Productivity and Leadership Patterns of Female Faculty Members in Public Administration

Abstract

Though the number of female faculty members has risen in public administration programs throughout the nation, few studies have analyzed the advances made by them at universities and colleges. The most commonly used method of examining success in academic settings is by analyzing the research productivity patterns of faculty members. However, evaluation should not be limited to measuring publication productivity alone, but also through measuring gender equity in leadership positions. Thus the purpose of this research is to analyze the scholarly output and leadership patterns of faculty members in fields of public administration and policy by gender. The study uses data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients to examine career trajectories and 241 schools offering degrees in public administration, affairs, policy, and management listed on the NASPAA website to examine leadership patterns by gender. The results suggest that female faculty members have lower productivity despite controlling for demographic, institutional, and career factors. However, when interaction terms are introduced between female faculty and ages of children, the productivity gap by gender disappears.

Keywords:

• research productivity
• gender
• public administration faculty
• diversity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meghna Sabharwal

Dr. Meghna Sabharwal is an assistant professor in the Public Affairs Program in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests are focused on workforce policy as it relates to job satisfaction, productivity, diversity, and comparative human resource issues. Dr. Sabharwal’s work is published in academic journals such as Public Administration, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Research Policy, Social Science Journal, and Government Information Quarterly among others.