Gender differences in faculty attrition in the USA

Abstract

In this study, we examined possible gender differences in reasons for faculty attrition during the last 20 years at a small women's liberal arts college. The attrition rate was calculated from archival data collected through old college directories. As in earlier studies, the attrition rate was higher for women (31%) than for men (18.5%). Reasons for leaving the college were assessed in an online survey completed by 45 out of 66 tenure-track or tenured professors who left (excluding retirees). Work–family conflict was the most frequently cited reason for leaving, with disproportionately more women than men giving this reason. Open-ended responses revealed that work–family conflict typically referred to the difficulty of coordinating two careers. Female faculty who left were also significantly more dissatisfied than males with the support for balancing work and family life at the college. The need for colleges to create spousal policies to help faculty coordinate dual careers was discussed.

Dans cette étude, nous avons examiné en quoi les possibles différences entre les sexes pourraient compter parmi les raisons qui expliqueraient l'attrition des effectifs des personnels d'enseignement et de recherche au cours de ces vingt dernières années dans une petite université d'arts libéraux pour femmes . Le taux d'attrition a été calculée à partir des données d'archives recueillies dans les anciens répertoires de la université. Selon des études antérieures, le taux d'attrition était plus élevé chez les femmes (31%) que chez les hommes (18.5%). Les raisons de ces départs ont été recensées par un sondage en ligne qui a été complété par 45 des 66 des professeurs titulaires ou contractuels qui ont quitté l'établissement (hors retraités). La raison la plus fréquemment invoquée est un conflit travail-famille, réponse donnée de manière disproportionnée puisqu'invoquée par plus de femmes que d'hommes. Les réponses ouvertes ont révélé que le conflit travail-famille renvoie à la difficulté de mener de front deux carrières. Par ailleurs, les professeures qui sont parties étaient significativement plus insatisfaites que leurs homologues masculins du soutien de l'institution quant à la possibilité d'équilibrer travail et vie de famille. La nécessité pour les universités de créer des politiques concernant les conjoints afin d'aider les professeurs à coordonner leur double-carrière a été discutée.

Keywords:

• faculty attrition
• women faculty
• gender difference
• work–family
• dual-career couple

Mots-clés:

• diminution du nombre d'universitaires
• femmes universitaire
• la difference entre les sexes
• travail-famille
• couple à double carrière

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Sarah Adelman for raising the original idea for the study, Gerald Epstein for comments on a previous version of the manuscript, Alice Martin for providing a French translation of the abstract, Amanda Gould for compiling faculty rosters, Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections for providing the old college directories, and many current Mount Holyoke staff for their assistance in locating former faculty members.

Funding

Funding was provided by the Harap Fund.

Notes on contributors

Beier Yao was an undergraduate psychology major at Mount Holyoke College. She discovered a passion for psychological/sociological research and started collaborating with faculty on research during her sophomore year. After graduation, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology. She is interested in writing and has published more than 30 essays in magazines and newspaper in Chinese.

Francine M. Deutsch is a professor of psychology at Mount Holyoke College. She attended Carnegie-Mellon University as an undergraduate and received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Columbia University. Her research focuses on the gendered division of domestic labor. Her book, Halving It All: How Equally Shared Parenting Works (Harvard University Press, 1999) explored how couples reinvented parenting by sharing it equally. Additional articles she has written include ‘College students’ plans for different types of egalitarian marriage,’ ‘The double standard of praise and criticism for mothers and fathers,’ ‘How gender counts when couples count their money,’ ‘Paternal participation in childcare and its effects on children's self-esteem and attitudes towards gendered roles.’ Journals publishing her work include Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Family Issues, Sex Roles, Psychology of Women Quarterly, and Journal of Marriage and Families. She is currently collecting case studies of equally sharing couples around the world for an edited book.

Notes

1. Unless otherwise stated, all studies cited were conducted in the USA.

2. The college studied had no male professors until 1899. By 1949, a third of the professors were male, and by 1999 a majority were male. In 2010, there were 92 females and 89 males on the faculty.

3. These gender differences in salary are greater than reported in the earlier comparisons because they include research universities and other coeducational institutions that differ from women's liberal arts colleges on numerous dimensions.

4. The quotations were edited to eliminate the college's name.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: Funding was provided by the Harap Fund.