2014 Task Force Report on the Status of Women at IUPUI
In 2013, as a complement to the Strategic Planning process and to update the original 1994 Task Force Report on the Status of Women, the Office for Women requested a new review of the status of women on campus since it had been almost twenty years since the last one.
Task Force Charge
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Nasser Paydar agreed and appointed a task force charged to:
1) evaluate the progress of women at IUPUI as it relates to faculty, staff and student representation in a myriad of areas;
2) evaluate the level of institutional commitment to gender equity which may include visible policy statements, organizational accountability systems, and allocated resources for women’s programs; and
3) evaluate of the past efforts of the Office for Women including a review of the mission, vision, goals and activities in relation to the charge;
Task Force Membership
The Task Force was chaired by Kim Kirkland, Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity. Other members of the task force included: Rachael Applegate, Mary Dankoski, Aron DiBacco, Catherine Dobris, Isabel Fawcett, Kim D. Kirkland (Chair), Diana Sims-Harris, Yolanda Taylor, Rick Ward, Julie Welch and Jane Williams. Staff support was provided by: Katheen Grove, Carol McGarry, Rick Morgan, Gary Pike, Kimberly Wesley, and Brita Peters.
Noted Progress
After an extensive review and examination of the available data describing the status of women on the IUPUI campus, the Task Force recognized that while challenges still exist, IUPUI has made good progress in many areas as it relates to the status of women that includes:
A. There has been a steady increase in the number of tenure-track and tenured female faculty from 2002 to 2012. Female assistant professors increased from 36.5% to 40.4%; female associate professors increased from 33.2% to 39.2%; and female full professors from 16.3% to 23.5%.
B. IUPUI is above the national average for female representation in professional staff ranks with 68% as compared to 59% nationally.
C. Female faculty and staff are recipients of campus awards on a par with men with 60 women versus 56 men receiving campus recognitions over the last ten years.
D.Women are being encouraged to seek internal research funding opportunities through the implementation of two new initiatives (DRIVE and EMPOWER) from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
E. Women have participated in faculty and staff governance structures on a par with men.
F. Women participate equally in student governance structures overall.
G.A faculty salary equity study conducted in 2008-09 indicated that there is a 2.4% gap between the mean salaries of male and female faculty that is not explained by other characteristics. This is a decline of .6% compared to the 1998 study which indicated a 3% gap.
H. In addition to the activities of the Office for Women, several schools have initiated female-focused initiatives to address particular issues. The IU School of Medicine has included a program for the Advancement of Women within its Office of Faculty Affairs and Development. The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and the Purdue School of Science have both initiated programs to increase the number of female students in their disciplines. The IU School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI, continues to maintain its Women's Studies Program.
I. In 2011 all current employees were required to successfully complete an online Sexual Harassment Training module through the Office of Equal Opportunity. During 2011 and 2012 approximately 11,151 faculty, staff, and student employees on the IUPUI and IUPUC campuses completed the training.
Remaining Challenges
However, the Task Force identified three top challenges that remain and need further attention:
1. Faculty representation: 51% of all full-time female faculty are in what is considered “second tier” positions of instructor, lecturer or clinician compared to 41% of male faculty (excluding researchers and librarians). These positions are non-tenured with fewer privileges or governance rights and less security. More improvement is needed of female representation in the tenure/tenure-track ranks. Particular attention needs to be focused on moving women associate professors to full rank. Moreover, IUPUI is 12% below the national average in female campus executives which includes deans and assistant and associate deans.
2. Professional staff representation: female staff is more heavily concentrated in the PA3 level which may indicate a ceiling beyond which women are less likely to be promoted. Further investigation into this phenomenon should determine what barriers may exist to their promotion and how to address this.
3. Climate for women: results of recent surveys indicate men and women experience the workplace very differently with a significant percentage of women continuing to express perceptions of discrimination, negative or disparaging comments and not being taken seriously.
Additional Recommendations
The Task Force identified five other areas of concern and urged these recommendations be considered a priority:
1. Salary equity reviews: conduct a comprehensive professional staff salary equity review post the 2007 market study and institutionalize via monitoring every five years.
2. In addition, the 2008-09 faculty equity review indicated that a 2.4% wage gap existed between men and women. This should also continue to be addressed through an institutionalized faculty equity review every five years.
3. A review of majors with 20 or more students indicate that whereas high-female enrollment programs became slightly more diverse between 2007 and 2012, meaning more men enrolled, those programs with low-female enrollment became slightly less diverse, meaning fewer women enrolled. This would indicate that traditional male-populated programs are not attracting more women. Also, it is clear that majors are still highly sex- segregated with women enrolling in traditionally female majors such as nursing, education, and liberal arts while men continue to enroll in science, engineering, finance and technology. If our goal is to be on par with the national average per major, then we will need to effectively benchmark and establish goals for reasonable gender diversity in all the majors.
4. Work/life fit programming has declined during 2013 with the separation of the work/life coordinator. The campus is still lacking an adequate numbers of lactation rooms, more childcare options need to be developed for the campus community, FMLA policies are not uniformly applied across units, staff need options for a paid FMLA, a dual career initiative to attract and retain personnel should be implemented.
5. The Office for Women continues to be the only campus-wide office positioned to advocate for and support the efforts to improve the climate for women and ensure gender equity throughout the campus. However, the OFW remains underfunded and understaffed to carry out all of the mandates and services expected on a campus the size of IUPUI. It should be resourced and staffed to an adequate level which would include increasing FTE support and funding.
