This paper examines several facets of gender integration within academic sociology: total segregation, as in all-male faculties; appointments of women in token or solo positions; variations in the departmental faculty sex ratio; and the “ghettoization” of women in lower academic ranks and positions with heavy committee assignments. These outcomes are analyzed at the organizational level as the product of the operation of internal and external labor markets in academia. Drawing on a representative 1984 national survey of sociology departments (N = 230), multivariate analyses indicate that a large proportion of the variation in gender integration from one department to the next can be predicted from the organizational context. Several organizational factors appear to militate against total segregation (all-male faculties) while promoting balance in the faculty sex ratio and in the distribution of academic rank. These include demand for labor in the form of job opportunities, especially those created through turnover; women in the institutional power structure, including a separate women's studies program; and a state legislative climate favoring women's legal and political rights.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbramsonJoan1975. The Invisible Woman: Discrimination in the Academic Profession. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2.
AisenbergNadyaHarringtonMona1988. Women of Academe: Outsiders in the Sacred Grove. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
3.
AstinHelen S.BayerAlan E.1979. “Pervasive Sex Differences in the Academic Reward System: Scholarship, Marriage, and What Else?” Pp. 211–229 in Academic Rewards, edited by LewisDarrell R.BeckerWilliam E.Jr.Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
4.
BachRebecca L.PerrucciCarolyn C.1984. “Organizational Influences on the Sex Composition of College and University Faculty: A Research Note.”Sociology of Education57: 193–198.
5.
BaronJames N.BielbyWilliam T.1980. “Bringing the Firms Back In: Stratification, Segmentation and the Organization of Work.”American Sociological Review45: 737–765.
6.
BaronJames N.BielbyWilliam T.1982. “Workers and Machines: Dimensions and Determinants of Technical Relations in the Workplace.”American Sociological Review47: 175–188.
7.
BernardJessie1964. Academic Women. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
8.
BernardJessie1975. “Research on Sex Differences: An Overview of the Art.” Pp. 7–29 in Women, Wives and Mothers: Values and Options. Chicago: Aldine.
9.
BielbyWilliam T.BaronJames N.1984. “A Woman's Place Is with Other Women: Sex Segregation within Organizations.” Pp. 27–55 in Sex Segregation in the Workplace: Trends, Explanations, Remedies, edited by ReskinBarbara F.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
10.
BlairDiane D.SavageRobert L.1984. “Dimensions of Responsiveness to Women's Policies in the Fifty States.”Women and Politics4: 49–68.
11.
BlauPeter M.1973. The Organization of Academic Work. New York: Wiley.
12.
CaplowTheodoreMcGeeR.1958. The Academic Marketplace. New York: Basic Books.
13.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching1987. A Classification of Higher Educational Institutions. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
14.
CarterSusan B.1981. “Academic Women Revisited: An Empirical Study of Changing Patterns in Women's Employment as College and University Faculty, 1890–1963.”Journal of Social History14: 675–699.
15.
CarterMichael J.CarterSusan B.1981. “Women's Recent Progress in the Professions, or, Women Get a Ticket to Ride after the Gravy Train Has Left the Station.”Feminist Studies7: 477–504.
16.
ChildJohn1972. “Organizational Structure, Environment and Performance: The Role of Strategic Choice.”Sociology6: 1–22.
17.
ChildJohn1973. “Predicting and Understanding Organizational Structure.”Administrative Science Quarterly18: 168–185.
18.
ColeJonathan R.1979. Fair Science: Women in the Scientific Community. New York: Free Press.
19.
ColeJonathanZuckermanHarriet1987. “Marriage, Motherhood and Research Performance in Science.”Scientific American255: 119–125.
20.
CoyleSusan1986. Summary Report 1985: Doctorate Recipients from United States Universities. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
21.
CraneDiana1972. Invisible Colleges. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
22.
CyertRichard M.MarchJames G.1963. A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
EnglandPaula1982. “The Failure of Human Capital Theory to Explain Segregation.”Journal of Human Resources17: 371–392.
26.
FerberMarianne1988. “Citations and Networking.”Gender and Society2: 82–89.
27.
FoxMary Frank1983. “Publication Productivity among Scientists: A Critical Review.”Social Studies of Science13: 285–305.
28.
GrahamPatricia A.1978. “Expansion and Exclusion: A History of Women in Higher Education.”Signs3: 759–773.
29.
JensenEric L.WebsterDavid1981. “Ranking Studies of Sociology Departments in The American Sociologist: 1965–1980.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Los Angeles.
30.
JonesKatharineRoosPatricia A.1991. “The Feminization of Sociology?” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Cincinnati, OH.
31.
JonesLyle V.LindzeyGardnerCoggeshallPorter, eds. 1982. An Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
32.
KallebergA. L.SörensenA. B.1979. “The Sociology of Labor Markets.”Annual Review of Sociology5: 351–379.
33.
KanterRosabeth Moss1977. Men and Women of the Corporation. New York: Basic Books.
34.
KenenPeter B.KenenRegina H.1978. “Who Thinks Who's in Charge Here: Faculty Perceptions of Influence and Power in the University.”Sociology of Education51: 113–123.
35.
KimberlyJ. R.1976. “Organizational Size and the Structuralist Perspective: A Review, Critique and Proposal.”Administrative Science Quarterly21: 571–597.
36.
Knorr-CentinaKarin D.1981. The Manufacture of Knowledge: An Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual Nature of Science. New York: Pergamon Press.
37.
KulisStephen1988. “The Representation of Women in Top Ranked Sociology Departments.”The American Sociologist19: 203–217.
38.
KulisStephenMiller-LoessiKaren A.1992. “Organizational Dynamics and Gender Equity: The Case of Sociology Departments in the Pacific Region.”Work and Occupations19: 157–183.
39.
KulisStephenMillerKaren A.AxelrodMorrisGordonLeonard1986. “Minorities and Women in the PSA Region: Five Years Later.”Sociological Perspectives29: 147–176.
40.
LeathermanCourtney1991. “Colleges Hire More Female Presidents, but Questions Linger about Their Clout.”Chronicle of Higher Education37[6] November: A19–21.
41.
LindquistE. F.1964. “Equating Scores on Non-Parallel Tests.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago. Reprint available from the American College Testing Service, Iowa City, Iowa.
42.
LyleJerolyn R.RossJane L.1973. Women in Industry: Employment Patterns of Women in Corporate America. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
43.
MackieMarlene1985. “Female Sociologists' Productivity, Collegial Relations, and Research Style Examined through Journal Publications.”Sociology and Social Research69: 189–209.
44.
MarwellGeraldRosenfeldRachel A.SpilermanSeymour1979. “Geographic Constraints on Women's Careers in Academia.”Science205: 1225–1231.
45.
MaxClaire1982. “Career Paths for Women in Physics.” Pp. 99–116 in Women and Minorities in Science: Strategies for Increasing Participation, edited by HumphreysSheila M.Boulder, CO: Westview.
46.
MayhewLeon H.1968. Law and Equal Opportunity: A Study of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
47.
McGinnisRobertLongJ. Scott1988. “Entry into Academia: Effects of Stratification, Geography and Ecology.” Pp. 28–51 in Academic Labor Markets and Careers, edited by BrenemanDavid W.YounTed I. K.New York: Falmer Press.
48.
National Research Council1979. Survey of Earned Doctorates Awarded in the United States: Social and Behavioral Sciences. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
49.
National Science Foundation1990. Characteristics of Recent Science and Engineering Graduates: 1988. NSF 90–305. Washington, DC.
50.
NiggJoanneAxelrodMorris1981. “Women and Minorities in the PSA Region: Results of the 1979 Survey.”Pacific Sociological Review24: 107–128.
51.
PerrucciCarolyn C.1986. “Gender Equity in Sociology Faculty Employment Patterns: A Cross-university Comparison.”Sociology and Social Research70: 235–241.
52.
PfefferJeffrey1977. “Toward an Examination of Stratification in Organizations.”Administrative Science Quarterly22: 553–567.
53.
PfefferJeffreySalancikGerald R.1978. The External Control of Organizations. New York: Harper and Row.
54.
ReskinBarbara F.1980. “Fair Science: A Fair Test?” A Review of Jonathan Cole'sFair Science. Contemporary Sociology9: 793–795.
RongXue LanGrantLindaWardKathryn B.1988. “Funding and Sociological Publication: Effects of Method, Gender and Topic.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Atlanta.
57.
RoosPatricia A.ReskinBarbara F.1992. “Occupational Desegregation in the 1970s: Integration and Economic Equity?”Sociological Perspectives35: 69–91.
58.
RosenfeldRachel A.1984. “Academic Career Mobility for Women and Men Psychologists.” Pp. 89–127 in Women in Scientific and Engineering Professions, edited by HaasV. B.PerrucciC. C.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
59.
SalancikGerald R.1979. “Interorganizational Dependence and Responsiveness to Affirmative Action: The Case of Women and Defense Contractors.”Academy of Management Journal22: 375–394.
60.
SchwartzEleanor Brantley1971. The Sex Barrier in Business. Atlanta: Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Georgia State University.
61.
ShepherdWilliam G.1969. “Market Power and Racial Discrimination in White Collar Employment.”The Anti-Trust Bulletin14: 141–161.
62.
ShepherdWilliamLevinSharon G.1973. “Managerial Discrimination in Large Firms.”Review of Economics and Statistics55: 412–422.
63.
SimeoneAngela1987. Academic Women: Working Towards Equality. South Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey.
64.
SmelserNeilContentRobin1980. The Changing Academic Market. Berkeley: University of California Press.
65.
SzafranRobert F.1982. “What Kinds of Firms Hire and Promote Women and Blacks? A Review of the Literature.”Sociological Quarterly23: 171–190.
66.
SzafranRobert F.1984. Universities and Women Faculty: Why Some Organizations Discriminate More than Others. New York: Praeger.
67.
TheilHenriFinizzaAnthony J.1971. “A Note on the Measurement of Racial Integration of Schools by Means of Informational Concepts.”Journal of Mathematical Sociology1: 187–194.
68.
ThibaultGisele1987. The Dissenting Feminist Academy. New York: P. Lang.
69.
TolbertPamela S.1986. “Organizations and Inequality: Sources of Earnings Differentials between Male and Female Faculty.”Sociology of Education59: 227–235.
70.
VetterBetty M.1984. “Patterns of Recruitment and Employment.” Pp. 59–74 in Women in Scientific and Engineering Professions, edited by HaasV. B.PerrucciC. C.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
