Women comprise
13.6 percent of all 12,941 entries (exclusive of administrative assistants)
in the 2001 AGI Directory, with about 3 percent of entries of unknown
gender. The proportion of women varies by the type of institution, as shown
here. There is a higher proportion (but a low number) of women in museums (17.5
percent), at bachelor’s-granting academic institutions (17.4 percent),
and at non-degree-granting institutions (19.5 percent, including community colleges,
non-degree-granting programs in non-geoscience departments, etc.).Breakdown by gender. [*Excludes “Cooperating Faculty,” “Adjunct,” “Other,” “Lecturer,” “Related,” “Instructor,” “Research Associate,” and “Senior Scientist.”] Courtesy of the authors.
However, when positions such as “cooperating faculty,” “adjunct professor,” “lecturer” and “research associate” are omitted, the proportion of women at every type of institution drops, reflecting the relative concentration of women in non-tenure track positions. These proportions have not changed significantly from data compiled by Dr. Lois Ongley four years ago (from the 1996-1997 AGI Directory). More than half, 51 percent, of all tenure-track positions at academic institutions in the United States are held by men in “full professor” and/or “chair/head” positions.
One possible cause for women holding so many “cooperating” and “other” positions at state surveys and museums is that many women at these institutions do not have a Ph.D. degree. At museums, 43 percent of women (in all positions) have a Ph.D. degree, while 83 percent of the men have a Ph.D. degree. Nearly one-third of men working at state surveys hold a Ph.D. degree, while only 9 percent of women do. Twenty-one percent of men working at state surveys have a bachelor’s degree; 38 percent of women working at state surveys have a bachelor’s degree. Fifty-three percent of women and 59 percent of men at Ph.D.-degree-granting institutions have tenure-track positions. A higher proportion of women work in non-tenure leading positions than in tenure-track positions.
At degree-granting
institutions, the proportion of women in faculty positions varies by rank. Most
women are in “assistant professor” positions (39 percent), and next
“associate professor” positions (31 percent). There is a slightly
higher proportion of women in administrative positions than in “full professor”
positions (7.8 percent). Almost 60 percent of men are in “full professor”
or “chair/head” positions. Only 30 women professors in the geosciences
in the United States have emeritus status, while 1062 males hold emeritus status.
