Organization of Women Faculty (OWF)

In 1981, 72 percent of all women faculty at Northwestern held the rank of assistant professor or below. One-third of all women faculty were lecturers-a position that did not even guarantee library privileges. Many with higher rank held merely one-year visiting appointments. And high rates of attrition guaranteed that most women faculty would never have a chance at tenure.

Thanks to the OWF and its allies, working conditions and opportunities for women faculty at Northwestern University have seen marked improvements over the past two decades.

OWF reports on conditions for lecturers. The report calls for (1) full borrowing privileges at the University Library, (2) telephones in lecturers’ offices, (3) inclusion in departmental announcements and directories, and (4) the full panoply of faculty fringe benefits. The University responds to the first three requests and creates the position of senior lecturer, the only lecturer position at the University to receive full retirement contributions.

OWF publishes its first report regarding the hiring and retention of women faculty at Northwestern. The OWF’s first report finds that 72% of all women on the Evanston faculty hold the rank of assistant professor, instructor or lecturer, and several of the higher-ranked women hold merely one-year visiting appointments.

OWF publishes its first study of faculty promotions by gender. The study, based on public data, finds that

• Eligible male candidates are more likely than women candidates to be passed into the “above-department” levels of the tenure system;
• Men are more likely to receive “positive deviations”—being promoted at upper levels despite lower level “less-than-enthusiastic” recommendations—while women are subject to more “negative deviations”—being rejected at upper levels despite lower level positive recommendations.

OWF recommends merged gender pension plan for TIAA-CREF. In 1981, the OWF resolved that the existing TIAA-CREF retirement plan was discriminatory, paying to the retired female on the single annuity option a monthly payment about 15% less than would be paid to a comparably situated retired male. The OWF asked the administration to request TIAA-CREF to implement a merged-gender pension plan. In 1983, TIAA-CREF changes its plan.

OWF urges the university to adopt gender-free language in public communications. The OWF passes a resolution commending the Graduate School for adopting gender-free language and urging University Relations and all other members of the University to adopt such language. Members of the OWF work with members of the administration to develop such language. The OWF also works to ensure that photographs contained in Northwestern publicity reflected the existing proportions of women faculty at the University.

OWF publishes second study of faculty promotions by gender. The study reveals that attrition rates for women on the graduate faculty are significantly higher than for men on that faculty, even with rank controlled. Women’s chances for promotion and tenure are also found to be significantly lower than men’s in the College of Arts and Sciences for the three years studied.

OWF successfully lobbies NU for data collection on faculty promotions by gender. The OWF’s 1982 and 1985 studies of faculty promotion by gender were based on publicly available data. Recognizing the inadequacy of the available data, the OWF requests that the administration begin collecting data on promotions by gender.

College of Arts and Sciences accepts the OWF plan for increasing women faculty hires.

In response to the OWF recommendations, the Associate Provost makes 25 salary adjustments on a case-by-case basis.

OWF lobbies administration for family-friendly tenure policies. At the OWF’s urging, the administration produces a draft statement which would allow a faculty member to stop the tenure clock for a period of one year at the time of childbirth, upon the death or serious illness of a close family member, or when circumstances beyond the faculty member’s control inhibit the research process.

Task Force on Women finds additional university-wide salary inequities. Under the auspices of the university-wide Task Force on Women, the administration conducts a regression analysis. Statistically significant findings reveal that, at the professor and assistant professor levels, salaries for women faculty are lower than those for comparable men. The OWF asks the administration to conduct such a regression analysis every five years to monitor salary inequities.

OWF lobbies for changes in faculty paid-leave policies. Taking note of school-to-school and department-to-department variations in paid-leave policies, the OWF lobbies for a consistent implementation of this policy—particularly an end to policy implementations that discriminate against faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Contraceptive coverage is made part of all University health care plans. In Until 2004, many University healthcare plans had nonexistent, limited or inconsistent and discriminatory coverage for female contraception. To address this significant inequity, Alice Eagly works with the General Faculty Committee as a key advocate for new University policy that would make full contraceptive coverage a requirement for all University health care plans. In response to Eagly’s research into EEOC, and Federal Court decisions and Illinois law—all of which mandated contraceptive coverage—the University amends its policy.