Significant improvements in gender equity have been made at UNMC, said Myrna Newland, M.D., director of the equity office and professor of anesthesiology.
Dr. Newland presented the latest findings in a report to the Board of Regents Friday in Lincoln.
This year the gender equity report focused on data over a 10-year time period from 1991, when the board of regents first developed the committee to look into the issue, to 2001.
In that time period, the total number of women at the rank of UNMC professor doubled from 8.1 percent to 16.2 percent, Dr. Newland said. “That was very good news,” she said.
The number of women hired as full-time professors and associate professors also increased, she said. Of the six professors hired in 1991, none were women. But that changed by 2001 when two of the eight professors hired were women.
Likewise, of the seven new associate professors hired in 2001, three were women, compared to only two women out of 10 associate professors hired in 1991.
“These kinds of increases are mirrored across all of the University of Nebraska campuses,” said Dr. Newland.
Regent Charles Wilson, M.D., who asked for more data in this year’s report, was particularly pleased, she said.
The report also focused on the regents’ goal of facilitating the career development, promotion and retention of women faculty and staff. Dr. Newland said UNMC has met this goal by continuing to offer professional development opportunities for both women and men since 1997.
In 2002-2003 there were 628 participants in faculty development programs that included an orientation workshop for newly hired faculty; noon luncheons with various topics including mentoring and career development; and workshops on educational skills training.
In 2002, five women from the College of Medicine also were provided a stipend of $1,500 each to attend national workshops on professional development and leadership.
Recommendations for the coming year presented to the Board of Regents include: the continuation of the benchmarking of progress of women at UNMC in hiring, promotion and retention; the pursuit of salary equity; and to continue to provide opportunities for women to develop leadership skills.
In addition it was recommended that the findings of the Work Force Response to Environmental Assessment Survey conducted by Valda Ford be utilized to strengthen and improve the climate for women at UNMC.