HR: 1330h
AN: ED22D-1255 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Focus Groups Reveal Differences in Career Experiences Between Male and Female Geoscientists
AU: * OConnell, S
EM: soconnell@wesleyan.edu
AF: Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences Wesleyan University, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459 United States
AU: Frey, C D
EM: cfrey@unlserve.unl.edu
AF: Bureau of Sociological Research University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 730 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0325 United States
AU: Holmes, M
EM: mholmes2@unl.edu
AF: Dept of Geosciences University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 214 Bessey Hall Geosciences - UNL, Lincoln, NE 68588-0340 United States
AB: We conducted twelve telephone focus groups of geoscientists to discover what motivates geoscientists to enter our field and stay in our field. There were separate male and female groups from six different professional categories: administrators, full and associate professors, non-tenure track personnel, assistant professors, post-docs and PhD candidates, Bachelor's and Master's candidates. A total of 96 geoscientists participated. Specifically, respondents were asked what initially brought them into the geosciences. Three dominant themes emerged: the subject matter itself, undergraduate experiences, and relationships. A total of 51 responses to this question related to the subject matter itself. Approximately 61 percent (31) of those responses were given by male focus group participants. Across all focus groups, participants brought up issues such as a general appreciation of the outdoors, weather, rocks, and dinosaurs. Following closely behind the general subject matter is undergraduate events. Fifty-one responses mentioned something about undergraduate experiences such as an introductory class, a laboratory experience, or field experiences. While both female and male participants discussed the role of interpersonal relationships in their decision to become a geoscientist, females were slightly more likely to bring up relevant relationships (26 times for females compared to 21 for males). These relationships varied in both groups from a parent or grandparents influence to camping trips with professors. When respondents were asked whether they had ever considered leaving the geosciences and under what circumstances, there was a striking difference between males and females: males were far less likely to have ever considered leaving. Younger males were more likely to consider leaving than older geoscientists. They feel challenged by the financial constraints of graduate school and the time constraints of academic vs. family life. Many females considered leaving at some point in their careers, from graduate school through the tenure process, and even post-tenure. The challenges they cited included difficult advisors, vague or inadequate advising/mentoring, the lack of support for family by their institutions and by their colleagues, and, like younger males, the balance of work and family life. Our results suggest that some strategies that can increase the numbers of women on our faculty include improving the climate for all under-represented groups and institutional support for families. Climate is a broad area that includes paying attention to: 1) our language, such as what personal comments we make to students and colleagues, 2) assuring that female students are encouraged to speak in class and are permitted to finish sentences without interruption, 3) allowing students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum by acknowledging a broad range of contributions to the field and by seeing more than senior men as professors, 5) adequate, clear-cut mentoring, and 6) open up new faculty searches to capture "less obvious" candidates, such as those that are less self-promoting. Support for families must come from institutions and includes: 1) child care, 2) adult care, 3) flexible schedules including part-time appointments and shared appointments, and 4) dual-career contracts.
UR: http://www.awg.org/gendereq.html
DE: 6319 Institutions
DE: 6600 PUBLIC ISSUES
DE: 6605 Education
DE: 6630 Workforce
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting