Does increased representation help or hurt female faculty? A multilevel analysis of research productivity and departmental context Stephen R. Porter Associate Professor of Research and Evaluation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Iowa State University

Introduction Long-standing interest in male-female productivity gap; productivity determines salary and promotion prospects. Very little research has focused on the context of the faculty member’s department, one of the central organizations in academia. Goal of the paper is to understand how the proportion of female faculty in a department affects the research productivity of female faculty.

Theoretical approaches Social contact theory predicts that as the proportion of females in a department increases, female faculty should thrive. Competition theory posits that increasing the proportion of females will lead to greater conflict among faculty, as the majority group believes that their access to resources is threatened by the minority. Conflicting empirical predictions: as the proportion of female faculty increase, female faculty members will either be better off or worse off. Role of resources in female faculty success.

Data 2001 HERI Faculty Survey Institutional response rate was 16%. Faculty response rate was 41%. Analyzed only female, full-time faculty with the title of assistant, associate or full professor at research and doctoral institutions. For departmental measures, male and female faculty responses are used. Faculty in departments with less than five respondents are excluded from the analysis.

Dependent variable “How many of your professional writings have been published or accepted for publication in the last two years?” Due to estimation issues, this categorical ordinal variable has been dichotomized into low productivity (0-2) and high productivity categories (3 or more publications).

Independent variables Individual Age Race/ethnicity Marital status Highest degree is Ph.D. Rank Appointment within 2 years Career interruption Stress level due to dependents Satisfaction with office/lab space Departmental Biglan (h/p, h/a, s/p) % female Mean satisfaction with office/lab space % female*space Institutional Public Research I Research II Doctoral I Expenditures per FTE student

Analytical approach Because the HERI Faculty Survey is not a simple random sample, clustered nature of the data must be taken into account. Used a dichotomous logistic multilevel regression model with three levels of data (faculty, departments and institutions), survey weights, and a randomized intercept.

Results Individual level Higher P(productive): associate and full professors, faculty with Ph.D. Lower P(productive): older faculty, faculty with recent appt. Institutional level Higher P(productive): faculty at Research I and II institutions. Departmental level Proportion of female faculty, mean satisfaction with space, and interaction term statistically significant (p<.05).

Conclusion Proportion of female faculty in a department does have an effect on productivity, but size and direction is contingent on resources. Proportion of female faculty matters when resources are low.