The Antecedents of a ‘Chilly Climate’ for Women Faculty in Higher Education

Authors

Cheryl Maranto, Marquette UniversityFollow
Andrea Griffin, Indiana University - NorthwestFollow

Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

21 p.

Publication Date

2-2011

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Source Publication

Human Relations

Source ISSN

0018-7267

Abstract

The literature on women’s under-representation in academia asserts that faculty women face a ‘chilly climate’, but there are few theoretically based studies examining this proposition. Relational demography, organizational justice, and social network theories all identify possible antecedents of ‘chilly climate’. Using survey data of faculty at a private Midwestern US university, we test whether the perception of exclusion (chilly climate) is influenced by demographic dissimilarity, and perceptions of fairness and gender equity. We find that faculty women perceive more exclusion from academic departments with a low representation of women, consistent with relational demography. Perceptions of procedural fairness and gender equity are powerful factors that foster inclusion and warm the climate for both men and women. The ‘chilly climate’ for women faculty is a complex phenomenon with multiple causes. Policies that fail to address these multiple causes are unlikely to be effective.

Comments

Post-print. Human Relations, Volume 64, No. 2 (February 2011): 139-159, DOI.

Recommended Citation

Maranto, Cheryl and Griffin, Andrea, "The Antecedents of a ‘Chilly Climate’ for Women Faculty in Higher Education" (2011). Management Faculty Research and Publications. 48.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/mgmt_fac/48