Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Although women receive more doctorates across disciplines, they continue to be underrepresented in academia with representation of women faculty diminishing at higher ranks relative to their male counterparts. This phenomenon is known as the ‘leaky pipeline,’ and is frequently observed in STEM fields, though it exists across disciplines. Previous studies suggest the motherhood penalty heavily impacts women’s careers, especially in academia where biological and tenure clocks coincide. The overall aim of this study is to examine the gendered effects of caregiving policies for faculty in STEM fields at regional comprehensive universities through integrating the Work-Home Resources (W-HR) Model and feminist economics. Feminist economics highlights the unequal challenges faced by women and men, which are often overlooked in gender-neutral caregiving policies. The W-HR Model posits that demands in one domain, such as caregiving responsibilities, can spill over to affect resources in another domain, potentially impacting work outcomes. This study will employ a mixed-methods approach, incorporating publicly available data on caregiving policies and the number of male and female STEM faculty pre- and post-policy implementation from university websites; survey measures assessing work (i.e., productivity, workload) and well-being outcomes (i.e., family guilt, work-family conflict); and structured interviews to gather in-depth insights on parental leave policies and return-to-work experiences. The sample will include approximately 150 faculty from STEM disciplines who have utilized caregiving policies at regional comprehensive universities in the United States. Following the implementation of caregiving policies, we expect a decrease in the number of women faculty in STEM from Assistant to Associate Professor ranks. We also expect women faculty in STEM to report spending significantly more time on caregiving responsibilities than their male counterparts, as well as report significantly poorer work-related and well-being outcomes linked to caregiving compared to male colleagues. The study contributes to both research and practice by informing our understanding of the impact of caregiving policies on gender disparities in academia and guiding interventions to enhance the retention of women faculty in STEM at regional comprehensive universities. Achieving gender equity in academia necessitates addressing these issues, and this research aims to facilitate that progress.
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Included in
Investigating the Gendered Effects of Caregiving Policies in Academia
Although women receive more doctorates across disciplines, they continue to be underrepresented in academia with representation of women faculty diminishing at higher ranks relative to their male counterparts. This phenomenon is known as the ‘leaky pipeline,’ and is frequently observed in STEM fields, though it exists across disciplines. Previous studies suggest the motherhood penalty heavily impacts women’s careers, especially in academia where biological and tenure clocks coincide. The overall aim of this study is to examine the gendered effects of caregiving policies for faculty in STEM fields at regional comprehensive universities through integrating the Work-Home Resources (W-HR) Model and feminist economics. Feminist economics highlights the unequal challenges faced by women and men, which are often overlooked in gender-neutral caregiving policies. The W-HR Model posits that demands in one domain, such as caregiving responsibilities, can spill over to affect resources in another domain, potentially impacting work outcomes. This study will employ a mixed-methods approach, incorporating publicly available data on caregiving policies and the number of male and female STEM faculty pre- and post-policy implementation from university websites; survey measures assessing work (i.e., productivity, workload) and well-being outcomes (i.e., family guilt, work-family conflict); and structured interviews to gather in-depth insights on parental leave policies and return-to-work experiences. The sample will include approximately 150 faculty from STEM disciplines who have utilized caregiving policies at regional comprehensive universities in the United States. Following the implementation of caregiving policies, we expect a decrease in the number of women faculty in STEM from Assistant to Associate Professor ranks. We also expect women faculty in STEM to report spending significantly more time on caregiving responsibilities than their male counterparts, as well as report significantly poorer work-related and well-being outcomes linked to caregiving compared to male colleagues. The study contributes to both research and practice by informing our understanding of the impact of caregiving policies on gender disparities in academia and guiding interventions to enhance the retention of women faculty in STEM at regional comprehensive universities. Achieving gender equity in academia necessitates addressing these issues, and this research aims to facilitate that progress.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology