Gender and Promotion at Canadian Universities (Report‪)‬

VIRTUALLY NO SYSTEMATIC RESEARCH EXAMINING THE longitudinal academic careers of Canadian academics exists. Anecdotal evidence, case studies, and cross-sectional analysis, primarily from the United States, have long served as the measures for documenting Canadian women's promotion through the ranks. This quantitative analysis of a unique longitudinal data set of Canadian faculty reveals the trends in promotion and tenure from 1984 to 1999. Contrary to deeply held beliefs, Canadian women academics are tenured at essentially the same rate as their male colleagues. Women are disadvantaged in promotion from associate to full professor. Along with salary differences, gender differences in the probability of and time to promotion are key aspects of the status of women in universities. Initial promotion from assistant to associate professor is the normal prerequisite for keeping one's job at a Canadian university and promotion to full professor is key to gaining respect and influence in one's discipline, department, and institution and is a requirement for appointment to senior administrative positions and gate-keeping roles in granting agencies. With just three major ranks, faculty members inhabit a flat hierarchy compared with other organizations of similar scale and complexity. In Canada and the United States, promotion to the rank of associate professor has a time limit of six years and almost always involves simultaneous granting of tenure and often some pay increase. Promotion, and academic careers more generally, unfold in the dual context of disciplines and institutions.