In its quest to gauge equity for women at Penn State, the Commission for Women has taken another look at hiring practices and climate issues within the University and has found a need for better recruitment and retention of women and evidence that a more inclusive and welcoming climate should be fostered.
The commission recently revisited a 1993 document, A Vision for an Equitable University, that identified areas at Penn State where more effort was needed to promote the full participation of women.
"While we have made great strides in the last five or six years in providing more support for women through new programs and have moved diversity forward as a top priority for Penn State, women are still underrepresented in leadership categories that not only include administrative, but also senior faculty positions and higher-grade classifications of both staff and technical service jobs," said Robin Anderson, a member of the group that reviewed the current status of women and a past chair of the Commission for Women.
"We're pleased with how this report is being received and the help we are obtaining from the University leadership in finding the solutions that promote the full participation of women," said Janie Irwin, chair of the commission.
Two overarching challenges identified by the commission that should be addressed in order to achieve equity are recruitment and retention of women and increased professional development opportunities for women, according to the latest report.
In the faculty ranks, data compiled by the commission shows there are more male than female faculty in most colleges and at campus locations, and male faculty dominate the professor and associate professor ranks. Females are more prevalent in the assistant and instructor ranks. Of the 948 professors at Penn State, almost 89 percent are male. Nearly 76 percent of the 968 associate professors at the University are also male, according to the report. In addition, females are underrepresented in endowed positions, fellowships and in other named professorships, as well as in the academic administrative ranks.
In a 1998-99 ranking of CIC institutions, Penn State is listed as ninth behind most of its counterparts for its percentage of women at the full professorial rank. The CIC (Committee on Institutional Cooperation) is the academic consortium of the Big Ten plus the University of Chicago.
Among the staff at Penn State, females outnumber males, however, males are found mostly in the higher-grade positions. The report shows that the same distribution is true among technical services employees where males are overrepresented in the higher paying slots. In addition, the report indicates that women staff perceive limited opportunities for career advancement.
Although many programs already exist to diversify the employee pool and increase opportunities for women and minorities, such as the Administrative Fellows program, a mentoring program and Penn State Mastering SuperVision leadership program, the report says that more programs focusing specifically on women should be created, particularly in the areas of recruitment and retention.
Suggestions in the report for improving the climate and achieving equity include developing and implementing strategies to improve the success of search processes in identifying prospective women for administrative, faculty and staff ranks. The report also recommends developing information packets to assist units in recruiting women faculty and staff; establishing a staff development center to serve women; and appointing an equity/diversity advocate to every search committee.
The Commission for Women plans to conduct a systematic assessment of the climate over time and track the report's recommendations.
"The Commission for Women will continue to monitor this situation and offer remedies where possible," Irwin said. "Gathering accurate information was the first step in a process that we believe will move Penn State toward a more inclusive climate."
A summary of the Commission for Women's findings from its Vision for an Equitable University report can be found on the Web at http://www.lions.psu.edu/cfw/default.html.
In existence since 1981, the Commission for Women has continued to identify areas of concern to women employees and students of Penn State. In the 1998-99 year, the commission accomplished the following:
n Conducted its annual Technical Services Workshop for more than 100 women
n Established a pilot mentoring program for full-time employees at University Park and Hershey Medical Center.
n Coordinated the annual Take Our Daughters to Work Day, which attracted more than 400 participants
nHeld several senior faculty leadership luncheons to discuss issues of concern
nGuided the Administrative Fellows program, now in its 15th year of existence
nCoordinated a promotion and tenure mentoring workshop for female faculty members at the associate professor rank
nInitiated an ongoing fundraising campaign to raise money for scholarships, research projects and future endowed positions to be held by women
nConducted numerous faculty studies related to salary equity and time in rank
nHeld several workshops geared specifically to women
nEstablished an equitable hiring/compensation model for women's coaches in Intercollegiate Athletics
n Assessed the needs of women students and drew up a list of action items
nGave presentations in several colleges and units on the best practices in place for recruiting and promoting women
For 1999-2000, the Commission for Women will continue its work on issues affecting women at Penn State. In March 2000, the commission plans to sponsor a national teleconference geared to women in higher education. Throughout the year, the commission will concentrate on three specific issues relating to women:
1) greater recruitment and retention, especially in senior management and leadership positions;
2) providing more professional development opportunities to prepare women for advancement; and
3) fundraising for areas related to the advancement of women, such as scholarships for students, research grants for women faculty and professional development opportunities for female staff and technical services workers.