Rutgers U. Weighs Complaints of Bias Against Women in Political Science

Female faculty members and graduate students in Rutgers University’s political-science department feel unfairly compensated and shut out of leadership positions by their male counterparts, says an internal university report obtained by The Chronicle. In at least one case, a woman has been afraid to complain about sexual harassment because of worries about retaliation.

“We were often shocked to hear that the kind of discriminatory attitudes that, sadly, were prevalent in much of the academy decades ago and that have long been unacceptable in our own departments are apparently still prevalent in political science,” concludes the July report, put together by a faculty committee that was directed by top administration officials to investigate allegations of gender inequity in the department’s salaries. Historically, political science has been one of the most male-dominated disciplines among the social sciences at universities.

Reviewing a variety of salary data, the committee uncovered “evidence of subtle and not-so-subtle bias against women in the department,” leading committee members to recommend that the university “take decisive action to remedy the departmental culture,” the report says.

Douglas Greenberg, the university’s new dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, told The Chronicle that the report has been at the top of his agenda since his first day on the job in August. No steps have been taken yet to deal with the report’s findings. Mr. Greenberg said he wants to fully understand the “very serious charges” in the report before he acts. Several faculty members have taken the additional step of filing a complaint with New Jersey’s Office of the Attorney General.

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