Professor to lead women’s research

Sociology professor Jackie Litt has noticed that female faculty members are in short supply in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at MU. To find out why, Litt will lead a group of researchers awarded a $500,000 grant by the National Science Foundation to explore the status of women in the so-called “STEM” academic departments.

Litt, director of the women’s and gender studies program, said she is looking forward to making a contribution to gender equity on campus. “We have very good faculty, but we are short in the number of women compared to other four-year colleges,” Litt said. “And we are lower than average in percentage of women in faculty in STEM fields.”

As of October 2004, 49 of 332 tenure and tenure-track positions in STEM departments — less than 15 percent — were held by women, according to MU Institutional Research. The gender distribution of science and engineering faculty are among the issues that will be addressed in the research component of the NSF study.

Litt will collaborate with faculty members and researchers on campus to collect data and interview other faculty. Nine senior faculty members will also start an outreach program, called STRIDE — Science and Technology Retention to Improve Diversity and Excellence — to increase awareness of unconscious gender bias.

“A reason why women may not advance is because of ways of doing everyday work,” Litt said. “For example, women do more service work and may not receive the same mentoring as men. When we talk to them, they tend to feel more isolated and we want to make them feel less isolated.”

Sheryl Tucker, associate professor of chemistry, and Suzanne Burgoyne, professor of theater, will work with Litt on the grant. Burgoyne will coordinate interactive theater workshops to create dialogue among groups of people. Tucker, who earned the Presidential Mentoring Award from the White House in 2005, will be in charge of a program to create mentoring opportunities for tenured faculty in the STEM areas. Tucker described Litt as energetic, with a positive outlook and a thoughtful approach to gender issues. “She came up with a framework of things that were affective and worked on campus,” she said.

Litt expects the research, which will begin in January, to eventually to influence the working environment for everyone on campus. “What we do to improve for women can help for men,” she said. “Because if you have a faculty that is generally trained in equity and diversity, that is good for everybody.”