Most tenured professors are men, locally and nationally. But female faculty at the University might only need a few years to catch up.
In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did a study which found that 70 percent of tenured professors nationwide at the time were men, according to an article in the Dallas Morning News.
Once given tenure, professors stand little chance of losing their job until they retire. The promotion is available only to those who have shown their value to an institution after years of teaching and research.
At the University, 380 of the 568 tenured professors are men, which amounts to 67 percent, falling only three points below the national average.
But there’s good news for the University’s female faculty if statistics from the Institutional Studies Department are any indication.
Though tenured men greatly outnumber their female counterparts at the University, this year women account for 49 percent of tenure-track faculty – those working toward tenure. In addition, women have closed the tenure gap by 5 percent since the fall of 1997.
More increases should be on the way. Over the next few years, many of 106 women making up that 49 percent will apply for the promotion, according to Diane Regan, director of faculty immigration services on campus.
The road to tenure is long, and women are still trying to reach its end, Regan said. “It usually takes about six years of experience in higher education to earn tenure.” When they get there, the gender gap could be much smaller.
A better-educated female population could be one factor causing the increase in women on the path to promotion.
“More women graduated with Ph.D.’s last year than men,” Regan said. “So the candidates for the job are there.”
It is also possible that old hiring habits of a male-dominated faculty are on the way out, she added. “(When in power), you tend to try to replace yourself with people like you.”
An attitude change could be at work, Regan continued, “I think people are now much more sensitive to having the workplace reflect the population at large.”
Regan, who also is an Affirmative Action officer, investigates complaints of inequity in hiring and admissions at the University. Her department and other groups striving for equality might be helping women’s chances at promotion, she said. “I’d like to think (the increase) is because the University’s efforts toward equity … are having an effect.”
There are also more women faculty at the University than before, which means more women are around to go for tenure. In 1997, the 228 female faculty members at the University accounted for only 1/3 of its full timers. Now, they number 334 – over 40 percent.
Gender equality in the tenure process is no small goal because achieving tenure is no small promotion.
“Job security is its biggest perk,” Regan said. “Tenure is the University’s way of saying, ‘We are investing in you for the rest of your career.’ Unless they do something horrible, they can anticipate a contract till they retire.”
There’s more freedom for research, too.
Tenured professors have more chance to follow their own projects, she said. “It lets professors do research that’s important but maybe not as popular.”
Though tenure itself doesn’t include a salary increase, tenure-track professors, through their teaching, research and service, usually move from assistant to associate professor around tenure time, Regan said. And that means about $3,500 more a year.
