Status of Women Committee to study representation of women faculty

Some faculty members question women’s equal representation in University leadership roles and are set on investigating the issue.

The Status of Women Committee met Friday to discuss the research it will conduct on the representation of women faculty in leadership positions at the University throughout the next month.

Nancy Demore, chairwoman of the committee, said the committee members will use UNC’s human resources database to look at the ranks and tenure tracks of female and male faculty within each department and the professional schools.

In the current search for a new chancellor, many administrators have voiced their desire for a woman to lead the University.

Committee member Renee McBride said she believes the data will show that women are better represented in leadership roles at UNC Libraries and the UNC School of Information and Library Science.

McBride is the head of the special formats and metadata section of University Libraries.

The committee will gather all of the data before its next meeting on Dec. 14.

On Friday, four of 10 committee members met to plan which departments and schools the members will research.

Member Brent Wissick said some of the faculty titles listed in the human resources database are not consistent among departments and therefore must be checked on individual websites.

“We included all members of the voting faculty,” Demore said.

The committee proposed the University conduct a formal study during the 2011-12 academic year, but its request was not fulfilled.

“Since our recommendation wasn’t acted upon, our goal is to give some preliminary data to document if there is a problem,” Demore said.

The members will meet in January and February to brainstorm actions they can take if the data shows clear inequities, Demore said.

All of the data and possible resolutions will be presented to the Faculty Council in March.

Demore said a possible amendment would be to propose that 50 percent of selection committee members be women.

“Is it that there aren’t opportunities for women?” she said.

“Or is it that women are self-selecting and they would rather be home with their kids?”

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