Degree attainment at the undergraduate level for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continues to be an issue of national concern, particularly when trying to explain disparaging gender differences in persistence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence degree attainment for students in…

This article reports on a study that investigated the relationship between three dimensions of campus racial climate and faculty satisfaction with a large, nationally representative faculty sample (N = 29,169), using a multilevel structural equation model. Results indicate that campus racial climate has a large and highly significant effect upon…

To better understand how White college women understand and are influenced by whiteness, we discursively analyzed data from interviews and focus groups with 25 White seniors at two Catholic women's colleges. Findings suggest that participants understood whiteness through discourses of insignificance, nominal difference, responsibility, and…

Using longitudinal and multi-institutional data, this article takes an innovative approach in its analyses of gender differences in grade point averages (GPA) among undergraduate students in biology, the physical sciences, and engineering over a 16-year period. Assessed are hypotheses about (a) the gender ecology of science/engineering and (b) the…

Identities are not only shaped by self-perception, but are influenced by others' perceptions of self as well. More pointedly, one's physicality or bodily self can be perceived differently depending upon the viewer. To that end, Turner (2002) notes, "faculty women of color experience multiple marginality, characterized by lived contradiction and…

This article presents a longitudinal qualitative study of the cognitive value of female friendships formed in college and seeks to appraise the meaning of the phenomenon for the participants. To grasp the temporal effects of the longitudinal data in this study, the author examines and assesses the relevant developmental literature, particularly…

Eight African American women's mentoring experiences in graduate school are examined pertaining to lessons learned, characteristics and behaviors of African American female mentors, challenges with White mentors (male and female), and stereotypical images of African American female mentors. The findings support mentoring as a method of empowerment…

Findings from this study show less than 1% of the articles in three prominent journals in higher education include the language of feminism; women are included as subjects in less than 10% of the titles. Only 15.2% of the articles are single-authored by a woman. Possible explanations for these findings are considered. (Contains 4 tables and 2…

To many who espouse feminist ideals or take a critical approach to gender relations, Holland and Eisenhart's (1990) observations of college women in the late 1970s and early 1980s are grim: At the two institutions that served as the field site for Holland and Eisenhart's study, "the peer culture established an ethos for women that emphasized…

Women's studies (WS) was built by pioneering scholars who dedicated themselves to claiming space in the curriculum for women's diverse experiences and societal contributions. They explored gender as one of several important and interdependent social and cultural aspects of identity, including race, class, age, ability, nationality, and sexual…

This article is an attempt to provide a partial corrective to more traditional analyses of higher education policy that most often obscure broader social factors that contribute to unequal power relations and educational outcomes related to social class, gender, and race/ethnicity. This article focuses specifically on gender issues and employs a…

Based on national longitudinal surveys, demonstrated the effectiveness of women-only colleges in cultivating students' desire to influence social conditions, mainly due to the socially active and altruistically oriented student climate of women-only colleges. Also illustrates how a model for studying institutional effectiveness and a multilevel…

Tested two major models of higher education resource allocation to determine which best explained allocation of state dollars. Using multiple regression, demonstrated that departments characterized by male, full-time faculty; graduate degrees; and grants and contracts tend to be given more resources than those characterized by female faculty, high…

Analyzing data from 56 4-year colleges, this investigation employed a cross-sectional design with statistical controls for confounding influences to estimate the net impact of college on 5 standardized, objective measures of student learning: English, mathematics, science, social studies, and a composite of all four tests. Women in the sample…

This baccalaureate origins study examined the relationship between an institution's resources and its production of women (African American, Hispanic, or White) who later earned doctorates. Findings suggest that the baccalaureate origins of women doctorates cannot be linked exclusively to the undergraduate institution's resources, but are also…