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Women's tenure rates are widely and justifiably considered critical indicators of women's status within academia. In this article, however, we question the meaning of this indicator. We find that Ph.D. career path data show women's likelihood of getting tenure is equal to or better than men's in fields dominated by men. Most literature on gender and tenure focuses on family/work balance and academic climate issues, but a review of common labor market explanations in relation to Ph.D. career path data suggests that we need to view the academic labor market as just one segment of the broader labor market. In conclusion, we argue that understanding women's tenure status requires "widening the lens" to include the role of labor market alternatives to academic careers.
Keywords: gender equity / non-academic labor market / Ph.D. careers / tenure
The 2002 Summary Report of the Survey of Earned Doctorates marks a milestone in doctoral education; for the first time, doctorates awarded to U.S. citizens went to more women than to men. Although the percentage represented a very slight majority (51%), it follows a 30-year upward trend of women's doctoral education attainment. Further, among U.S. citizens, women seem to be maintaining their majority (Hoffer et al. 2003, 2004). With women now earning doctoral degrees in relatively equal numbers to men, can we anticipate nearly equal tenure achievement for this new cohort of doctorate holders in the following decade? What are the odds that women Ph.D. recipients will achieve tenure in proportion to their Ph.D. attainment? And most importantly, if they do achieve tenure in proportion to their share of Ph.D.s awarded, would this mean the achievement of gender equity in the career paths of Ph.D.s?
In our work with career path data from Nerad and Cerny's PhDs-Ten Years Later (Nerad and Cerny 1997; Nerad, Aanerud, and Cerny 2004), a national study of Ph.D. recipients in six fields (biochemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, English, mathematics, and political science), we noticed an intriguing pattern that led us to question the meaning of tenure outcomes as a measure of gender equity in Ph.D. careers. Nerad and Cerny's data show that women who get Ph.D.s in fields with strong non-academic labor markets have chances of getting tenure that are equal to or better...