de los PhD femeninos en general. Estudios anteriores sobre la contribución de las mujeres a la geografía, para determinar tendencias, se han centrado en recuentos personales o en el estudio de las practicantes más destacadas del campo, con mínimos estudios que utilicen datos básicos sobre los PhD otorgados y membresía en la Asociación de Geógrafos Americanos. Este artículo provee un resumen comprensivo de los títulos doctorales en geografía por género, a través del tiempo y en todas las universidades de los Estados Unidos, examinando una base de datos alternativa, la de las disertaciones doctorales. El análisis produce tres diferentes tipos de resultados. Primero, se examinan las variaciones históricas y contemporáneas entre las universidades norteamericanas. Segundo, los datos indican que los estudiantes doctorales masculinos y femeninas difieren en el sexo de su consejero. Tercero, un simple modelo de regresión explica algunas de las discrepancias en la proporción de las estudiantes doctorales por departamento. En suma, este artículo provee un estudio empírico comprensivo de los factores que podrían contribuir a las perseverantes disparidades de las estudiantes doctorales en geografía.

Key Words:

• dissertations
• gender, history of geography, women

关键词:

• 学位论文
• 性别
• 地理学的历史
• 女性。

Palabras clave:

• disertaciones
• género
• historia de la geografía
• mujeres

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Mark Revell at the Association of American Geographers for providing us with some of the data on dissertations.

Note

Notes

1 We initially worked with some other variables that turned out to be less effective. For example, the National Research Council's ratings of doctoral departments on research effectiveness from 1995 were used as a proxy for departmental prestige. These were actual ratings utilized by the National Research Council as a prelude to ranking the departments. We also tried some regional dummy variables to see whether the broad location of universities might make a difference. Finally, we examined total faculty change as a measure of departmental growth. None of these variables proved statistically significant.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David H. Kaplan

DAVID H. KAPLAN is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include ethnic segregation, national identity, community development, and immigration.

Jennifer E. Mapes

JENNIFER E. MAPES is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests focus on sustainable urbanism in small towns, local impacts of global changes, and community planning.