Promotion and Tenure: Community and Socialization in Academe.

Women in Higher Education Since 1970: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

“…Although the women professors surveyed by Washburn (2004) in 1997 did not express concerns about underrepresentation of women, the current results are consistent with Washburn's respondents in other areas, particularly climate, worklife issues, and influence and power. Unfortunately, younger women seem to be starting their careers with many of the same concerns (Tierney & Bensimon, 1996) without personally experiencing the improvements that are salient to senior women. Although these studies that focus solely on women's perceptions cannot demonstrate that women in higher education experience more problems than men in comparable positions, that conclusion is consistent with other findings from national surveys.…”

“…Benokraitis (1998) distinguishes individual subtle sex discrimination from organizational, institutional, and cultural subtle discrimination that can be addressed only by fundamental changes in colleges and universities and in higher education in general. Along the same lines, Tierney & Bensimon (1996) argue that gender-neutral policies are not sufficient to eliminate discrimination, which would require "critical and gender-based appraisals of academic structures, practices, and policies as well as the elimination of language and interactions that create hostile, patronizing, or indifferent workplaces for women" (p. 76). Nor is increasing numbers sufficient.…”

“…Junior women who were in situations with a critical mass of female colleagues tended to report a more favorable situation. Tierney and Bensimon (1996) argue that the typically non-supportive climate for women and their reactions to the institutional culture are related to previously demonstrated gender differences such as higher attrition, lower tenure and promotion rates, and lower productivity for women. The experiences of these junior women are important, but it is unclear to what extent their experiences are dependent on their insecure junior status, and new entrants to higher education cannot by themselves demonstrate whether women's situation has improved or remained constant.…”

“…As part of a larger project on the socialization of junior faculty, Tierney and Bensimon (1996) interviewed 99 junior tenure-track women on 12campuses during 1992-93 and 1993-94. They explored the hiring process and the reception of the new faculty member once hired and concluded that these women generally face a climate that does not support or affirm them, due primarily to unconscious sexism that persists in the traditionally male academic environment.…”

Appeasing Women Faculty: A Case Study in Gender Politics

“…These data are consistent with the findings of other studies indicating that, in so far as colleges and universities do change in ways that recognize the difficulties facing their women faculties, they are slow to do so. Such reticence has been reported in the handling of issues such as promotion and tenure (Tierney & Bensimon, 1996), leave policies (Laughlin & Baretta, 1990), compensation (Glazer-Raymo, 1999), and academic acceptance of feminist scholarship (Martin, 2000).…”