Abstract
This is a comprehensive overview of the status of women using charts to document trends. The charts are divided into two parts. Part 1 charts in the demographic domain show the spectacular success of women beginning to outnumber men as early as 1980 in the college-going rate, college enrollments, and earned degrees. By 2010 women even earned more doctorate degrees than men. More women than men are employed in higher education in every position, including administration. Part 2 charts show a dismaying lack of continuing success of women in the economic domain of higher education. The number of bachelor degrees earned by women has fallen off from earlier peaks in all the STEM fields. Degrees earned by women continue to be predominantly in the lower paying social science fields. Women professors are paid less than men and the salary gap continues to grow. After huge gains in the number of professional degrees earned by women, the trends have plateaued in recent years. Finally, the number of women college presidents and the number of women serving on governing boards has hit low ceilings. The paper concludes with a search for explanations of these trends and recommendations for aggressive action to restore progress toward equality and equity for women in American higher education.
Highlights
While serving as Chief Economist of the American Council on Education forty years ago in the late 1970s, I worked with Frank Mensel, the Governmental Relations Officer of the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA) to launch a pioneering study of women and minorities in higher education administration
More degrees are being earned by women than men at each level, more bachelors and masters degrees, and even more doctorate degrees are being earned by women than men
Women are awarded tenure at about the same rates as men at each faculty rank. This success in participation in the demographic domain has not been accompanied by a commensurate success in the economic domain
Summary
While serving as Chief Economist of the American Council on Education forty years ago in the late 1970s, I worked with Frank Mensel, the Governmental Relations Officer of the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA) to launch a pioneering study of women and minorities in higher education administration. This study attempts to add to the field by showing historical trends over thirty to forty years thereby generating perspectives which could be used by others, including especially sociologists and anthropologists, to help explain the trends and sharpen recommendations for achieving equality and equity for women in American higher education. Part 1 charts document the phenomenal success of women in increasing participation in American higher education over recent decades. Part 2 charts document the utterly dismaying lack of success of women in making significant progress toward equality in the economic domain of American higher education. The sources of data for the charts are the U.S Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics [4]; the National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics [5]; and education associations, including the American Council on Education and the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. The report concludes with ideas primarily in the political domain about how women might accelerate progress toward greater equality and equity in American higher education
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