Kanter's Theory of Proportions: Organizational Demography and PhD Completion in Science and Engineering Departments
Kanter's Theory of Proportions: Organizational Demography and PhD Completion in Science and Engineering Departments
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DOI：
10.1007/s11162-018-9499-x
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发表时间：
2018-12-01
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Main, Joyce B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Main, Joyce B.
增加科学和技术劳动力的规模和多样性是国家的优先事项。为增加妇女在科学和工程领域的代表性而进行的政策和方案努力投资取得了重大进展;然而，这些领域的博士和教师之间仍然存在性别差距。这项研究测试了坎特（《公司的男性和女性》，Basic Books，纽约，1977年）的比例理论是否适用于女性教师的比例以及女博士生完成科学和工程学位的可能性，该理论表明群体的数字表示会影响群体动态和文化背景。使用来自两个研究密集型学术机构的数据，结果表明，女博士生更有可能在女性教师比例较高的部门完成学位。此外，与女性教师论文顾问合作的女博士生也比与男性教师论文顾问合作的女博士生更有可能完成学位。然而，系内教师性别比例以及他们的指导教师是男性还是女性，对男性博士生的完成概率没有影响。与坎特的理论相一致，研究结果说明了组织人口统计学对博士生学术成果的重要性，并为旨在增加女性教师在科学和工程领域的代表性的举措和计划提供支持。
Increasing the size and diversity of the scientific and technological workforce is a national priority. Investments in policy and programmatic efforts toward increasing the representation of women in science and engineering fields have resulted in significant advances; however, a gender gap remains among PhDs and faculty in these fields. This study tests whether Kanter's (Men and women of the corporation, Basic Books, New York, 1977) theory of proportions, which suggests that numerical representation of groups influence group dynamics and cultural context, applies to the proportion of female faculty and the probability that female doctoral students will complete their degrees in science and engineering. Using data from two research-intensive academic institutions, results show that female doctoral students are more likely to complete the degree in departments with higher proportions of female faculty. Further, female PhD students working with female faculty dissertation advisors are also more likely to complete the degree than female PhD students working with male faculty dissertation advisors. Departmental faculty sex ratios and whether their faculty advisor is male or female, however, have no effect on the completion probabilities of male PhD students. Consistent with Kanter's theory, research findings illustrate the importance of organizational demography on the academic outcomes of PhD students, and provide support for initiatives and programs aimed at increasing the representation of female faculty in science and engineering.