Band 5, Heft 2

Editor's Notes

The purpose of this study was to obtain an understanding of the impact of gendered organizations on female classified staff and their perception of climate and culture on advancement opportunities. The findings shed light on critical factors affecting the work experiences of female classified staff. The findings also offer a variety of ways colleges and universities can improve the overall climate for female classified staff. This qualitative study was based on confidential interviews with 16 female classified staff members who were selected based on campus leadership experience. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, analyzed and compared for pertinent themes. Three major themes emerged: culture and climate, institutional policies and procedures, and internal/external barriers to advancement. The findings revealed that women in classified support staff roles believe they have both gender and classification working against them when seeking to advance professionally.

Although women have made significant progress in the work force and in education, gender gaps still exist in many industries and occupations, including science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This research aimed to understand how undergraduate women negotiate gender within STEM fields, looking specifically at these women’s experiences related to gender as they pursue STEM academic majors. The findings of the study suggest that (a) undergraduate women are constantly negotiating gender as they are pursuing STEM majors, (b) undergraduate women in STEM fields are not necessarily conscious of gender and its potential impact on their experiences, and (c) the women in the study perceived a certain image of what a woman in a STEM field was expected to look like and how she was expected to behave.

Education is one key to economic prosperity. However, in a society bolstered by patriarchal systems, economic and educational inequalities exist among the genders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain collegiate experiences predict undergraduate women’s expectation to enroll in graduate study and to determine if the experiences influence expectation to enroll by race. The study employed logistic regression to explore the relationship between undergraduate women’s educational aspirations and family, faculty and peer influences and those differences by race/ethnicity. The results revealed that academic ability (GPA) and peer experiences influenced advanced degree aspirations. In addition, being of African-American or Latina decent is associated with a higher level of advanced degree aspiration. Also, as frequency of interactions between faculty and African-American women increase – aspiration decreases. These findings suggest that it is important to consider the various factors that influence advanced degree aspiration.

College women’s experiences with sexual and physical violence are so common that campus interventions are needed. To help guide these, we surveyed 339 college women and asked: (a) are college women’s experiences with different types of relational violence interrelated; and (b) are there patterns of association between types of violence and mental health symptoms? Analyses showed that experiences with verbal aggression, and minor and major physical violence overlapped. Experiences of sexual assault and minor physical violence also co-occurred. Moreover, women who encountered verbal and physical, but not sexual violence, suffered from symptoms of hostility, anxiety, and depression; those who encountered sexual coercion displayed signs of depression. We explore the implications of these findings for those who work with college women.

In this study of a random sample of 524 professors (47% women, 83% White) from 100 colleges and universities across the United States, 91% reported at least one act of student incivility/bullying, 25% experienced at least one sexual behavior from a student, and 1–2% said a student had used or threatened them with violence in the past year. Women, minorities, younger faculty, and those with less experience and credentials reported more incivility/bullying from students. More women (63.3%) than men (50.2%) reported a serious incident of student incivility, bullying, aggression or sexual attention during their careers. Discussion includes recommendations for faculty and administrators concerning reporting, preventing, and handling such experiences.