UNH President's Commission on the Status of Women

Report on the Status of Women

for the Academic Year 1993-1994

For text copies of this Report, which was printed in February 1996, contact the Women's Commission at (603) 862-1058

PREFACE

This report on the Status of Women continues the major effort in the two previous reports (1990-91 Annual Report on the Status of Women and the 1991-92, 1992-93 Annual Report on the Status of Women) to collect and analyze data systematically across all groups of women on campus. The task was made easier through the systematic data collection created by the construction of previous reports. Moreover, data collection with respect to gender continues to be programmed into the way statistics are collected university-wide.

We wish to thank the many people from offices all around this campus who aided in providing us with the data. We also appreciate the efforts of the members of the Commission on the Status of Women in providing us with critical comments at many junctures in the process and in developing the recommendations. If there are any errors in this report we take full responsibility.

UNH President's Commission on the Status of Women

Report on the Status of Women Committee

Jane Stapleton, Women's Commission Coordinator

Mary Moynihan, Report Committee Chair

INTRODUCTION

A central purpose of the Commission on the Status of Women is to create and recommend policies to the President and the university community to improve the status of women and to ensure an environment of equal educational and employment opportunities for women at UNH. In addition, the Commission collaborates with individuals and organizations at all levels within the University to promote a nonsexist and nondiscriminatory environment. The Commission also monitors and informs the University community about the status of women through data collection, initiation, and support of educational programs and preparation and dissemination of information. In recent years at UNH there has been some progress in attending to gender inequities, but many areas of concern remain.

The chilly climate for women on this campus described in the previous annual reports covering the years 1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-93 has not substantially altered. In some areas there are improvements, in others regression, but in general, the status of women --students, faculty, staff, and administrators--continues much as before. With women constituting over 55% of the student body, the University of New Hampshire needs to better attend to the chilly climate for women on campus.

This report is based on data from all university constituencies - - undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, operating staff, professional/administrative/technical staff, and administrators. In this report we assess how the university has acted for the academic year 1993-94, on the problems and inequities present on this campus and we make recommendations for future action. For each constituency, the following areas are considered: composition, compensation, recruitment, and retention. Comparisons are drawn to previous reports when relevant. Before considering the issues specific to each of these groups, however, we provided a short summary on the status of women at the University of New Hampshire with a list of recommendations based on findings from this report.