For Immediate Release
February 11, 1996

ARE WOMEN SUCCEEDING IN SCIENCE? NATIONAL STUDY EXAMINES EFFECTS OF DEPARTMENTAL FACTORS IN DOCTORAL EDUCATION

A new national study of the organizational dynamics within university science and engineering departments finds subtle but important gender-based differences that may affect career outcomes for women.

Results of the National Science Foundation-sponsored study of over 2,000 doctoral students in science and engineering, the first of its kind to examine these factors, was presented February 11 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Baltimore, MD. Directed by Georgia Institute of Technology Sociologist Dr. Mary Frank Fox, the study's findings include:

• Men are more likely than women to report that they are "taken seriously by faculty; and that they are respected by faculty."
• Women are more likely than men to report feeling "great pressure" to show research results.
• Despite strong preferences for collaboration by both men and women students, women report collaborating with fewer male graduate students and male faculty in research and publications over the three years preceding the survey.
• Men are more apt than women to have received help from faculty advisors in such crucial areas as learning to design research, write grant proposals, co-author publications and organize people.
• Women are more likely than men to view their relationship with their advisor as one of "student-and-faculty," compared to mentee-mentor or colleagues, suggesting greater "formality and social distance" for women students.
• In questions about the outcomes of graduate education, the study found that men published more papers than women, and were more likely to report that they will receive their degrees.
• In departments that have been increasing the proportion of degrees awarded to women, qualifying exams are more likely to be written and to have "known, objective standards."

The findings may help researchers understand why the proportion of women at the highest ranks of science and engineering has not increased significantly during the past two decades. It may also help guide programs designed to address the inequities between women and men in academic science and engineering.

Dr. Mary Frank Fox (seated) and students Kathryn Michaelis (l) and Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh review surveys used in the study of doctoral students in science and engineering.

"Although we see increasing numbers of women obtaining advanced degrees, these degrees are not translating into equity in participation and performance," said Fox, a professor in Georgia Tech's School of History, Technology and Society. "We must ask if there is something in doctoral education that is causing women and men to have different experiences and outcomes."

Over the past two decades, the number of women receiving doctoral degrees in science and engineering fields has increased significantly. But despite the passage of 15-25 years for the maturing of academic careers, Fox noted, that growth has not translated into a significant increase in the proportion of women attaining the rank of full professor.

Previous studies have shown that men and women doctoral students in science and engineering are equally likely to attend prestigious universities and to obtain research assistantships. In addition, women students in these fields tend to score higher on intelligence tests and to receive higher grades than men.

Despite the disparities found in the new study, its results also suggest that the gap between men and women can be narrowed through organizational efforts. Sex-based disparities tended to be less in departments that granted a high proportion of science and engineering degrees to women, and in those departments that have been increasing their proportion of women graduates.

Departmental policies such as the establishment of known and objective standards for exams appear to improve the outcome for women students, Fox found.

"In departments that are more positive in terms of degrees awarded to women, exams are more likely to be written even if oral exams are also given," she said. "A written examination may be less prone to subjectivity than an oral examination."

Also, the chemistry, computer science, electrical engineering and physics students Fox surveyed reported that university departments differ dramatically in their attitudes toward students.

"Some departments take a stance of moving students along and helping them succeed," Fox explained, "while other departments have a stance of shipping students through their programs and allowing them to either sink or swim."

Organizational issues within departments are critical to success in science and engineering because these fields are social by nature -- more so than the humanities.

"Compared to the humanities, the sciences are more likely to be performed in teamwork rather than solo, to be carried out with costly equipment, to require funding, and to be more interdependent enterprises," she explained. "From an organizational perspective, achievements of women and men are a consequence of the characteristics and practices of educational and work settings."

Because science and engineering are group endeavors, more than 90 percent of the students surveyed report that student research groups played a more important role in their educational experiences than the department. Likewise, the relationship between faculty advisors and students appears to be more important in science and engineering than in the humanities.

The issue of gender differences in science and engineering education is important because it represents a significant national investment, Fox argues. "Training in science and engineering is a public investment, and it is expensive," she noted. "Science and engineering education is funded through tax subsidies, the profits of corporations and the student themselves. We can't afford to squander this investment."

Related Information:

"Women in Science and Engineering: Viewing Gender Differences from an Organizational Context," article in Research Horizons Magazine, Winter 1995.

RESEARCH NEWS AND PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100
Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA

MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS:
John Toon (404-894-6986);
Internet: john.toon@edi.gatech.edu;
FAX: (404-894-4545)

RESEARCHER:
Dr. Mary Frank Fox, (404-894-1818); FAX: (404-894-0535)

WRITER: John Toon