Women are still underrepresented in the ISU administration, despite university officials’ and women’s groups’ efforts to correct the problem, said Carolyn Heising, chairwoman of the Faculty Senate Committee on women and minorities.

Women comprise 10 percent of full professors and only six of 56 department chairs, said Heising, a professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering.

“That number is not going up,” she said. “There is one fewer [female] department chair than last year.”

She said the university “needs to be more proactive” and dedicate funds to hire and retain women administrators.

“There are other universities that are making a lot more progress than Iowa State,” she said. “You got to have a top-down commitment; have to start putting more resources into diversity in general.”

According to the University of Iowa Office of the Provost, four out of 11 deans are women, as well as 20 out of 84 department chairs are women.

ISU department chairs and deans are chosen from the faculty in those departments, said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy.

“Some colleges have more women than others – you find more department chairs in those colleges,” he said.

The hiring process is crucial to attract women to positions within the university, said Susan Carlson, associate provost for faculty advancement and diversity.

“We try to define jobs that invite candidates that are both male and female,” she said.

An oversight committee for the Faculty Senate has been reviewing individual colleges within the university, Heising said.

The committee reviewed the College of Agriculture in 2000 and is finishing a study on the College of Engineering. The committee then plans to review the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Business and the College of Design, Heising said.

She said the problem is “across the board – except for the College of Human Sciences and [Parks] Library.”

Women are traditionally underrepresented in science and technology programs, Carlson said.

“Women in leadership positions are low at other places, also,” she said. “It’s a situation that exists naturally.”

Heising said many women faculty do not stay around long enough to be considered for department chair or dean position.

“Fewer and fewer women are in the higher ranks,” Heising said.

Carlson said many women who don’t pursue administrative positions are trying to balance home and work.

“More women don’t take [administrative positions]- women with small children, for instance, because they’re trying to balance between home and work – even though they would be very qualified,” she said.

The university is trying to find ways to help faculty lessen the stress that arises from trying to balance home and work, Carlson said.

Heising said there is still some resistance from search committees in choosing women faculty because women are not traditionally found in upper-level positions.

“There is a feeling among some faculty that if you hire women and minority faculty, you lower academic standards,” she said.

Another reason why search committees are less inclined to choose women is because so few women apply for these positions, Heising said.

Geoffroy said he insists search committees consider women for department chair and dean positions, although “most committees already consider women” as candidates.

“It is always important to remind them to consider strong women and minority candidates,” he said.

Besides recruiting for women, Geoffroy said the university tries to maintain them in all positions.

The dean’s office is working to form search committees that “define the strengths that women have,” Carlson said.

According to the faculty handbook, the university sponsors programs, such as administrative internships, that allow faculty members to gain relevant experiences for their professional development.

The internships are not only for women, Carlson said, yet mostly women take advantage of the opportunity. “It allows them to work in administrative positions part-time to see if they like it,” Carlson said.