Contact:
Cheryl Geisler, 778.938.5372; cgeisler@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.4323/3210; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Science paper: http://at.sfu.ca/bgkpai

A study co-led by Simon Fraser University tracking the retention rate of nearly 3,000 U.S. science and engineering male and female faculty shows that men and women were likely to leave their positions at the same high rate – 50 per cent.

Published in the Feb. 16 issue of Science, the study found that men and women are retained and promoted at the same rate although fewer women are entering these positions. And given current rates, it could take another century before a gender balance is achieved.

The first large-scale study of its kind to track individuals over time, the researchers used publicly available data on 2,966 science and engineering faculty from 14 U.S. universities and followed them over a 10-year period.

“Our data suggests it isn’t true that fewer women stay in academia,” says Cheryl Geisler, SFU’s dean of the Faculty of Communication, Arts and Technology, who undertook the long-term study with Deborah Kaminski of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. “And once they enter, they stay about the same rate as their male colleagues.

“But there are still far fewer women in STEM (fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics), suggesting there are still problems in the rate at which they are entering.”

While no comparable studies have been done involving Canadian universities, Geisler says recent experience with the gender discrepancy in the awarding of Canadian Research Chairs and Canadian Excellence Research Chairs “suggests that there is much work to do on this side of the border as well.”

Only 20 per cent of full professors teaching in Canadian universities are women.

Geisler says while there have been important improvements in retaining women, there is still much to do to achieve a balanced faculty. “It’s only when they see women as their teachers in STEM disciplines will women make decisions to choose these career options for themselves.”

In terms of turnover rates, universities are becoming increasingly concerned about the disruptions in teaching and mentoring and the economic loss, which can be substantial when faculty members leave prematurely.

“The turnover rate in academia is high and costly, not just to individual institutions but to the U.S., as a whole,” Geisler adds. “The costs associated with recruiting and start up can be as high as $1.5 million in some disciplines – that’s lost when a faculty member leaves. The cumulative costs are staggering.”

-30-