Women in the Academy - Howard University, Graduate School

Women in the Academy
Angela P. Cole, PhD
Department of Psychology

Overview
• The Problem
• Research on the Plight of Women in
Academe
• Collaboration as a Key Strategy for
Addressing the Problem
• Some Lessons Learned
•Q&A

The Problem
• Women remain underrepresented in the
pool of scholars…
– in leadership roles
– in recognized careers
– in frontier research
…and the notion that women may not be
capable of “doing” science remains an
unresolved issue (e.g., Summer, 2005)

National Science Foundation (2004)
• Women comprise
– 30% of all science & engineering PhD
candidates
– 22% of all persons working in these fields
• Yet they continue to lag behind their male
counterparts in achieving high levels of
success in their careers as scientists.
• This includes the SBE sciences.

A few cases in point
(as of July 2005)
• Howard University
• UCLA
• Cleveland State University

Research on Women’s Plight in Academe
• Difference model explanations (e.g.,
Sonnert & Rogers, 1995)
• Deficit model explanations (e.g., Asmar,
1999; Nelson & Rogers, 2000)
• Other explanations
– Undervaluing of women’s creative products
(e.g., Mowrer-Popiel, Pollard & Pollard, 1993)
– Disadvantageous reward/opportunity systems
(e.g., Clark & Corcoran, 1986)

Collaboration (or, rather, a lack
thereof) has been found to be key!
• Empirical studies of gender disadvantage in the
sciences (in US & other nations) support this
contention
• Social psychological literature on group
dynamics supports this contention
• Positively correlated with production of
publications, presentations, successful grant
applications
• Interdependence, cooperation and “collective
ownership of goals” are emphasized

• Kyvik & Teigen (1996):
“Faculty members who did not collaborate
were less productive than those who worked
together with colleagues, and this tendency is
much stronger for women than it is for men”
(p.65).

Some lessons learned…
…on the importance of collaboration.
…on the importance of mentorship.

Other important lessons
• Patience
• Resilience
• Know thyself
• Be kind to yourself
• Resilience
• Balance

•Networking
• Collaboration
• Mentorship
• BALANCE
In sum

Acknowledgments
• Florence Bonner, PhD, & Terri Adams-
Fuller, PhD (HU Collaborators)
• Walter Allen (UCLA)
• Mary Joyce Green (CSU)

Words of Wisdom from my Mentors
• It takes a decade to become an expert in anything.
– Wade Boykin, Undergraduate Mentor
• Don’t hide your light under a bushel. Let people see it!
– Ewart Thomas, PhD Advisor & Co-Author
• There is such a thing as enough teaching experience.
– Hazel Markus, Dissertation Committee
• The beauty of what we do is we get to pick whatever 100 hours o the week
we want to work.
– Claude Steele, Dissertation Committee
• It takes a decade to get over what they do to you in graduate school.
– Florence Bonner, Mentor & Collaborator
• Write every day.
– Arie Kruglanski, Mentor & Collaborator
• Can’t is a four letter word
– O. Jackson Cole, Father & Co-Author
• Save yourself!!!
– Jacqueline Cole, Mom
• Wear life like a loose garment.
– Grandmother Vernice