Women in Engineering comment, a little data to update Bix articles.

Factors Controlling the Number of Women Holding Engineering Faculty Positions

Introduction Growth in the number of women teaching engineering in US universities has been of high priority for several decades. The benefits of such growth have been discussed by others and there is no need to restate them here. The present study considered the factors that control the increase in the number of women faculty members. Engineering Doctorates Awarded to Women Essentially all engineering faculty have doctoral degrees. Thus, the supply of women who are candidates for academic positions is limited in part by the number of doctorates awarded to women. The number of doctoral degrees in engineering awarded to women since AY1984-85 is shown in the graph below along with the number of women holding academic positions. Both total numbers of doctoral degrees awarded to women and doctorates awarded to US citizens are shown. The number of potential candidates for faculty positions will be less than the former and greater than the latter. In general, the total number of doctorates annually awarded to women has increased substantially and almost linearly for two decades (an average increase of about 50 per year). The number of doctorates awarded to women who were US citizens has been essentially constant since AY1994-95. The number of women in each of the three faculty ranks has increased substantially since data began to be collected in Fall 2000. It is noteworthy that the number of assistant professors is greatest and the number of full professors is least. The growth in the number of women in the three academic ranks would appear to indicate that women have had increasing success in obtaining academic positions and also have been successful in being promoted to higher ranks. Further, the increases in numbers of doctorates since AY1984-85 would appear to indicate that this success will be maintained in the future. Total numbers of engineering doctorates and faculty are shown in the graph below for comparison to the data for women shown in the graph above. The data shown above exhibit trends unlike those for women. The total number of doctorates awarded annually from AY1998-99 through AY2002-03 was essentially constant. AY2003-04 data indicate that the significant growth in doctoral enrollments since Fall 1997 has begun to yield increasing numbers of doctoral graduates. Faculty numbers (all three ranks) have increased slightly since Fall 2000. In addition, the number of full professors is greatest and the number of assistant professors is least. It should be anticipated that the number of women holding associate and full professor positions will increase faster than those in assistant professor positions in the future, leading to a ranking of "full professor highest and assistant professor lowest" as shown for all engineering faculty. Relative Numbers of Women Awarded Doctorates and Holding Academic Positions The trends for women in terms of doctorates awarded and faculty positions become tempered when data relative to total numbers of doctorates and faculty are considered. The data presented in the graph below indicate that the relative number of doctorates awarded to women has been essentially constant since AY2001-02. However, these data show that a minimum in doctorates awarded to women reaches a minimum every five years. As is the case in many trend studies, next year will be critical. In terms of faculty positions, the relative growth of associate and full professors is more modest than would be inferred from the growth in total numbers of women in these positions. Most disturbing is the fact that little significant change has occurred in the relative number of assistant professors. Women Awarded Doctorates in Engineering Fields Making the Transition to Academia The transition from doctoral graduate study to an appointment as an assistant professor was investigated. The number of women who are assistant professors in a specific year were awarded doctorates over a previous span of years. This span was assumed to be approximately six years; data were obtained for five and seven years as well. The calculations yielded the fraction of women who were awarded doctorates that made the transition to an academic career, presumably as assistant professors. The results for each of the three years for which assistant professor data are available (Fall of 2001, 2002 and 2003) varied little; the data reported below are the averages for the three-year period. Using a six-year span of doctorate degrees prior to appointment as an assistant professor, 14.6% of the women awarded doctoral degrees became engineering faculty members. The fractions using five- and seven-year spans were 17.2% and 12.6%. The six-year span fraction will be used throughout the remainder of this report. It is noteworthy that the fraction of women awarded doctorates that obtain faculty positions (14.7%) is almost the same as that for all awardees of doctorates (12.5%). Thus, a higher fraction of women receiving doctorates is necessary for the relative number of women holding academic positions to increase. For AY2003-04, 1136 doctorates in engineering were awarded to women and 550 to women who were US citizens. Assuming that 14.6% will enter academia, these degrees should result in 166 women becoming assistant professors (80 if degrees awarded to US citizens are considered). The average annual increase since Fall 2001 in the total number of women holding faculty positions (all ranks) was 146. Thus, continued substantial growth in the number of women teaching in US engineering colleges should be expected. Summary The continued, substantial growth in the number of doctoral degrees awarded annually to women in engineering should continue to provide an expanding source of candidates for academic positions. It is important to note, though, that the number of doctorates awarded to women in engineering who are US citizens has been constant for about a decade and the fraction of women awarded doctorates has been essentially constant since AY2001-02. The number of women teaching in engineering colleges continues to increase over the period for which data are available (Fall 2001 through Fall 2003). On the other hand, data indicate that the fraction of women at the assistant professor rank has been essentially constant during this period. About 14.6% of women awarded doctorates currently embark upon careers in engineering education. If this number, only slightly higher than the fraction for all doctoral degree recipients (12.5%), remains constant, the growth of the relative number of women with academic appointments should continue to increase, but only very slowly.