Women needed in science, study says

The University issued a report yesterday saying it needs to try harder to hire women in the sciences. But the report said that there has been improvement in the last decade, with the percentage of women in the natural sciences and engineering departments increasing by more than five percent.

Men and women science faculty generally earn the same salary and receive similar tenure rates, the report added.

In response to the report, the University announced yesterday that Joan Girgus, a former psychology professor and dean of the college, would become assistant dean of the faculty to oversee gender equity.

The report was the culmination of a year of work by a University committee, started by President Tilghman, examining the place of women in science faculty.

"In some fields we are not hiring women in numbers that reflect the applicant pool," Tilghman said in an email. "I am prepared to contribute resources in a variety of ways toward the goals of greater inclusion of women on the faculty and of promoting greater job satisfcation for women faculty."

The report said considerably fewer female than male science faculty reported a sense of collegiality, inclusion and job satisfaction.

It recommend setting up a $10 million fund to "promote the recruitment, hiring and retention of women faculty" in the sciences and engineering and also institute centralized monitoring of recruiting and hiring practices in the sciences and engineering.

The report made clear, however, that more women have been hired in the sciences in recent years.

Support nonprofit student journalism. Donate to the ‘Prince’. Donate now »

"There's some really good news for women faculty at the University and there's some not so good news," said Virginia Zakian, a molecular biology professor who chaired the task force.

From 1992 to 2002, the report said, the percentage of women faculty members in these disciplines increased from 8.4 percent to 13.9 percent and the number of women in these departments with tenure more than doubled.

However, the committee found that problems of gender inequity remain. No department in the natural sciences or engineering has more than 20 percent female faculty, Zakian said.

"I was disappointed that women have less of a sense of feeling happy about their jobs at the University," she said. Surveys at other universities have found similar trends.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The committee found that women are underrepresented in departmental leadership positions.

Of the 14 departments in the natural sciences and engineering, only the psychology and geosciences departments have had female chairs.

Zakian said the committee believes hiring more women and integrating them better into science department functions would help to improve job satisfaction.

Figuring out how to do that will be the main challenge for Girgus.

"She's a great appointment for this position," Zakian said. "She understands the University from many different angles."

Girgus will act as a liaison between department chairs and the administration and will help departments fulfill the recommendations of the task force.

Girgus said she will talk to professional societies to find out what strategies have worked to solve similar problems at other institutions.

She also will work to develop professional mentoring programs for junior faculty members.

And she will seek ways to help the University recruit women faculty members who are married and have children.

The report found that faculty members in science departments have had difficulty finding accessible and affordable childcare in the Princeton area.

"We'd like to see the University take an active role in establishing affordable childcare," Zakian said.

Zakian is optimistic about the report's impact.

"[Tilghman] has expressed strong support for the recommendations," Zakian said.

"I feel pretty confident that this administration is committed to making changes in this area."

The committee was formed after a 2001 meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at which the heads of nine research universities, including Princeton, pledged to work toward the full inclusion of women in science.

Among its other suggestions were proposals to provide professional mentors for young faculty members, help faculty spouses to find local employment and enforce the University's strong anti-harassment policies.