Laura W. Perna

Understanding Differences in the Choice of College Attended: The Role of State Public Policies

This study uses multilevel modeling to examine, after taking student-level predictors of enrollment into account, the effects of state public policies on the type of institution high school graduates attend. Four types of state policies (direct appropriations, tuition, financial aid, and K-12 academic preparation) influence the type of college high school graduates select. Observed socioeconomic status differences in college enrollment patterns are not explained by the student- and state-level variables in the model.

SEX AND RACE DIFFERENCES IN FACULTY TENURE AND PROMOTION

Data from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty are used to explore sources of the lower representation of women and minorities among tenured than tenure track faculty and among full professors than lower ranking faculty. A 2-step approach is used. First, differences in the probability of being tenured rather than on a tenure track are explored. Then, differences in the probability of holding the rank of full professor among faculty who are tenured are examined. Logistic regression analyses are used to isolate the effects of sex and race on the dependent variables after controlling for human capital, productivity, and structural characteristics. For both tenure and promotion to full professor, separate analyses are conducted for women and men in order to explore sex differences in the tenure and promotion processes. All analyses are conducted separately for full-time faculty working at public 2-year institutions and full-time faculty working at 4-year institutions.

Sex Differences in Faculty Salaries: A Cohort Analysis

This study draws upon human capital and structural perspectives to explore the extent to which the lower salaries observed for full-time faculty women compared to their male colleagues vary across different rank/experience cohorts. Descriptive and regression analyses are used to address the research questions. Data are from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty. The analyses reveal that, among the ÒolderÓ faculty at each rank, women receive lower salaries than men even after controlling for other variables.

State Public Policies and the Racial/Ethnic Stratification of College Access and Choice in the State of Maryland

This study uses descriptive analyses of data from multiple sources to examine changes during the 1990s in the racial/ethnic stratification of college access and choice in Maryland and to explore state public policies that may have influenced changes in the demand for and supply of higher education for students of different racial/ethnic groups during this period. We also discuss the potential implications of recent state policies on future enrollment stratification in the state.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO THE PREPARATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS FOR FACULTY CAREERS

This study uses the 1992 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to explore the contribution of HBCUs to the preparation of African Americans for faculty careers. Descriptive analyses examine the characteristics of African American faculty who received their bachelors and doctoral degrees from HBCUs. Logistic regression analysis is used to isolate the effects of receiving a bachelors or a doctoral degree from an HBCU on research productivity, one measure of preparation, after controlling for background characteristics, undergraduate and graduate school experiences, current employment characteristics, and research activities. Ordinary least squares regression is used to isolate the effects of receiving a bachelors or a doctoral degree from an HBCU on satisfaction with the work setting, a second measure of preparation, after controlling for other variables.

The Opportunity Agenda: A Reexamination of Postsecondary Reward and Opportunity

Efforts to reduce the stratification of educational opportunity are likely to be met by actions that are designed to maintain class distinctions (Oakes, Rogers, Lipton, and Morrell, 2002). Specifically, middle-and upper-income families will likely respond to initiatives that refocus public resources toward individuals from lower-income families by working to secure additional resources that benefit their children and by identifying additional mechanisms that preserve class stratification (Lucas, 1999; Oakes et al., 2002). Moreover, effectively refocusing public policies in ways that reduce inequalities in postsecondary educational opportunity may require a shift in the current dominant political position, a conservative position that emphasizes self-payment of educational costs and awarding of financial aid based on academic criteria rather than financial need, instead of the structural barriers that limit opportunity for certain groups.

Studying Faculty Salary Equity: A Review of Theoretical and Methodological Approaches

Over the past three decades, numerous studies have been published that examine salary equity among the nation’s college and university faculty. Many more studies have been conducted by individual campuses for internal use only. The vast majority of this research focuses on sex differences in faculty salaries, with a smaller amount of attention to racial/ ethnic group differences.

Sex Differences in the Supplemental Earnings of College and University Faculty.

Data from the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty are used to examine the characteristics of faculty who supplement their base institutional salaries with various other types of income, as well as the extent to which the likelihood of receiving various types of supplemental income, and the amount of various types of supplemental income received, vary between women and men after controlling for differences in human capital and structural characteristics. Descriptive, logistic regression, and ordinary least squares regression analyses are used to address the research questions.