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Women professors in the Canadian university system |
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Written by Jennifer Mather
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Friday, November 27 2009, 9:15 PM |
Canadian universities are at the forefront of intellectual development. Does that mean that, believing in universalism, fostering people for their intellectual ability and not their social characteristics, they lead in inclusion of under-represented minorities? Not necessarily. The Canadian Association of University Teachers put out an Almanac that looked at who are here in the system (data from ’07-08), and their evaluation of participation of women as professors suggest that the institutions have some distance to go.
Are women half of all university teachers? Depends on their rank. We are 45 per cent of non-tenure track professors (meaning their jobs aren’t permanent), 42 per cent of tenure track (trying to be permanent) and 30 per cent of tenured (permanent). At the University of Lethbridge, the percentages are 56 per cent, 50 per cent and 25 per cent. Women make up 53 per cent of lecturers (temporary), 43 per cent of assistant professors, 36 per cent of associate professors and 20 per cent of professors. The higher the status, the fewer the women.
Do women get paid the same amount for the same job? Nearly. Overall, women professors earn 86 per cent of men’s salary, but that’s because they are in lower-paying jobs. If you look at pay for people of equal rank, women earn between 95 and 97 per cent of what men do. Closer, but it should be equal.
What happens with the demands of child care? A total of 7.4 per cent of female professors who have children under six are unemployed (presumably caring for those children). For men, it’s 4.3 per cent. Yes, we have non-discriminatory parental leave (since 2001), but more women than men take it, 21:18 at the University of Lethbridge. This looks fairly equal until you remember that there are almost twice as many men as women.
What is the ratio of males and females as students and professors? Women now make up 58 per cent of university students in Canada. In psychology, which is a female-dominated major, 79 per cent of bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women, 77 per cent of master’s and 75 per cent of PhDs (this one is way up). However, 50 per cent of assistant professors are female, 46 per cent of associate and 30 per cent of professors. And lest you think the balance might be shifting, 60 per cent of newly hired psychology teachers were male.
In the male-dominated field of computer science, 28 per cent of lecturers were female, 19 per cent of assistant professors, 20 per cent of associate and eight per cent of professors (the highest rank). Here the gender imbalance extends to students. Thirteen per cent of students gaining a BSc were female, 21 per cent of MSc, and 23 per cent of PhD. The balance won’t swing any time soon, as only nine per cent of newly hired teachers were women.
Is there a glass ceiling preventing women from getting the most prestigious jobs? The research chairs are highly coveted opportunities to do more research investigation and less teaching. For the Tier 1, only 17 per cent were female and for the less prestigious Tier 2, 31 per cent. And we can look at university presidents, too. Only 16 per cent of Canadian top administrators were female, up from what it used to be (none) but not equal access by any means.
Why aren’t women doing better? Some have argued that they “don’t want the top jobs.” Well, depends. Lots follow husbands through job changes. Many can’t put the time in and also spent precious time with family. Fair enough, but why aren’t the men (who are often married to professional women) valuing family equally? Women move through the ranks more slowly, partly because what they are pressured to do more (service, teaching, advising) is less valued than the research that male professors emphasize. Overt discriminations are long gone, but studies all around the continent have proven that subtle ones remain.
Jennifer Mather is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge.
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