Having summarized earlier in this chapter the literature on the factors that are potentially associated with the percentage of applicants who are women, we now investigate whether the data on hiring collected in our surveys support the hypotheses put forth by earlier investigators. In our applicant models, the fol­lowing institutional, departmental, and position-level variables measured […]

While women are increasingly receiving Ph. D.s in Science and Engineer­ing (S&E), they are still greatly outnumbered by men in terms of applications for Research I positions. For tenure-track jobs, the median number of applica­tions a department receives is 52 applications from men and 8 applications from women—or about 7 applications from men for every […]

A necessary precondition for hiring a female faculty member is to have women who are interested in applying for the position. The survey data clearly show that some departments are more successful than others in attracting female applicants.[47] Moreover, our data show that there are still a number of positions for which no women apply. […]

Data on the hiring process, as described above, are scant. Unfortunately, nationally representative information is not available. First, there is no national evidence on applicant behavior. It is not known if male and female S&E doctorates apply to positions in a similar manner. Second, evidence of how search commit­tees select one candidate over another is […]

The final decision is made by the candidate whether or not to accept the offer. Again, the candidate weighs many factors in making this decision. These include the benefits of the position, other employment opportunities, and the candidate’s preferences (possibly also including the preferences of a spouse or family members).

Once applications arrive, decision making reverts to the institution, typically through an appointed search committee. At this point, the search committee ranks the applicants and determines whom to invite to campus for interviews or for preliminary interviews at professional society meetings. Search committees also consider a variety of factors in determining who they feel are […]

Once a potential applicant is aware of a position, this individual may or may not choose to apply. In making this decision, a potential applicant may receive advice from many people, including the person’s mentor, department chair, peers, faculty at various institutions, family members, or spouse. A variety of factors may be taken into account […]

As part of the process that authorizes a department to fill a faculty position at a tenured or tenure-track level, the department determines the subfield(s) that the individual will be expected to fill (both in a research and teaching capacity). Tenure-track positions at the assistant professor level are advertised nationally in journals and at national […]

The hiring process consists of a series of decisions made sequentially by an academic department and job applicants. A department is authorized to search to fill a faculty position. The search may be for a senior faculty member who will be offered a tenured position; for a tenure-track position, which has the potential to become […]

This chapter examines this critical entry point into an academic career—and its components—with a primary focus on differences in hiring outcomes for tenure-track assistant professor and tenured associate or full professor positions, and how these differences might be explained. The following research questions are addressed: • Is gender associated with the probability of individuals applying […]