Feeling a Bit Chilly? Exploring the Climate for Female Community College Faculty.

This paper presents results of a study that examined the current climate for female community college faculty. Two decades ago, Hall and Sandler coined the phrase "chilly climate" symbolically to embody a pervasive and negative climate reported by girls and women in their educational surroundings. Research literature continues to report on the chilly climate for female college students, faculty, and administrators. This report addresses the dearth of information specifically regarding female faculty at community colleges. The authors designed analyses of the community college faculty set consisting of responses of 743 and 740 female faculty. Using the literature as a guide, the study isolated constructs measuring: (1) overall assessment of the climate; (2) satisfaction with salary; (3) satisfaction with students; (4) propensity to leave the college; (5) desire for more interaction with colleagues; and (6) discrimination. In 1974, 28% of full professors at two-year colleges were female, compared with 10% in all other institutions. In 1997-98, 38% of full professors at two-year colleges were female, compared with 19% at all other institutions. This indicates that there is still evidence of a chilly climate in two-year colleges, but that female faculty there fare better than their counterparts at four-year institutions. (Contains 43 references, 5 tables, and 2 figures.) (NB)