Women, Tenure, and the Law

The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 17, 2010

By Mary Ann Mason
It is well established in the research on higher education that women are less likely to achieve tenure than men.
In our research at the University of California at Berkeley, we found that to be true far more often for married women with children. According to a survey by the National Science Foundation, female scientists with children are 27 percent less likely to win tenure than male scientists with children, and are far more likely to become lecturers or adjuncts. A similar pattern occurs across all of the disciplines.
The stress associated with being denied tenure in our winner-takes-all promotion system is equally well documented. We may never fully know whether, or how much, the stress that Amy Bishop experienced over being denied tenure contributed to the shootings at the University of Huntsville at Alabama in February, but we do know that tenure denial for many assistant professors brings not only disappointment but pain and grief. For women, a critical factor in tenure denial is their gender and family responsibilities.

Full Story: http://chronicle.com/article/Women-Tenurethe-Law/64646/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en