Keeping Senior Women at Your College : A New Article in Academe from Hurtado & DeAngelo

We are pleased to announce that Academe (September-October 2009), a premier magazine in the field of higher education, has published Keeping Senior Women at Your College, an article that explores factors that prompt senior female faculty to consider leaving their home institutions for positions at other institutions.

Based on data collected during the 2007-08 administration of the HERI Faculty Survey, the findings of which were published in the American College Teacher (2009), the research discussed in this article is especially timely given the budget constraints that have beset many institutions of higher education during the current economic downturn.

Among the findings discussed in the article, as well as the published report, are that female faculty are less satisfied with their careers than male faculty, and that differences in satisfaction are most acute at the rank of full professor. For example, significantly fewer female than male full professors are satisfied with their opportunity for scholarly pursuits, and their teaching loads. The article suggests that because senior women are more dissatisfied with their careers short-term budget-related changes in teaching and teaching load are likely to affect women more than men. Based on the research discussed in the article, Hurtado & DeAngelo conclude by discussing how deans and department chairs can support senior women and keep them on campus.

Click here to read a complete copy of the published Academe article.