As part of our effort to monitor the status of women in immunology, the Committee
on the Status of Women has performed surveys on the percentage of women in various
professional activities such as serving on editorial boards or as invited speakers
at meetings (see committee web page on the AAI web site for results). This year
we surveyed the percentage of women in faculty positions and compared this to
the percentage of female graduate students (see page 6). We focused on departments
of immunology or graduate programs in immunology and excluded those that combined
immunology with another discipline (i.e., microbiology and immunology). While
our list is not inclusive of all departments and programs, we collected information
on 26 programs*.
The percentage of female faculty
for a given department/program varied from a low of 5% to a high of 33%. Overall,
the percentage of female faculty was 21% (178/830). In contrast, the percentage
of female graduate students was 47% (357/742). This information is consistent
with the number of Ph.D.s awarded in the category of Biological Immunology for
1998 which was 47% (115/245)*. In 1981, 29% of the Ph.D.s in biology were awarded
to women and this number has continued to rise so that in 1996 it was 44%.
By documenting the under-representation of women at the faculty ranks and by
noting the marked difference in percentages between the graduate students and
the faculty, we hope that the results of our survey will spark discussion and
raise the consciousness on this issue. If our immunology programs are training
47% female Ph.D.s who in general will continue to work, why is there such a
large discrepancy, particularly for some departments/programs? What are some
programs doing that result in higher proportion of female? How can the progression
of women in scientific careers be facilitated? If you have comments on this
issue, please send them either to Dr. Lynn Soong (lysoong@utmb.edu) or Dr. Paula
Kavathas (paula.kavathas@yale.edu).
Note: Adjunct professors are not included.
*Survey of Earned Doctorates NSF/NIH/NEH/USED/USDA
** Data was collected from website and reviewed by individual at each institution
for accuracy.
|
DEPARTMENT - PROGRAM |
RATIO OF FEMALE/TOTAL |
|
Departments of Immunology |
Faculty % Students % |
|
Scripps |
14/52 27 ---- |
|
University of Washington |
2/9 22 6/21 29 |
|
Baylor College of Medicine |
6/30 20 10/27 37 |
|
Mayo Clinic |
5/20 25 14/30 47 |
|
University of Toronto |
14/52 27 29/52 56 |
|
University of Colorado Health Science Center |
7/34 21 11/28 39 |
|
Duke University |
7/32 22 8/20 40 |
|
Section of Immunobiology |
|
|
Yale University |
3/17 18 23/38 60 |
|
Centers for Immunology |
|
|
University of Texas Southwestern |
4/14 28 23/33 70 |
|
University of Minnesota |
1/20 5 24/53 45 |
|
Washington University in St. Louis |
3/36 8 28/62 45 |
|
Immunology Programs |
|
|
University of Texas HSC |
8/43 19 8/16 50 |
|
Cornell University |
7/23 30 17/29 59 |
|
University of Pittsburgh |
10/30 33 6/22 27 |
|
University of Iowa |
3/31 10 6/18 33 |
|
University of Virginia |
11/46 24 ---- |
|
Emory University |
4/16 25 24/39 62 |
|
Harvard University |
15/86 17 24/52 46 |
|
Sloan Kettering Institute |
1/13 8 ---- |
|
Dartmouth Medical School |
4/23 17 ---- |
|
LaJolla Institute of Immunology |
2/14 14 ---- |
|
Boston University |
4/24 17 18/28 64 |
|
Stanford University |
11/36 31 19/45 42 |
|
Committee on Immunology |
|
|
University of Chicago |
10/33 30 15/34 44 |
|
Graduate Group in Immunology |
|
|
University of Pennsylvania |
18/82 22 24/64 37 |
|
MD Anderson Cancer Center |
3/9 33 10/15 67 |
|
Division of Immunology |
|
|
University of California-Berkeley |
1/7 14 12/21 57 |