Abstract:

The problem . Women are least likely to serve as president of private, doctorate-granting universities. This study examined the effect of gender, years of work experience, and birth order on the perception of factors that lead to promotion at Alliant International University.

Method . This study was quasi-experimental and utilized a between-subjects design with gender as the independent variable. An online survey was used to collect data, and the subjects were not randomly assigned. Independent samples t tests were used to evaluate the differences between the means. Of 144 total survey participants, 102 were female and 30 were male. Twelve participants did not answer the gender question.

Results . Of the factors associated with promotion, a statistically significant difference was found in the importance of fundraising (.007), having a doctorate or professional degree (.045), and family responsibility (.001). Factors were statistically significant at the .05 level. Female faculty and administrators rated fundraising more importantly than male faculty and administrators. Faculty and administrators with over 20 years of experience rated having a doctorate or professional degree with more importance and those with fewer than 20 years of experience rated family responsibility with more importance. Birth order yielded no statistically significant difference.

This study found that many factors associated with promotion were ranked similarly regardless of gender, years of work experience, or birth order. This finding suggests that men and women are aware of the factors that are associated with career advancement and understand their importance but the career outcomes are different. This study also found a higher percentage of men (64.3%) than women (53.1%) wished to promote to a position of higher responsibility or power.

The importance of maintaining relationships with peers and superiors on promotion was demonstrated in the means of Research Questions 1, 2, and 3. Maintaining relationships was rated with higher importance by faculty and administrators more often than any other factor.

Further research on promotion practices in private, not-for-profit, doctorate-granting institutions is recommended.