The report on the Status of Women in the University states more improvements are needed in six areas of interest for female students, faculty and staff.
Released in October, the 41-page report written by Beverly McPhail, director of the Women’s Resource Center, covers various aspects of life on campus for female students, faculty and staff.
"Fifty-two percent of the students are women, so you would think that they would be represented more," McPhail said.
The status report discusses the absence of women in faculty and leadership positions as well as disparities between athlete and graduation ratios based on gender.
The report was presented in October before Renu Khator was selected by the board to become the next UH president and UH System chancellor after Jay Gogue’s departure. It does not include her as part of the administration, which would reflect two women instead of just one.
"I think everything’s just fine," University studies freshman Anna Papadopoulos said.
The report states that female students are more likely to graduate then men, as data from fiscal year 2006 showed 3,722 women graduated compared to 3,010 men – a difference of 712, or 10 percent of graduates.
"There are definitely more girls than guys," advertising senior Jasmine Moses said. "I just think maybe that boys aren’t as motivated about education as girls are. I guess because of history – how women had to fight for education, that the fact that we can go to school now without it being a problem, we take advantage of it."
A study was also conducted to analyze female student athletes in comparison to male student athletes.
The report shows that two-thirds of UH athletes are male, and coaches for men’s athletic teams make "twice the salary of coaches for the women’s teams."
A survey also examined athletes’ perceptions on the support given to the women’s athletic program on campus. The report contains female athletes’ perceptions of University support. Forty-eight percent of female athletes said they believe men’s sports receive greater support than women’s sports, while 95 percent of male athletes said they believe men and women receive equal support in the report.
The Women’s Sports Foundation gave UH a grade of C- on its report card on the University’s performance because of the lack of female student athletes on campus.
According to the report, "women in the University comprise only 10 percent of the Board of Regents, 11 percent of the highest level of University administration, 7 percent of deans, 25 percent of faculty senators, and 26 percent of student government senators. The only area of leadership that has a majority of women is the Staff Council."
In the report, McPhail recommends "the need for qualified women to be represented at the highest levels of leadership at the University."
Some students said they do not see a gender issue at the University.
Diversified leadership is often beneficial, McPhail said. "Female academics sometimes bring something different to the table because of their experience or perhaps the things they are interested in researching," McPhail said. "I think they can be a role model for young women…the more young women see women teaching their classes and adding to the knowledge. So they are also role models."
The report also indicates that leadership positions are not the only area where a large disparity occurs. The report states that "men outnumber women 6-to-1 at the rank of full professor and 2-to-1 at the associate professor level," and "the higher the faculty rank the more likely the professor is to be male."
"Obviously, if there is a 6-to-1 ratio there is a certain stacking going on," logistics technology post-baccalaureate student Chad Woolam said.
Beyond campus faculty issues, McPhail also suggests that the University childcare system needs an update.
The report states there is a lack of childcare on campus and that campus childcare "is housed in 30-year-old ‘temporary’ buildings and no drop-in, evening or weekend hours are available."
The report recommends improvement in the way childcare is managed as "there (are) over 50 people for nine infant-care slots."
McPhail feels these results should be investigated further.
"The childcare situation must be further studied and, if a need is demonstrated, a new childcare facility should be incorporated in the master plan that would provide increased space, more slots for children and longer and more flexible hours," she said.
In the report, she also recommended that "family-friendly benefits" be implemented to cater to students, faculty and staff in the "work-family" environment.
A previous report on the Status of Women was published by the Presidential Commission in 2001 and led to the creation of the University Commission on Women and later the Women’s Resource Center.
The report suggests that facilities should be available for women seeking support on campus and that there should be equal representation to build gender equality for a better educational experience.
The full report is available online at http://www.uh.edu/wrc/documents/StatusofWomenattheUniversityofHoustonReport10-25-07_000.pdf.
Additional reporting by Bayan Raji and Mayra Cruz
