A graduate student who struggled to balance childbirth, parenting, and academic work figured she wasn’t the only one facing such difficulties, so she collected data on what appeared to be a systemic issue. Here’s what she found.
New Study Examines Gendered and Racialized Perceptions of Faculty Workloads Researchers, including UMass Amherst’s Joya Misra, say greater transparency, clarity in workload and assignments may grant women more success in wide range of occupations
April 14, 2021
Joya Misra
AMHERST, Mass. – An exploration of how higher education faculty members perceive the equity and fairness of workloads in their departments may provide insight for creating pathways for women – and women of color, in particular – to be more successful in a wide range of occupations, according to a new study published online by the journal
The team of interdisciplinary researchers, including sociologist and lead author Joya Misra of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, observed that workload transparency and clarity, and consistent approaches to assigning classes, advising and service, can reduce perceptions of inequitable and unfair workloads among wome