SALON

Thursday, Dec 8, 2005 2:06 PM UTC

More women needed at the head of the class

A group of elite-university presidents pledges to close the gender gap at the professorial level.

By

Topics: Broadsheet, Larry Summers, Academia, Harvard, Love and Sex,

These days, women increasingly outnumber and outperform men on college campuses — but only as students. According to a statement released yesterday by Yale University president Richard Levin and Harvard University president Lawrence Summers, though “nearly half of all PhD recipients are women, they only make up about 25% of professors.”

To right that imbalance, Levin and Summers, along with a consortium of elite-university leaders calling themselves the “Nine Presidents,” have pledged to support female-friendly faculty policies — including flexible work hours, on-campus childcare centers and employment counseling centers for spouses who may need to relocate. The consortium — which includes representatives from Cal Tech, MIT, Princeton, UC-Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania — was founded in 2001 after a study at MIT found widespread gender inequality in every department of the university. As Stanford president John Hennessy explains, “helping our faculty balance the demands of their careers with family responsibilities is critical if [we] are to attract the brightest young people to the professorial ranks.”

Let’s not forget that earlier this year Summers raised hackles by suggesting that women did not have the natural abilities to pioneer the fields of science and technology — though he has since called the incident a misunderstanding and repeatedly apologized for his remarks. But now — perhaps in an effort to put his money where his mouth is — Summers has pledged $25 million to promote gender equity at Harvard and increased the number of employment offers made to women for the first time since he took office in 2001.

Still, despite the group’s efforts, only one Ivy League school — Princeton — has yet closed the staggering pay gap between male and female faculty. According to a study by the American Association of University Professors, this year male professors at Princeton earn an average of $152,400 a year, [which works out to] 5.5 percent more than women. Last year, that gap was 8.5%. Only 20 percent of Princetons tenured faculty are women.

Twenty percent? Really, since when is that a passing grade at an Ivy League school?

Sarah Karnasiewicz

Sarah Karnasiewicz is a freelance writer and photographer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Until recently, she was senior editor at Saveur magazine; prior to that she was deputy Life editor at Salon. She has contributed to the New York Times, the New York Observer and Rolling Stone, among other publications. For more of her work, visit thefastertimes.com/streetfood and Signs and Wonders. More Sarah Karnasiewicz.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 7 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations