1. 31/10/2006 1 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Ambition without future Obstacles and incentives in the scientific careers of men and women in Micro-Optics Elke Van den Brandt Network of Excellence on Micro-Optics Vrije Universiteit Brussel

2. 31/10/2006 2 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Scope Women remain under represented in scientific research Micro-Optics as case study  New technology  International composition International dimension  Influence of national/local culture  Influence of work place

3. 31/10/2006 3 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Methods Data HR-databases networks 2 surveys  Online, 8 Themes  First: 245 respondents (67%)  Second: 1357 respondents

4. 31/10/2006 4 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Overview presentation 1.Current position 2.Career development 3.Ambition 4.Perceived discrimination 5.Working day 6.Job satisfaction and work values 7.Family situation

5. 31/10/2006 5 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 1. Current Position 2. Career development 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation 8. To conclude

6. 31/10/2006 6 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Horizontal segregation General scientific areas Optics

7. 31/10/2006 7 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Horizontal segregation (II)

8. 31/10/2006 8 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Horizontal segregation (III) Men work more for small organizations than women (Mean rank men 440,77; women: 476,40; p<.05) Women are concentrated in departments with a higher female participation (Mean men: 20,2; women: 25,5; p<.001) More women work under a female boss/supervisor (Men: 5%; women 10%; p<.001) More men do not have a boss/supervisor (Men: 10%; women 4%; p<.001)

9. 31/10/2006 9 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Vertical segregation: The Glass Ceiling Engineering, technology and natural sciences Optics

10. 31/10/2006 10 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Contractual segregation Differences in contract and policy positions  Full time/Part time -93% of the women, 96% of the men (! p=.073)  Contract of Unlimited duration -57% of the women, 72% of the men (excluding the PhD-students) (p<.001) -46% of the women, 65% of the men (including the PhD-students) (p<.001)  Wage (‘sticky floor’) -Data not applicable  Policy positions -23% of the women, 46% of the men hold policy positions (formal positions) (p<.001) -41% of the women, 59% of the men have supervision power (over work of others) (p<.01) -21% of the women, 39% of the men have decision power (over salary/promotion of others) (p<.001)

11. 31/10/2006 11 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 2. Career Development 1. Current Position 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation 8. To Conclude

12. 31/10/2006 12 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Career Development Promotion time  Lower levels: No significant differences  Higher levels: women move on slower Interruptions in the career  35% of women, 22% of men (p<.001) -Women (mean: 14 months) : pregnancy leave -Men (mean:18 months) : military service, unemployment  Gap is larger in eastern and southern Europe than in northern and western Europe and in the US/Canada. Time spend abroad  Long term: -Men and women have spend a comparable time abroad -BUT: women travel for shorter periods (more but shorter visits) -BUT: women traveled more during their studies/at a younger age  Short term: no differences

13. 31/10/2006 13 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 3. Ambition 1. Current position 2. Career development 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation 8. To conclude

14. 31/10/2006 14 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Ambition (I) Where would you like to be working in 5 years :  79% of women prefers a higher position, 62% of men (p<.001)  49% of women only wants a higher position, 33% of men (p<.001)  Pattern remains when excluding high positions or PhD-students  Pattern is more explicit in higher education than in business enterprise/industry.  Possible explanations: -Pre-selection -Current position

15. 31/10/2006 15 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Ambition (II) Perceived chances for getting job of first choice:  When first choice implies promotion: men rate their chances higher (p<.01)  When no promotion is implied: no significant differences  Self-confidence or perceived discrimination? Men esteem their research and teaching skills higher (respect. p <.01 and p<.001) Women are more skeptic about the fairness of selection and promotion procedures (cfr. infra)

16. 31/10/2006 16 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Ambition (III) Turnover  Intent to turnover is higher for women (mean 8.4) than for men (mean 7.7) (p<.000)  For both sexes, the score is lower in eastern and southern Europe than in northern and western Europe and in the US/Canada.  No significant differences for different kinds of organizations/sectors

17. 31/10/2006 17 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 4. Perceived Discrimination 1.Current position 2.Career development 3.Ambition 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation 8. To conclude

18. 31/10/2006 18 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Perceived discrimination (I) 28% of women perceived discrimination, 13% of men  Lack of appreciation and recognition  Promotion opportunities  Salary Note: sex and age Did you encounter any discrimination in the workplace during your career?

19. 31/10/2006 19 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Perceived discrimination (II) 56% of women beliefs in fairness of selection and promotion procedures, 75% of men  Subjectivity  Lack of transparence Do you think these criteria for selection and promotion are fair?

20. 31/10/2006 20 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Perceived discrimination (III) Some remarkable differences: Women perceive less discrimination in departments with a high participation of women Women perceive less discrimination when the supervisor/boss is female. Men perceive more discrimination when supervised by a women Women perceive slightly more discrimination in larger organizations Women perceive slightly more discrimination in the business enterprise/industry than in higher education No significant regional differences were found. Only for women in the US/Canada a very high percentage perceived discrimination (53%)

21. 31/10/2006 21 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 5. Working Day 1. Current position 2. Career development 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation 8. To conclude

22. 31/10/2006 22 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Working Day (I) Working hours: men work more hours/week than women (50h versus 46h) (p<.000) This extra time is not spend on research:

23. 31/10/2006 23 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Working Day Working style  Men work more in group  More women would like to work more in group -NOTE: pattern remains when actual working style is taken into account  Remarkable results: –Correlated with the general satisfaction: people working in group are more satisfied. –Also correlated with the satisfaction on appreciation from others, contact with colleagues and collaboration with colleagues. –Correlated with the intention to turnover : people working alone have a higher intent to turnover

24. 31/10/2006 24 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 6. Satisfaction 1. Current position 2. Career development 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 7. Family situation 8. To conclude

25. 31/10/2006 25 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Satisfaction Satisfaction (list of 20 items) Ranking top 5 MenWomen Flexible working times11 Intellectual challenges23 Autonomy32 Work content45 Collaboration with colleagues54 Ranking bottom 5 MenWomen Salary11 Management of the organization23 Promotion opportunities32 Work load44 Job security10 !5

26. 31/10/2006 26 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Men are more satisfied on 16 of the 20 items Significant differences for:  Salary  Access to adequate facilities, equipment,…  Promotion opportunities  Job security  Being useful to society  Self realization Satisfaction on these items is correlated to -the general satisfaction, -the willingness to choose for the same career, -the ambition of a job outside the current organization. -the intent to turnover  These correlations are stronger for women ! Satisfaction (II)

27. 31/10/2006 27 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Discouraging factors: reason to change job Satisfaction (III)

28. 31/10/2006 28 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 7. Family Situation 1. Current position 2. Career development 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 8. To conclude

29. 31/10/2006 29 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Family situation (I) Family situationMenWomen Single14%17% Couple without children32%31% Couple with children44%32% Other10%20% Task division within household only including respondents living with partner MenWomen You do most of household3%68% Partner does most of household73%6% Household is done equally by you and partner17%15% Others do most of household7%11%

30. 31/10/2006 30 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Family situation (II) Problems combining work and household activities MenWomen 1 Never or less than 1/year 30%26% 2 Several times/year 35%31% 3 Several times/month 22%24% 4 Several times/week 9%11% 5 Every day 4%8% This pattern appears in all countries/regions. No differences?  People with high household responsibilities work fewer hours per week.

31. 31/10/2006 31 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? 8. To Conclude 1. Current position 2. Career development 3. Ambition 4. Perceived discrimination 5. Working day 6. Job satisfaction and work values 7. Family situation

32. 31/10/2006 32 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Preliminary Conclusions Women are underrepresented (horizontal, vertical and contractual segregation) Women do want to move on (ambition), but feel less satisfied and perceive more discrimination. Especially the lack of job security and promotion opportunities are obstacles for women. Combining work/family is not perceived as an important obstacle, but influences the number of working hours. Only few differences could be found between regions and between different kinds of organizations

33. 31/10/2006 33 Benefits of being a Member Ambition without future? Contact Elke Van den Brandt evdbrand@vub.ac.be 0032 485 61 63 15