Dive Brief:
- Men have a greater chance than women of receiving tenure in computer science, English, and sociology at research universities, according to a study unveiled at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting.
- For computer science and sociology, the tenure rate for men is significantly higher than for women with the same research productivity, the study found.
- The study puts a damper on the theory that women are less likely to win tenure at research universities because men perform more research, which has been attributed to women having to spend more time on teaching and child care than their male peers.
Dive Insight:
After controlling for research productivity, the study found that a woman’s chance of earning tenure was 51% lower than for men in sociology and 55% lower in computer science. According to the study’s author, Kate Weisshaar, a graduate student at Stanford University, the results indicate that colleges and universities need to perform “interventions” in their tenure-awarding processes, Inside Higher Ed reported.