Gaining the Competitive Edge: The Economics of Retaining Women

Worklife Law: A Center of UC Hastings College of Law
The Center for WorkLife Law (WorkLife Law or WLL) is a:

nonprofit research and advocacy group with a unique "six stakeholder" model
that reflects our belief that many different stakeholders are ready, willing,
and able to play a role in sparking social and organizational change around
work/life issues. WorkLife Law works with employees, employers, plaintiffs'
employment lawyers, management-side employment lawyers, unions, and public
policymakers, to educate each group about the prevalence of family
responsibilities discrimination, and to develop effective measures to eliminate
FRD. WLL also works with social scientists to spark interdisciplinary studies of
bias against caregivers, and works extensively with the press.
WorkLife Law
is housed at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Among its publications is "Gaining the Competitive Edge: The Economics of Retaining Women." On this page, the center notes that attracting and retaining women faculty will only occur if colleges and universities address the "chilly" climate issues and in so addressing these issues, institutions of higher education can be more cost-effective, especially in a time of declining resources and the high cost of attrition:

The High Costs of Attrition. The costs associated with unwanted attrition among faculty — male as well as female — are high. Click on each cost below to learn more:
High Costs of Start-Up Packages
Lost Grants
Reduced Faculty Productivity Due to Time Spent on Search Committees
How to Steal the Best Talent. Top-tier universities and colleges increasingly find themselves competing with lower ranked schools—and losing—as lower-ranked institutions use dual-career hiring policies to attract the most desirable candidates. Click here to learn more.
Half of the Current Tenured Faculty Will Consider Retirement within 10 Years. Currently, 50.5% of tenured faculty members are at least 55 years old.[9] A key question is whether the workforce hired to replace retiring faculty will reproduce the disproportionately low percentage of women and people of color in tenure-track positions.
Increasing Legal Liability for Employment Discrimination Claims. Employment discrimination cases are increasing, along with steep attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and vulnerability to the loss of grant funding. Click here to learn more.

See full commentary: http://www.worklifelaw.org/EconomicsOfRetainingWomen.html