1. Women of Color Faculty in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): Experiences in Academia* AERA 2013 San Francisco, CA
Sylvia Hurtado and Tanya Figueroa
Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA
* in press (proceedings of National Academy of Sciences: Prepared for Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia). June 2012, Washington, DC.

2. A Word about Intersectionality
Women of color face a “double bind” for having two identities that are especially undervalued in STEM contexts
The intersection of both gender and race is reflected in women of color’s unique perceptions of the workplace in academia
The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of underrepresented women of color in academia. We compare URM women with STEM colleagues in terms of sources of stress, workload demands, and satisfaction.

3. Data Source
HERI Faculty Survey, administered triennially 2010 Individual institutional administration 2010 STEM Supplement-NSF sponsored Institutions added to augment sample Sample: 673 four-year colleges and universities 11, 039 STEM faculty (unweighted) 272 Women of Color in STEM 2013 Faculty Survey:

4. Sample: Rank, Race and Gender in STEM
Professor
Associate
Assistant
Lecturer/ Instructor
URM Women
272 (2.5%)
16.2%
24.6%
31.3%
23.5%
Asian Women
258 (2.3%)
18.6%
29.5%
30.2%
15.1%
White Women
3,857 (34.9%)
22.5%
28.8%
29.6%
14.4%
URM Men
374 (3.4%)
28.6%
27.8%
21.9%
16.3%
Asian Men
565 (5.1%)
30.8%
24.1%
6.5%
White Men
5,713 (51.8%)
41.8%
26.3%
17.8%
8.6%
Percentages by row may not add to 100% because we are missing rank data for those people.

5. Top 10 Sources of Stress Comparisons
URM Females
86.4 Lack of personal time
82.4 Self-imposed high expectations
79.0 Managing household duties
69.9 Working w underprepared students
66.0 Institutional budget cuts
65.8 Personal finances
61.8 Research or publishing demands
61.0 Institutional 'red tape'
61.0 Teaching load
Students
White Males
Lower on:
Lack of personal time
Self-imposed high expectations
Managing household duties
Institutional ‘red tape’ (Higher)
White Females
Students (Higher)
URM Males
Managing household duties

6. Women of color are significantly more likely to report stress in the last two years related to subtle discrimination than either male or female faculty in STEM. Note Asian women are as likely to report this source of stress as URM women, there are no statistical differences between those groups.
* Astroids on the bar signify that the mean for that group is stat different from URM females
Note: Significant male/female differences within group** p=<.01; * < .05.

7. The average amount of stress faculty experience related to their career. Includes sources of stress: committee work, colleagues, students, research or publishing demands, institutional procedures/red tape, teaching load, lack of personal time, and self-imposed high expectations. URM women have among the highest reported levels of career-related stress, higher than white women at the associate level but lower than white women at the lower ranks.

8. Workloads for STEM Tenure Track Faculty (5+ hrs/wk on respective task)
Advising Counseling Students
White
URM
Asian
Male
38.5*
42.7
43.2
Female
43.6
48.5
44.3
Committee Work or Meetings
36.1**
38.6
32.3**
43.8
40.8
Research and Scholarly Writing
59.8*
66.2**
73.3*
44.9
49.5
60.2
Note: Significant differences with URM females, **= p<.01; *=p<.05.

9. Work Environment White URM Asian Male 79.3** 77.0 83.3** Female 72.7
My Research is Valued by Faculty in My Department
White
URM
Asian
Male
79.3**
77.0
83.3**
Female
72.7
69.7
77.6
I Have to Work Harder Than My Colleagues to be Perceived as a Legitimate Scholar
52.4**
60.1** 74
66.6*
79.1
80.9
Note: Significant comparisons with URM females; **=p <.01; *=p<.05.

10. Mean satisfaction with compensation is measured by responses to the following items: Salary, retirement benefits, opportunity for scholarly pursuits, teaching load, job security, and prospects for career advancement. While URM women are more satisfied than Asian Females or URM males at the assistant professor level, this pattern quickly changes once one is tenured. URM female professors are least satisfied.

11. Conclusion and Implications
URM women share many of the same experiences as other women in STEM but also have unique sources of stress, as well as lower satisfaction and respect.
Salary equity studies, professional development support & dept. support for advancement.
Assessment challenge:
Severe underrepresentation makes the data difficult to collect because of their vulnerablity/identification.
How to use information to change dept. climate, navigating political issues.