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Situation Improving in EECS
Twenty years ago EECS had 108 faculty members, three of whom were women. Today, the department has 111 faculty members, 10 of whom are women. This represents progress, but not enough. Approximately 15% of the doctoral graduates in the fields represented by our department are women, yet women represent only 9% of our faculty.
It is not that we have been unable to find qualified women candidates. From 1985 to 2001, slightly more than 15% of the faculty offers made by EECS were to women. However, during this period the offer acceptance rate for men was 79%, whereas that for women was only 47%. The nadir was between 1991 and 1998, when 100% of the offers made to women candidates were turned down. Each rejection came with its own story, but a consistent contributory factor was that the limited supply of women aspiring to faculty positions in computer science and electrical engineering created an extremely competitive market.
The good news is that the situation is improving. Over the last three years, 57% percent of the women to whom we made offers accepted (the acceptance rate for men was essentially unchanged). Moreover, an increasingly large percentage of women doctoral candidates in EE and CS seem to be interested in academic careers. I expect that for at least the next few years the percentage of our offers made to women will be somewhat greater than the percentage of women in the pool of new doctorates in the field. I also expect to be more successful in recruiting those women to whom we make offers.
I would be remiss if I did not note that a number of women faculty members play important leadership roles in EECS. Women faculty members have consistently served on our faculty search committees. One of the two associate department heads is a woman. A quarter of the departmental committee that votes on promotions is composed of women. Each of these women has earned the respect of their colleagues and exercises leadership by virtue of her talent, not her gender.
The job of a faculty member in EECS is not an easy one. The demands are great and the expectations of accomplishment high. Balancing work and family life can be stressful for men as well as for women. However, women do typically bear a disproportionate share of the burden of raising children. This does not mean that we should expect women to have less productive faculty careers than men. It does mean that some women will, at least for periods of time, have different constraints than their male peers. Our department appreciates this, and will do whatever it can to continue to offer a welcoming and supportive environment for women faculty at all stages of their careers.
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