The tenure procedure in most higher education institutions
was established a long time ago for male faculty who could concentrate
full time—without the distraction of family responsibilities—on
completing the tenure requirements.
This demanding process doesn't work very well for
those who have to divide their attention between raising children and
meeting the demands for tenure.
I would suggest that there are a number of accommodations
that would make the tenure process more fair. First, class schedules
should be flexible so that faculty can meet family needs and research
needs, as well as the needs of students.
In addition, institutions could provide women faculty
leave time for the birth of a child that would not be counted toward
the standard seven-year maximum to complete the tenure process.
It might also help if newly hired women faculty were
mentored by women who have accomplished research and reached tenure
while raising a family. Mentoring would help to build the confidence
of these young faculty members.
Colleges and universities might also help women faculty
who are raising families to identify grant funds to support their research
interests. Agencies such as AAUW may be able to provide important contacts
as well as funding. Finally, tenure committees need to include persons
who understand the problems faced by the conflicting issues of child
raising and tenure.
These suggestions would not change the requirements
for tenure. Rather, they 're meant to provide assistance to potential
faculty members who, without this help, would not be able to accomplish
tenure—resulting in a loss to the educational community.
* Anthony
J. "Jack" Hytrek has been a part of the Nebraska State
College System for the past 22 years. He is a professor of education
and has been involved in the Nebraska Education Association and National
Council for Higher Education for a number of years.
No,
colleges shouldn't give women with children or any other group extra
help to achieve tenure.
Cathy Crane-McCoy*
I do believe that the tenure process at many schools
is flawed and in need of a drastic overhaul. Women in many instances
of tenure processes have not had the same opportunities as men, and
women with children can find the process even more difficult.
Yet, as a young girl during the Women's Movement,
I was taught that women were fighting for equality, not special treatment.
The issue has never been about the differences between men and women
but about the difference in how women are treated in relation to men
with the same education and experience.
At my college, acquiring tenure is a fair process
for all genders and ethnicities and allows for challenges to tenure
review recommendations, if necessary. I, like many of my colleagues,
achieved tenure relatively painlessly, and I never felt that I was being
treated any different than anyone else. But this may not be the case
for many faculty.
But there's another side to the issue. In the California
State University system, for example, we have a lack of tenure positions.
Since the early 80s, retiring tenured faculty have been replaced primarily
by non-tenure track lecturers. Even if the tenure process is fair and
equitable, this is negated by the system of hiring tenure track positions
less frequently. This hurts everyone.
Women are not the only ones who have found discrimination
in the tenure process. To correct it for one group would not meet the
needs of the real issue, equality. It is the integrity of the tenure
process that needs to be protected, and having one group receive additional
benefits would defeat that purpose. Fix the process for everyone, and
we all will benefit in the long run.
* Cathy Crane-McCoy, secretary of the
California Community College Association, is an associate professor
in the theater department at Long Beach City College. She teaches costume
design for theater and is the costume designer for the college's theater
and dance productions.
