Chapter 11: Riding the Glass Elevator:

A study conducted by the American Association of University Professors (West & Curtis, 2006) noted that, among all full professors nationwide, women held only 24 percent of the positions. At doctorate granting institutions, the percent is much lower, i.e., only 19 percent of the full professors are women. For the past three decades, the percent of full professors who are women has only increased from 10 to 24 percent (West & Curtis, 2006).

Women and minorities in faculty positions in higher education (Tack & Patitu, 1992) face sources of stress that are internal, workplace-related, and lifestyle-related. Lifestyle-related causes of stress in particular usually have a more powerful impact on women than men because of society’s expectations that they family as a priority. Furthermore, women are less satisfied with their positions than their male counterparts, represent a small percentage of the faculty cohort, earn lower salaries, are often employed only part-time. They also represent disciplines that are typically reserved for females, work in less prestigious institutions, feel their supervisors do not value their input, are not as likely to be tenured, and are more often foundin the lower professional ranks (Tack & Patitu, 1992). Given all of these conditions, a more in-depth understanding of their personal and professional work lives could aid in developing some more powerful strategies for making positive changes.