Background Representation in the Labor Force Field of Science and Engineering Unemployment and Underemployment Salary Academia Conclusion 
The role of women in the workforce has changed dramatically during the last several decades. The proportion of women who participated in the labor market increased from 49 percent in 1970 to 69 percent in
1991 (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1993, p. 394). In 1990, women constituted 46 percent of the civilian labor force. (See appendix table 8-1.) Recent female graduates are increasingly pursuing
degree fields and occupations previously viewed as "masculine," including many S&E occupations.
The changes noted above have led to a 144 percent increase in women in the S&E labor force between 1980 and 1990, compared with a total S&E labor force increase of 46 percent. (See appendix table 8-1.) Women have gone from constituting 13 percent of the labor force to constituting 22 percent during the decade. (See figure 8-1.) In 1991, they constituted 19 percent of
the doctoral S&E labor force. (See figure 8-2.)
Figure 8-1
Figure 8-2
Field of Science and Engineering
In earlier chapters, it was shown that there are considerable differences between degree fields within science and engineering pursued by men and women at all degree levels. It is accordingly not
surprising that in 1991, women ranged from 38 percent of those in the labor force with psychology doctorates to only 3.5 percent of those with doctorates in engineering. (See figure 8-2.)
The gender difference in degree fields leads to differences in the occupational distribution of men and women. For example, women comprised 9 percent of engineers in the total labor force and 50 percent
of the social scientists in 1990. (See appendix table 8-1.)
Unemployment and Underemployment
One basic indicator of equity is the ability of individuals to obtain desired employment. Although few doctoral scientists and engineers are unemployed, female scientists and engineers were more likely to
be unemployed than their male counterparts in 1991 (2.2 percent compared with 1.3 percent). (See figure 8-3.)
Figure 8-3
Is the higher unemployment among women the result of their field choices? This did not appear to be the case for those doctoral scientists and engineers surveyed in 1991. The field with the highest
unemployment rate (physical sciences) in 1991 is a field that attracts disproportionately few women. Psychology, on the other hand, employs a disproportionately high percentage of women and had a slightly lower-than-average unemployment rate in 1991
compared with other S&E fields. (See figure 8-3.)
The increasing participation of women in the S&E labor force means that, on average, women have fewer years of experience than men. Among doctoral scientists and engineers, unemployment rates
decline with years of professional work experience. (See figure 8-4.) However, differences in years of work experience do not fully explain differences in unemployment rates between the sexes. Although few women with
doctorates are unemployed, women have consistently higher unemployment rates than men with similar years of experience.
Figure 8-4
Unemployment rates, of course, do not tell the entire story. Many people accept jobs that do not fully utilize their skills. The term "underemployment" is typically used to describe situations in
which there is considerable discrepancy between one's skills and desires and the type of job one has. However, it is difficult to measure underemployment. The National Science Foundation defines underemployment as having a part-time job when a
full-time job is preferred or having a non-S&E job when an S&E job is preferred.
The underemployment rate for women with S&E doctoral degrees was also higher than that for men in 1991. This was true even for individuals with similar degree fields and years of work experience.
(See figures 8-3 and 8-4.)
Salary
Among doctoral scientists and engineers, full-time employed women averaged salaries that were approximately 80 percent of men's. (See figure 8-5.) This was partially attributable
to women's concentration in lower-paying fields. For example, women were relatively more likely to be employed in the life sciences and psychology, which had the lowest median salaries of those studied ($55,500), and less likely to be employed in
engineering, which had a relatively high median salary ($70,200). However, the concentration of women within certain fields does not completely explain the salary gap associated with gender. Women's salaries within broad fields ranged from 83
percent to 86 percent of men's.
Figure 8-5
Differences in years of experience between men and women also explain part of the gender gap in salaries for doctoral scientists and engineers. Within the broad experience groups examined, women's
salaries ranged from 84 percent to 88 percent of men's. (See figure 8-6.)
Figure 8-6
If it had been possible to match women and men more closely on degree field and years of experience, the salary gaps between men and women may have been smaller than observed. Unfortunately, sample
sizes are too small to permit this comparison.
Academia
While women constitute only 20 percent of doctoral scientists and engineers employed in 4-year colleges and universities, this is a representation that slightly exceeds their total representation in the
doctoral population. Within fields, as would be expected from the preceding analyses, there are marked differences in women's representation. Women constitute 36 percent of individuals in the academic workforce among those with doctoral degrees in
psychology compared with 4 percent of those with doctoral degrees in engineering. (See appendix table 8-8.)
Academic rank and tenure are important determinants of status within the academic community. Doctoral women in academia fare less well than their male counterparts on these measures. Women are less likely
than men to be full professors (20 percent compared with 48 percent) and are more likely to be assistant professors (34 percent compared with 19 percent). (See figure 8-7.) They are also less likely to have tenure (48
percent compared with 73 percent). (See figure 8-8.) One reason for these differences, however, is that women have fewer years of work experience than men. For example, women constitute 32 percent of individuals with less
than 8 years of professional work experience, but only 15 percent of those with more than 8 years. Among those with fewer than 8 years of experience, differences in academic rank and tenure status are insignificant: Twenty-three percent of men are
associate or full professors, compared with 20 percent of women, and 17 percent of men and 15 percent of women are tenured. However, there are significant differences among those with 8 or more years of experience. Eighty-nine percent of men and 74
percent of women are full or associate professors, and 86 percent of the men and 69 percent of the women have tenure. (See figures 8-7 and 8-8.)
 Figure 8-7 |  Figure 8-8 |
On essentially all variables examined here, women fare less well than men. However, underlying the apparent inequity is a complex set of factors that at least partially explains the differences. Most
important, women's relatively recent entrance into the S&E labor force means, on average, that they have less work experience than men. When women and men with similar years of professional work experience are compared, differences between the
sexes narrow considerably, although they are not completely eliminated.
A second major factor in understanding equity between the sexes in the doctoral S&E labor force is the difference in degree fields between men and women. Even within S&E, women tend to be
heavily concentrated in lower-paying S&E degree fields. This helps explain why women's salaries are lower, but does not explain why women have higher unemployment and underemployment rates than men.
