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III. Findings and Recommendations of the Task Force (continued)

C. Findings and Recommendations from the Quantitative Data Subcommittee

FINDINGS

The Task Force compiled a very comprehensive database describing in quantitative terms much of what comprises the experiences of men and women faculty members at Marquette University. A review of the scholarly literature on gender equity studies in other contexts reveals no other study with as complete a set of data as the one this Subcommittee analyzed. Recall, however, that there are limits to the ability to measure any productivity factor. Some aspects of performance, such as qualities of publications or effort expended in service duties, are especially difficult to capture in quantitative measures.

In many areas of faculty experience there is no evidence found to support a conclusion that gender inequity exists. For example, there do not appear to be systematic differences in teaching or service obligations between women and men in the faculty. Another example is that, when salary at hire is taken into account, gender is not found to have an effect on current salary. Gender appears to have no effect on the way teaching, research, and service influence current salary. These findings suggest that merit review procedures are not affected by gender at a University level. Note below, however, that gender is found to have a significant and negative effect on salary at hire, which is passed on to current salary.

Analysis of the data does suggest that there are some areas in which women are found to have a different experience than men, and the differences are to women's disadvantage. Three differences are of particular concern: salary at hire, attainment of Associate rank, and compensation for administrative appointment.

There is a strong finding, based on a sample of 455 full-time faculty, that gender has a significant and negative effect on initial salary, even when academic discipline and qualifications at the date of hire are taken into account. Being female has the measured effect of lowering initial salary by more than $1800 on average. This finding, when paired with the finding that salary at hire has a significant and positive effect on current salary, indicates that women are disadvantaged in terms of salary as compared to men. The disadvantage is not because of the evaluation procedures while at Marquette, but rather because of a lower initial salary that carries through to current salary.

There is a finding in the rank model reported in Table 5 that women may be less likely to attain the rank of Associate Professor, even when pre-tenure productivity is taken into account. This finding is statistically significant at only the 10% level, so there is only 90% confidence that it is not a false positive result. However, because attainment of Associate rank is the most important event in a faculty member's career, this finding raises concerns that merit further attention.

Finally, there are consistent indications that administrative appointment, particularly at the department chair level, may have different implications for women than for men. First is the fact that there are significantly fewer women chairs than men. The database shows that only seven women have served or are serving as department chairs. This fact, combined with the significantly positive effect that appointment at chair has on current salary, disadvantages women when compared to men. Furthermore, the findings that even when women do hold administrative appointments, their salaries do not receive the same premium that men receive, only exacerbates the disadvantage.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Subcommittee generated four recommendations, intended both to redress possible inequities, and to improve process and governance.

1. The Colleges and Departments, using guidelines from the Academic Vice President's (AVP) office, must examine their salary structures with particular attention to the possibility that an unwarranted low salary at hire may result in a lower current salary for women faculty. If instances of this surface, the University should make additional salary funds available to redress the unequal treatment.
   
   
2. The Colleges and Departments, using guidelines established by the AVP, should examine the progress towards promotion and tenure of women Assistant Professors in tenure-track positions across the University. The examination may be as simple as a review of performance reviews and an interview, or may be more detailed as a particular situation warrants.
   
   
3. The procedures for making and compensating administrative appointments from faculty ranks should be made more transparent and uniform across the University. Particular attention should be paid to the appointment of department chairs, and the compensation department chairs receive during their appointment and subsequent to it. Chairs play especially important roles in recruitment and promotion. If there has been unequal treatment of women in either area, more transparency and uniformity in the appointment of chairs can mitigate this in the future. Responsibility for the promulgation of these procedures and standards should reside with the AVP. The AVP should establish uniform guidelines that deans follow when appointing department chairs and setting their salaries during and after their periods of administrative appointment.
   
   
4. Creation of a "University Ombudsperson" position to provide a focal point for grievances and appeals for the entire university community. Although some avenues for grievances and appeals by faculty already exist, an ombuds office has some advantages not shared by existing institutional mechanisms, and these advantages may serve the interests of gender equity in particular. First, an ombudsperson has the ability to span overlapping areas of governance that an appeals or grievance mechanism may not. Therefore, where an inequity in one area carries over to another, an ombudsperson has the ability to address a larger picture than might be addressed by an appeals mechanism. Second, an ombudsperson has the advantage of being independent of existing governance structures. Especially in cases of perceived gender inequity, a faculty member may find herself voicing a grievance to the very parties responsible for the conditions that create the perception. A grievance is unlikely to be voiced at all under these circumstances, and it is likely not to be handled appropriately if it is voiced.⁴⁴

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