Sociology Commons^™

Women Faculty's Perceptions Of Departmental Belonging Across Academic Disciplines, Samantha Olarsch

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Women’s growing numerical representation in gender atypical careers, including the professoriate, has not necessarily meant that they are being accepted, included and integrated in these traditionally male-dominated spaces. This study explores female faculty members’ feelings of isolation within their department across academic disciplines. Drawing on the theory of tokenism, I hypothesize that women faculty members in STEM disciplines, which have been historically male-dominated, are more likely to express a lesser sense of belonging in their department, than women faculty members in the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities. I analyzed data from a 2009 online survey administered to tenure-track and tenured …