College of Education
Report of the Gender Equity Council
Toni Falbo, Chair
The Gender Equity Council was created within the College of Education in order to advise the Dean’s office on gender equity issues among faculty within the college. Membership of the Council represents all departments and the members are listed at the end of this report.
The Council met monthly during the spring 2011 semester to identify the most important faculty concerns related to gender equity in the College. In addition, the Council sought to assess the faculty’s perceptions of 15 practices that could be used by departments to promote gender equity. These practices were described in the 2008 Final Report of the University’s Gender Equity Task Force. Toni Falbo, with the assistance of Shernaz Garcia and Jennifer Holme, designed and administered a questionnaire between March 28 and April 13, 2011.
Almost half of the faculty invited to participate responded to this survey. Of those who participated, 75% were female, although only about 56% of the College’s faculty members are women. The representation of participants by rank was similar to the composition of the College faculty. That is, 45% were full professors, 26% were associate professors, and 29% were assistant professors.
Identifying Priorities
The results of this survey indicated that salary and supplements, including merit and compression, was the area of concern that stood out as the most important, garnering 44% of all first ranks. Concerns about work-family balance (18% of first ranks) and promotion evaluation procedures and criteria (15% of first ranks) were second and third highest priorities, respectively.
Salary & Supplements: In order to assess the degree of the problem regarding gender equity and salaries and supplements within the college, the Council studied the report provided by the Office of Information Management and Analysis about Faculty Salary Equity for the Academic Year: 2010-2011. For the college as a whole, the following table provides information about the total salary (salary + supplements) for male and female faculty by rank.
Total Salary, 2010-2011
Men |
Women |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank |
Average |
Median |
Average |
Median |
Professor |
114,349.03 |
108,120.00 |
110,394.72 |
98,150.00 |
Associate Professor |
73,950.44 |
76,600.50 |
77,520.52 |
74,660.00 |
Assistant Professor |
65,126.36 |
63,744.50 |
62,615.54 |
62,227.50 |
Work-Family Balance: The Council identified sources of information regarding the university’s family policies. Although faculty often think of family policies as related to birth and childcare, the university’s policies also include leave to engage in eldercare and other family responsibilities. The university has many family friendly policies that can help male or female faculty meet their family responsibilities, including modified instructional leave, sick leave, and family and medical leave.
More information about family-work balance is available on the Family Matters section of the Provost's Website.There is also more information about solving problems of work/life balance available on the Work/Life Balance Resources & Services section of the Human Resource Services Website.
Perceptions of Gender Equity Practices
The spring 2011 questionnaire also assessed the faculty’s perceptions of 15 practices that could be used by departments to promote gender equity. The Council is highlighting here the five gender equity practices that were perceived by most of the faculty participants as utilized within our college. In the future, the Council will present the remaining 10 practices, and the faculty perceptions of them. The five gender equity practices that elicited the greatest agreement are:
- Starting salaries for new Tenured/Tenure Track faculty are based on market conditions, regardless of gender.
- Faculty merit raises are based on productivity, not gender.
- Promotion and tenure criteria and procedures are gender neutral and based on faculty productivity.
- The University’s spousal hire program is used as part of a recruiting package for new faculty.
- Gender-neutral criteria are used in nominating faculty for Dean’s Fellows, university research awards, and teaching awards.
Gender Equity Council Members (2011):
- Darla Castelli, Kinesiology and Health Education
- Toni Falbo, Chair, Educational Psychology
- Terry Falcomata, Special Education
- Shernaz Garcia, Special Education
- Louis Harrison, Curriculum and Instruction
- Carole Holahan, Kinesiology and Health Education
- Jennifer Holme, Educational Administration
- Min Liu, Curriculum and Instruction
- Martha Ovando, Educational Administration
- Keenan Pituch, Educational Psychology
In addition, Marilyn C. Kameen, Senior Associate Dean, and María E. Fránquiz, Assistant Dean for Faculty Development, are ad hoc members of the Council.