Many women also reported a lack of concern for the daily working conditions they face as they attempt to be productive members of our campus community. The following categories emerged during the date collection and analysis process. We share, below, the observational data reported as part of this study. Some female students feel compromised when department or disciplinary norms are not made explicit. Some male professors are uncomfortable socializing with female graduate students and will not travel with them to professional conferences because of possible misperceptions about the nature of the relationship.
Some male professors seem to enjoy intimidating the female members of the academic community.
It was noted by both students and faculty that some junior faculty appear to emulate the sexist behavior of more senior faculty. Some male faculty use predominantly male metaphors in mentoring and departmental interactions that reflect a male experiential bias which alienates female students. Some female faculty members noted that their assertiveness was responded to as if it was inappropriate and unfeminine and, hence, without validity. Some female assistant professors feel compelled to justify their research agendas, as legitimate and valid lines of scientific inquiry, when they have chosen to focus on social inequalities as a major concern in their scholarly work. Female students are under-represented at the graduate ranks in science and engineering.