- About
- Our Programs
- Membership
- Issues
- The Academic Bill of Rights
- Academic Freedom
- Academic Research
- Accreditation
- Appointments, Promotions, & Discipline
- Collective Bargaining
- Conflicts of Interest
- Contingent Faculty Positions
- Copyright, Distance Education, & Intellectual Property
- Discrimination
- Diversity & Affirmative Action
- Ethics
- Faculty Compensation
- Faculty Work & Workload
- Family & Work
- Governance of Colleges & Universities
- Grading
- Graduate Students
- Minority Serving Institutions
- Post-Tenure Review
- Retirement
- Sexual Diversity & Gender Identity
- Sexual Harassment & Assault
- Teaching Evaluation
- Tenure
- Women in Higher Education
- Reports & Publications
- News
- Get Involved
- I Need Help
Women in the Academic Profession
Women academics sometimes face unique challenges to their entry and advancement in the academic profession, among them potential inequities in salary and promotion rates, sexual harassment, and discriminatory treatment.
The AAUP has long focused on issues of concern to female faculty members. Primarily through the Committee on Women and the Academic Profession and Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, the AAUP has developed and issued policy statements, guidelines, workshops, and resources on equity in pay for female faculty, work/family, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and Title IX.
Resources on Women in Higher Education
Affirmative Action
Family and Work
Gender Equity
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence on Campus
Title IX
Affirmative Action
AAUP Annual Meeting Actions
Resolution on Affirmative Action. 1997. Passed by the Eighty-Third AAUP Annual Meeting.
AAUP Policy Statements and Analysis
On Discrimination. 1976
AAUP Legal Cases Affecting Women in Higher Education.2006
Affirmative Action Update. 2005. By Ann D. Springer, AAUP Associate Counsel.
Does Diversity Make a Difference? Three Research Studies on Diversity in College Classrooms Executive Summary. (.pdf) 2000. AAUP and American Council on Education.
Other AAUP Resources
Visit the AAUP Web section on Affirmative Action.
Other Resources
The American Association of University Women, Tenure Denied: Cases of Sex Discrimination in Academia. 2004
Family/Work Issues
AAUP Policy Statements
Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work. 2001.
Other AAUP Resources
Working Mothers and Gender Discrimination. The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 27, 2005. By Donna Euben.
Visit the AAUP Web section on Balancing Family and Academic Work.
Gender Equity
AAUP Policy Statements and Analysis
Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work. 2001.
Persistent Inequity: Gender and Academic Employment. (.pdf) By John W. Curtis, Director of Research and Public Policy. Prepared for “New Voices in Pay Equity” An Event for Equal Pay Day, April 11, 2011.
Gender Equity Guidelines for Department Chairs. 2008
AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006. Prepared by Martha S. West, consultant to AAUP’s Committee on Women in the Academic Profession, and John W. Curtis, AAUP Director of Research. This report provides data on four measures of gender equity for faculty at over 1,400 colleges and universities across the country.
Other AAUP Resources
Gender Equity Guidelines for Department Chairs. (2008). Prepared by Ann Higginbotham, Chair, and Anita Levy, AAUP Associate Secretary, for the Committee on Women in the Academic Profession. These guidelines provide information for department chairs on maintaining a supportive and equitable academic environment for all faculty members, and particularly women faculty, in their departments.
Paychecks: A Guide to Conducting Salary-Equity Studies for Higher Education Faculty. 2002. An AAUP guidebook. Order from the AAUP store.
Organizing Women Faculty. By Martha S. West.
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence on Campus
AAUP Policy Statements and Analysis
Statement on Campus Sexual Assault. 2012. The AAUP’s Committee on Women in the Academic Profession issued this statement, adopted by the Association’s Council at its November 2012 meeting.
Sexual Harassment: Suggested Policy and Procedures for Handling Complaints. 1990 revision.
Due Process in Sexual Harassment Complaints, AAUP Policy Documents and Reports, Tenth Edition.
Consensual Relationships Between Faculty and Students, AAUP Policy Documents and Reports, Tenth Edition.
To order AAUP documents, call 1-800-424-2973 or contact us by e-mail.
Sexual Harassment In Higher Education: Current Issues & Trends. 2005. A paper presented for the Education Law Association in Memphis, Tennessee.
Legal Primer For New & Not So New Administrators. 2005. By Donna R. Euben, AAUP Counsel. Presentation to the 15th Annual Legal Issues in Higher Education Conference, University of Vermont.
Sexual Harassment in the Academy: Some Suggestions for Faculty Policies and Procedures. 2002. By Donna R. Euben, AAUP Counsel. Informational outline.
Other AAUP Resources
Visit the AAUP web section on sexual harrassment.
Other Resources
United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Dear Colleague letter. April 4, 2011. New guidance to all colleges and universities clarifying Title IX regulations and institutional responsibilities when dealing with complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence.
United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Dear Colleague Letter: Sexual Violence Background, Summary, and Fast Facts. April 4, 2011.
Sexual Assault on Campus. February 24, 2010. The Center for Public Integrity.
For a Victim of Rape, Silence Is No Benefit. March 27, 2011. The Chronicle of Higher Education. By Donna Potts.
Education Dept. Issues New Guidance for Sexual Assault Investigations. April 4, 2011. The Chronicle of Higher Education. By Lauren Sieben.
Rules Shift After Federal Push. May 2, 2011. Inside Higher Ed. By. Allie Grasgreen.
Title IX
Other Resources
Title IX and Race in Intercollegiate Sport. 2003. By the Women's Sports Foundation.
