wfc spring reception 2009 wfc co-chairs: caroline hayes pat frazier

WFC Spring Reception 2009

WFC co-Chairs: Caroline HayesPat Frazier

Women’s Faculty Cabinet (WFC)

• Mission▫ To improve and enrich academic and professional

environment of women faculty▫ To ensure a strong commitment by the University to

the success of its women faculty

• WFC is completing its third year,• Approach:

▫ Investigate status of women on campus,▫ Propose policy and programs to improve status,▫ Recognize, celebrate and connect women faculty across

campus.

WFC Activities in 2008-09

• Assessing status and climate at U of M:▫ Analyzed Pulse Survey by gender and rank,▫ Minnesota Futures grant proposal: climate

assessment,▫ Initiated salary equity study.

• Policy Recommendations (Larson): ▫ Search and P&T committee composition:

Women (and members of underrepresented groups) assigned to search and P&T committees should be of similar rank and tenure status as the men (or high-power group).

It is not enough to insure that such committees have broad demographic representation. The rank, particularly of those from underrepresented groups, must also be considered if all voices are to be heard.

WFC Activities in 2008-09 (continued)

• Recognizing, celebrating & connecting faculty women▫ Selection of speakers for Ada Comstock Lectures:

Sara Evans: The Glass Ceiling is Broken, Jane Davidson: Solar After Dark,

▫ Website: http://www.academic.umn.edu/wfc/index.html

▫ Newsletter: http://www.academic.umn.edu/wfc/documents/wfc_newsletter.pdf

▫ Fall and Spring Receptions.

The PULSE of Women at the U of M

WFC Spring Reception 2009

Colleen Flaherty Manchester

U of M PULSE Survey• Biennial survey of faculty and staff

▫ Goal is to measure faculty and staff satisfaction with the U of M as an employer and use the data to continuously improve the employee experience.

▫ Years: 2004, 2006, 2008. Next survey in 2010.• Sponsored by Human Resources and Institutional

Research under the direction of Carol Carrier with collaboration of Prof. Theresa Glomb

▫ Composition of sample: Female (56.9%), Male (39.3%), Choose not to answer (1.1%), Transgender (0.1%)

SexAcademic Rank Female Male Total

Assistant 135 129 264

Associate 147 143 290

Full 126 326 452

Total 408 598 1,006

Today’s Featured Results•Breakdown responses by sex and by rank

▫Job Satisfaction ▫Pay Satisfaction▫Job Stress

Work & family demands Work-family conflict Coping mechanisms & life adjustments

•Results by majority/minority racioethnic groups (not shown)

•Limit analysis to male vs. female

Job Satisfaction• Job satisfaction is associated with many important

outcomes such as turnover, commitment, and job performance (Judge et al., 2001)

• Finding: High degree of job satisfaction across all ranks & both sexes▫No significant differences between males and

females. ▫Similar to previous studies

Faculty (e.g., Olsen, Maple, & Stage, 1995) Other professional employees, such as lawyers (e.g.,

Mobley et al., 1994; Resnick& Crosby, 2006) and accountants (e.g., Chatman, 1991)

Pay Satisfaction • Four categories of pay satisfaction: pay level,

benefits, raise, and pay structure

• Finding: Across all ranks, females significantly less satisfied with pay structure.• Pay structure includes consistency, across

departments, & within departments.

Assistant Associate Full All ranks Staff0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Satisfaction with Pay Structure

FemaleMale

** * * *

Job Stress• Measure of overall level of job stress• Finding: Females, particularly in senior

ranks, express higher job stress▫Note: Difference not found among staff

employees


1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

I feel a great deal of stress because of my job

FemaleMale

* * *

Job Stress: Time Allocation• Weekly work hours not statistically different

by sex across rank▫U of M Faculty at all ranks work between 54

and 57 hours per week.▫ In other professions there is evidence that men

work longer hours than women

* Significant at p<.01

Female Male Source

Physicians* 48 56 Boulis (2004)

Finance* 50.8 53.7 Blair-Loy& Wharton (2004)

Managers 47.5 50.3 Scandura&Lankau (1997)

Faculty* 47.7 49.4 Bellas&Toutkoushina (1999)

U of M Faculty 54.8 55.7 PULSE 2008 Survey

U of M Staff* 38.6 39.5 PULSE 2008 Survey

Job Stress – Higher Work Demands•Subsequent question about sources of

stress•Females report significantly higher work

demands▫e.g., Having to complete a lot of work,

working very hard, working at a rapid pace, under time pressure, etc.

Assistant Associate Full All ranks1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

"Challenge Stressors"

FemaleMale

* * *

Non-work Demands•Females across all ranks report

substantially more time spent on childcare•Females also more likely to have elder care

responsibilities▫Mirrors societal trend (Gornick& Meyers,

2003)▫Difference by sex is smaller among staff


5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Weekly hours spent on childcare

FemaleMale


5

10

15

20

25

Percent with elder care responsibilities

FemaleMale

* *

*

** *

* *

Family Life•Higher time demands not due to greater

number of children, but greater responsibility for childcare▫Existing research: Female faculty are less

likely to have at least one child and 2/3 believe childbearing negatively affected their career (Jones, 1990; Perna, 2001)

▫Finding: U of M female faculty have significantly fewer children


0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Number of children or dependents

FemaleMale

* *

*

Intersection between Work & Family

• Work-family conflict▫ The extent to which employee’s work demands

interfere with family responsibilities▫ Work-family conflict is associated with stress, life

satisfaction, and family satisfaction (Bedeian et al., 1988)

• Females in senior ranks report significantly higher conflict▫ For staff, males report significantly

higherconflict(p<.05)


2

3

4

5

6

7

Work-Family Conflict

FemaleMale

* * *

*

Family Demands – Coping Mechanisms• Female faculty respond by making adjustments

to personal life▫ Reduced leisure▫ Working outside of normal work hours


1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Cutting back on leisure activities

FemaleMale


1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Completing work outside of regular work hours

FemaleMale

* * * * * *

Summary of Findings

•Female faculty report significantly higher job stress than male faculty▫Difference by sex concentrated among higher

ranks▫Differences by sex not as pronounced among

staff

•Female faculty report▫Greater work demands▫Greater family responsibility▫Higher work-family conflict despite attempts at

coping

Audience Brainstorming Session:•What are potential solutions? At home? At

work?

•How can these solutions be communicated?

•What U of M policies or practices would help facilitate reduced stress?

wfc spring reception 2009 wfc co-chairs: caroline hayes pat frazier

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