Department Culture in Canadian Sciences & Engineering: An Empirical Test of the Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success Model

“Shining Armour”: what Margaret-Ann Armour taught us about equity, diversity, and inclusion and mentorship in the natural sciences

“…26 Thus, the FWCS results indicate that efforts to improve gender equity throughout academic institutions (i.e., targeted at department/unit, faculty/colleges, and university levels) would improve women NSE faculty members' career experiences and outcomes. 8,12,[24][25][26] To summarize, the results of the 2017-2018 FWCS indicated the following 1. Gender remains key to predicting which NSE faculty members will be more likely to report negative workplace experiences; 2. a gendered division of academic labour (e.g., inequitable distribution of research, service, and care work) is evidence of structural gender inequity in academic NSE in Canada; 3. the effects of gender bias against women (e.g., harassment/ discrimination) may be compounded, leading to additional professional marginalization, which helps maintain structural gender inequity in academic NSE in Canada (e.g., women's underrepresentation amongst the full professor rank); and 4. perceiving greater organizational gender equity (at the university, faculty/college, and department/unit levels) has a positive effect on women NSE faculty members.…”

“…At the department/unit level, we found that a Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS) was facilitated by supportive leadership (e.g., department head/chair). 25 Supportive leadership had a direct positive association with greater freedom from gender bias, greater support for work-life balance, greater equality of access to opportunities and resources, and increased career satisfaction. 25 Moreover, by increasing freedom from gender bias and supporting work-life balance, supportive department/unit leadership was also indirectly correlated with reduced emotional exhaustion.…”

“…25 Supportive leadership had a direct positive association with greater freedom from gender bias, greater support for work-life balance, greater equality of access to opportunities and resources, and increased career satisfaction. 25 Moreover, by increasing freedom from gender bias and supporting work-life balance, supportive department/unit leadership was also indirectly correlated with reduced emotional exhaustion. 25 Accordingly, as long as NSE department/ unit cultures lack supportive leaders, lack support for work-life balance, and are characterized by gender bias, we may expect women to report less career satisfaction and more exhaustion than if they received more support and encountered less bias.…”

The Effect of Women Academic Leaders on Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Professors

“…Even though university power is decentralized-distributed amongst the central administration and individual units including faculties/colleges and departments, each with their own leaders-men tend to hold a disproportionate number of senior positions across these units (Bird, 2011). Accordingly, to the extent that women are underrepresented across academic leadership, their ability to positively influence workplace cultures, including gender equity, is limited (Peter et al, 2020).…”