Gendered Devaluation Underlies Faculty Retention

Women faculty experience academia differently from men in many ways, which can lead them to consider leaving their positions. Using a large-scale survey of 10,071 current and former tenure-track and tenured faculty, representing nearly all U.S. PhD-granting institutions and 29 diverse fields of study, we show that perceived workplace climate is the most gendered aspect of faculty life, compared to stress related to research pressures, work-life balance, and departmental support. Further, analyzing 6,615 free-text responses from the same respondents reveals that devaluation, both in formal evaluations and informal interactions, is the most gendered workplace climate factor. These patterns are especially salient among women of color and tenured women. Women report that devaluation is exacerbated when institutional leadership fails to respond to devaluation, leading many to leave their jobs. Our results highlight that successful remedies must involve organizational change rather than solely individual solutions.