6
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2006
Study: Tenure tends to go to men
Family, bias cited as reasons for gap
BY SARA BETH LANKFORD
STAFF WRITER
Female professors across the
country are facing employment
problems that their male counter
parts are not.
According to a gender equity
report released last week by
the American Association of
University Professors, not only
are women with doctorates not
tenured as often as men, but on
average they are not being paid
as much.
“Across the nation the wage
gap between tenured men and
women professors is about an
average of 81 percent,” said Ann
Higginbotham, chairwoman of
the AAUP Committee on Women
in the Academic Profession.
She said the wage gap at indi
vidual universities varies between
80 and 90 percent, depending on
the university.
LAYOFFS
FROM PAGE 3
isn’t as bad as it might sound.
He said the committee compared
UNC’s dental school to others and
discovered that most had only three
or four employees with those jobs,
while UNC has 17.
“As we looked at the dental ser
vice laboratory, it made a great deal
of sense to make a restructuring,”
he said.
The employees also have com
plained that the committee meet
ings were conducted in a secre
tive manner that goes against
University guidelines for dealing
with privatization.
An Employee Forum resolution
on the matter, which was approved
by then-Chancellor Michael Hooker
in 1996, explicitly states matters of
privatization should be dealt with in
an open manner with the University
community’s involvement.
Williams said that this resolu
tion was meant for a singular inci
dent in 1996, and that this case
is different. “It’s not a University
policy,” he said.
Williams and May also said the
committee included employees in
the decision, through their supervi
sor, Collins Clarkson.
“The employees were aware that
a review was going on,” Williams
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And UNC is not immune to the
problems of gender inequality.
According to the report, 27.6
percent of UNC’s full-time female
professors are tenured, as opposed
to 72.4 percent of male profes
sors.
UNC professors were not sur
prised by the figures.
Diane Leonard, a tenured UNC
professor of English and compara
tive literature, stated in an e-mail
that she realized there was a prob
lem but that she wasn’t aware the
gap was so large.
Officials agree that one reason
for gender-related tenure gaps
could be what they refer to as
the second shift, or the domes
tic responsibilities many women
traditionally feel obligated to per
form.
“There is a problem of balancing
family and career among women,”
Higginbotham said.
“As we looked at the dental service
laboratory , it made a great deal of
sense to make a restructuring
JOHN WILLIAMS, SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY DEAN
said.
May said he communicated with
Clarkson regularly.
“I don’t see this as secretive,”
May said. “The supervisor knew
about this since last fall. We’ve got
communications that show that he
was concerned about the commit
tee decisions.”
But Clarkson said he was not
involved with the committee or its
decisions.
“There was no input on my part
in the committee meeting.... If they
would have asked me to be in that
committee, I would have given them
some information on the technical
side because this is what we do.”
Clarkson said he was told only
that a committee was evaluating
the dental labs. He didn’t find out
about the outsourcing until earlier
this month in a meeting with May,
he said.
Despite employees’ complaints of
short notification, Williams and May
said they gave more than enough
notice to follow a policy, which
requires a 30-day notification. They
“It is difficult to balance the
tenure requirements with familial
demands.”
Carole Crumley, a tenured
anthropology professor at UNC,
also stated in an e-mail that the
“second shift” undeniably is an
issue.
She noted that perhaps another
reason for the tenure gap is a lack
of support for women in certain
departments, especially in the sci
ences.
“I’ve had several women friends
who left UNC because of the pro
fessional discouragement they
encountered —some who were
tenured, but just couldn’t take
the negative environment in their
departments any longer,” Leonard
stated.
Members of the AAUP
Committee on Women in the
Academic Profession are hoping
to inspire awareness and discourse
among universities to alleviate the
gaps in employment oppporunities
and salaries.
gave them more than 50 days.
While the committee followed
procedure, employees complained
about the lack of humane actions.
Some employees were weeks from
retirement, and while they said they
asked for an extension which May
said he would have liked to give —a
cutoff day had to be set
“I don’t think there’s ever a good
time,” May said. “If you wait until
two or three of the folks were going
to retire in a few months, then
you’ve got a few more who could
retire a few months later. It’s never
a good time for everybody at all, so
where do you stop?”
While Williams said he wel
comes the employee voice, the deci
sion pretty much is set in stone.
“We have a plan going forward
that we feel will be an efficient use
of resources,” he said.
“I certainly support people
voicing their opinions. I’m a First
Amendment kind of guy.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
News
John Curtis, AAUP director of
research and public policy, said he
has wanted to perform this survey
for a long time to dispel commonly
held notions that gender no longer
is a significant issue in employ
ment, especially on university pay
rolls.
“The report is anew report and
is something I’ve been wanting to
do for several years,” he said.
“I think there are a lot of
people who feel the questions of
gender equity have been taken
care of.”
Higginbotham said she hopes
the report will inspire policy
discourse and new employment
trends at universities across the
nation.
“It’s good for students to see
diversity in a faculty of color, and
of men and women,” she said.
“Diversity is an important part
of the world.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
SCOTT
FROM PAGE 3
nowhere,” sophomore Terrence
Petree said.
Several students who saw Scott
said they thought he was under the
influence of drugs. Daniel declined
to comment on Scott’s condition
during the incident.
Luse said Scott’s behavior was
strange. “The young man was act
ing very erratically” he said.
Friends and acquaintances of
Scott said Friday’s incident is out
of character.
“He was always eccentric and
never wore a shirt,” junior Julie
SENIOR CLASS
FROM PAGE 3
“We wanted to get seniors
involved with Habitat,” Petersen
said, adding that she sees the proj
ect as a kind of bonding activity for
seniors.
Both officers said the Habitat
project would come as the center
piece of a plan that also includes
a number of smaller service proj
ects.
Proceeds from senior wrist
bands, which went on sale Oct. 23,
will go to Habitat as well.
Peterson said the wristbands
might also be used in the future
HE’S GRRREAT
DTH/PAUL KIERNAN
A tiger yawns for a tour group at the Carnivore
Preservation Trust’s 3rd Annual Fall Festival in
Pittsboro on Saturday. For a $lO entry fee, families
could enjoy hay ride tours around the facilities to see the
cats, a pumpkin painting contest and face painting.
“We tried to respond as quickly as we
could. We could post a policeman, but I
don’t know that that would be necessary
DON LUSE, CAROLINA UNION DIRECTOR
Ellison said. “But he’s a really cool
guy.” Ellison said Scott, a political
science major, enjoys the outdoors
and ultimate Frisbee.
“It doesn’t sound like him,”
said senior Johnathan Smith,
who attended Cary Academy with
Scott. “The Will I know is a really
good guy.”
Although Scott’s outburst
to get their wearers discounts at
events such as the bar nights.
Schmidt said he felt good about
the first senior disorientation ses
sion earlier this fall, which was
aimed at helping seniors look at
career options.
While he said the project’s main
focus will come in the spring,
Schmidt added that he felt the mes
sage was already getting out because
200 more students came to this
year’s career fair than last year’s.
“I’d just like seniors to continue
to stay involved,” Petersen said.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
Baily (Ear Hprt
caused commotion in the Union,
Luse said he has confidence in the
building’s security procedures.
“We tried to respond as quickly
as we could,” he said. “We could
post a policeman, but I don’t know
that that would be necessary.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
HABITAT
FROM PAGE 3
Habitat for Humanity’s houses
are about 1,080 square feet with
three bedrooms and varying floor
plans.
The houses are sold to selected
families for $67,500 with a mort
gage at zero percent interest.
Building costs are paid for by
donations from church fundrais
ing efforts, contributions from
developers and block grants from
local governments.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.