Date of Award

Fall 12-1-2005

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

College of Technology

First Advisor

Donna Trautman

Second Advisor

Anthony F. Gilberti

Third Advisor

John Sutton

Abstract

There is a problem facing Industrial Technology (IT) - the under-representation of women at all levels. The problem of this study was to identify female IT faculty perceptions regarding characteristics of successful IT faculty and the professional climate that may limit diversity in Industrial Technology collegiate teaching positions. The effects of continued under-representation of women in Industrial Technology programs in higher education will not be reversed without attention to increasing the number of women at all organizational levels. Analyzing the professional climate surrounding Industrial Technology from a female IT faculty perception may lead to a greater understanding of the barriers facing women in the field. Two separate surveys, a 92-item Schein Descriptive Index and a 35-item Academic Work Environment for Women Scale were emailed to the 199 female faculty members identified in the 2004 NAIT Industrial Technology Baccalaureate Program Directory. The data from the Schein Descriptive Index WJS compared to a similar study, using the Schein Descriptive Index, of male IT faculty by Kasi (1999). The data from the Academic Work Environment Scale was independently analyzed. Implications from the data were presented to develop strategies or recommendations for the future. According to Stanley (1990), the point of feminist inquiry is to not only study the world, but to change it. It is the researcher's intention that this study shines a bright enough light on the IT climate to initiate real-world change in academia.

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