Academic and workplace perceptions of nontraditional female graduates.

ABSTRACT

Female students over the age of 25 who received a bachelor's degree at my institution between 19901997 were the focus two research studies. The studies assessed graduates' attitudes and perceptions of the quality of their educational experiences and their subsequent workplace experiences. The first study found that the majority of these graduates thought highly of their academic experience and felt it left them well prepared for employment. However, survey results clearly indicated that respondents perceived their ability to secure job advancement and increased financial compensation at a pace equal to men with whom they worked as an area of concern. In 2002 a longitudinal study was undertaken of all students who had responded to the initial study. While there is current literature to support that women in the corporate world are now faring better when compared to their male counterparts than women were a decade ago, survey respondents, all of whom became part of the corporate culture prior to 1998, once again indicated that their ability to secure job advancement and increased financial compensation at a pace equal to male co-workers was perceived as a problem area.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nontraditional female students, defined as individuals at least 25 years of age upon receipt of their baccalaureate degree, were one of the fastest growing constituencies at colleges and universities over the last three decades. These returning women were interested in self-development and a better quality of life and their motivation to learn was strong, often because of job and money pressures (Hawkins & Sides, 1994). My institution, a private, coeducational, four-year undergraduate college saw a large increase in nontraditional women students over these years. While the school was originally established as a male commuter school in 1937, women had always been allowed to matriculate and earn degrees through evening study. However, few took advantage of the opportunity until the 1970s. Since that time the part-time student population has more than doubled to over 600 students, and nontraditional females represent a significant portion of this growth. While females represented 23% of part-time students in 1971, they now account for more than 60% of that population.

In 1998 a research study queried all female students who were over the age of 25 when they received their degree from the College between the years 1990-1997. The study was part of an effort to determine how nontraditional female graduates viewed the overall impact of their educational experience, and to determine how successfully they were able to compete in a job market where the vast majority of corporate leaders are men. It was designed to assess the attitudes and perceptions of these graduates as they related to the quality of their educational experiences and their subsequent workplace experiences. The survey questionnaire focused on the quality of courses, instruction, and support services, as well as the extent to which graduates increased their general knowledge and skills applicable to a career. The study also sought to determine how successful the graduates felt they were in their field of employment.

The following research questions were addressed:

1. What did the nontraditional female graduates perceive to be the strengths and weaknesses of the program and what are their suggestions for improvement?

2. Did the graduates indicate an increase in their general knowledge base and skill levels?

3. Did the graduates acquire specific knowledge and skills applicable to a career?

4. Did the graduates gain access to professional career opportunities and did they experience job satisfaction within those careers?

2. RESEARCH PROCEDURE FOR STUDY #1

A Likert-style questionnaire, allowing subjects to respond with varying degrees of intensity using the fivecategory range of very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, no opinion, satisfied and very satisfied, was used as the survey instrument. Sufficient opportunity was provided within the questionnaire for respondent comments.

Questionnaire surveys were delivered to all 334 females who were at least 25 years of age when they graduated from the College between 1990-1997. One hundred and ninety-five surveys were returned, representing a 58.4% return rate. All data were coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (S.P.S.S.).

Seventy-seven percent of the respondents were from Siena's School of Business, 19% were from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, and 4% were from the School of Science. The high percentage of respondents from the School of Business is not surprising since many of these nontraditional female students came from the corporate world and attended classes in the evening to strengthen existing career paths or to create new career options.

2.1 Findings for Study #1

The findings of the study showed that the majority of these graduates thought highly of their experience and felt the experience left them well prepared for additional study or employment in their respective fields.

Respondents expressed strong satisfaction with course scheduling and the variety of courses offered. Respondents also expressed strong satisfaction with the quality of both courses and instruction and with the accessibility of instructors. As seen in Table 1, 91.8% of the participants indicated satisfaction with the quality of instruction they received.

The ultimate success of a program may well be whether those who have completed it would recommend it to others. As shown in Table 2, survey respondents were affirmative in this regard, as more than 88% of them indicated they would recommend the school to a qualified colleague or friend. Their comments also indicated the program met their expectations. Samplings of these are:

Whenever I can, I recommend highly.

My experience was a very satisfying one. I would recommend school to anyone who is looking for a quality education.

I would recommend and have recommended. My education was terrific and I would encourage anyone to attend the school.

As shown in Tables 3 and 4, 67% of respondents to the survey reported that they had been able to secure employment within their area of training after graduation. There were 80.6% who reported satisfaction with their ability to secure or maintain a job they felt was meaningful.

Many nontraditional females enter professional careers after having returned to college as a result of a major life transition and many of them do not properly anticipate what their lives will be like after they graduate and enter the business world (McElhiney, 1990). According to Himelstein (1996), women comprise 46% of the workforce, but have yet to break into the top ranks in significant numbers. Most women advance through traditionally female channels--human resources, corporate affairs or legal--that rarely lead to the top. According to Gibelman (2003) an analysis of year-end 1998 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics clearly demonstrates that salary disparities continue to exist between men and women. Joy (2003) contends that labor market variables outweigh academic variables in their contribution to the gender salary gap.

As seen in Tables 5 and 6, 76.8% indicated satisfaction with their ability to secure job advancement at a pace equal to women co-workers, and 77.8 indicated satisfaction with regard to financial compensation.

However, as indicated in Tables 7 and 8, survey results clearly indicated that the respondents' ability to secure job advancement and increased financial compensation at a pace equal to men with whom they worked was an area of concern. Only 50% reported being satisfied with their ability to secure job advancement at a pace equal to men, and only 47.3% indicated satisfaction with their ability to secure financial compensation at a pace equal to men with whom they worked.

At the newspaper, males clearly have an advantage.

The glass ceiling that exists in the workplace makes it extremely difficult for women managers to attain the same level of financial compensation as their male counterparts.

Unfortunately, there is still a big difference between men and women's salary potential. My education hasn't changed that!

The company I work for does not advance women or treat them equally to men. This has been and continues to be my greatest challenge.

The men still seem to receive promotions more often. I am one of four managers in my section and I am the only female.

In upper level positions I rarely see women successfully employed. My field is 95% women. The other 5% are men in the highest positions.

2.2 Summary of Study #1

Upon completion of the study, the College was able to accumulate data from 195 nontraditional females who graduated between 1990-1997. These nontraditional women gave perceptions of both their education and corporate world experiences, and just as other social changes have created problems, the influx of adult females has created issues for these students and for the institutions they attend. This particular student group has a lot to recommend it since its members tend to be highly motivated in the classroom and contribute a wealth of experience to the educational setting (Bruce, Hart & Sullivan, 1990).

Current literature related to the American workplace seems to bear out the employment perceptions of the survey participants. When it comes to employment, entry into and advancement within the corporate world is often far from smooth. Even though professional women are entering organizations in numbers equal to men, the compensation, promotion, and job satisfaction of their male counterparts begin to exceed women's after the first five years of their careers (McKeen & Bujacki, 1994). Although women hold 10% of the corporate officer positions, women hold only 5.3% of the positions that have responsibility for profit and loss operations. Of the 2,458 most highly compensated individuals, only 2.5% are women (Bryant, 1997). Evans (2003) notes that a recent General Accounting Office report shows that women earn about 20 percent less than men and the earnings gap had not shrunk in two decades despite efforts to improve gender equity in the workplace. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2000), women in the labor force have grown from about eight million in 1920 to 64 million today, and are projected to reach 71 million by the year 2006. A stubborn pay gap continues to exist. In 1998 women who worked full-time for the entire year earned 76.3 percent of men's weekly wages.

3. FOLLOW-UP STUDY

In an effort to further monitor the educational program and to detect possible changes in the female corporate culture, a follow-up study of the 195 females who participated in Study #1 was undertaken in 2002. According to Leonhardt (2003), while men's wages failed to keep up with even the low 2 percent rate of inflation, women's earnings continued to grow and the salary increases have narrowed the gap between gender wages to the narrowest on record. In 2002 a full-time female worker received an average weekly increase of 5 percent; the median pay for men rose only 1.3 percent. Francese (2003) points out that among working women ages 45-54, 31 percent are college graduates and almost 40 percent are employed in a managerial or professional role. According to Gomez (2002), a survey by Catalyst, a New York based women's advocacy group, shows that the percentage of female corporate officers in Fortune 500 companies inched up 3.2 percentage points over the last two years. Women now make up 15.7 percent of the top-ranking executives at America's largest companies, compared with 12.5 percent in 2000 and 8.7 percent in 1995. However, the best-paid executives are still men and there are only six female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (Jones, 2003). Among the 24 best paid executives working for those six CEOs, only three are women. Women fare even worse at Fortune 500 companies with male CEOs. Among the remaining 494 companies with male CEOs, 390 had no top-five female staffers reporting directly to them. According to the United States Census Bureau (2002), while women hold nearly half of the executive and managerial jobs in the United States, they fall short of men at the top rung of the salary ladder. Nearly 16 percent of full-time male workers earned at least $75,000 a year, compared with 6 percent women. Twenty percent of males earned between $50,000 and $75,000, compared with 12 percent of female workers. Nearly 25% of the 63.6 million employed women worked in administrative or clerical positions

The follow-up study also used a Likert-style questionnaire with the five category range of very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, no opinion, satisfied and very satisfied. The questionnaire asked the same set of questions relating to college affiliation and employment and provided sufficient opportunity within the questionnaire for respondent comments. It was mailed to all 195 respondents who participated in Study #1 and questions focused on the following specific areas:

* Recommending school to a friend or associate

* Presently employed in an area related to major field

* Satisfied with ability to maintain a meaningful job

* Satisfied with job advancement at a pace equal to women

* Satisfied with job advancement at a pace equal to men

* Satisfied with financial compensation at a pace equal to women

* Satisfied with financial compensation at a pace equal to men

The findings of the follow-up study showed that the graduates once again thought highly of their academic experience. As shown in Table 9, respondents were again quite affirmative in their willingness to recommend the school to a friend or associate, with 96.3% indicating they would.

The following include a sampling of the many favorable comments made by the respondents:

I often recommend. I encourage local people to five on campus.

I recommend because of the favorable reputation.

Loved the experience! I felt the school was small enough to get personal attention from the professors.

I have had so many positive experiences.

A beautiful college and atmosphere.

As seen in Table 10, 60% of the respondents reported that they were employed in an area related to their major field. This was down from 67% in the first study. However, Table 11 shows that 89% were satisfied with their ability to maintain a meaningful job. This was an increase of 8.4% over the 80.6% who expressed satisfaction in the first study.

As seen in Tables 12 and 13, respondents again indicated a high satisfaction rate in their ability to be successful when comparing themselves to other women. Nearly 75% were satisfied with their ability to secure advancement; and 78% expressed satisfaction in the area of financial compensation.

While current literature supports that women in the corporate world are now faring better when compared to their male counterparts than women a decade ago (Francese, 2003, Leonhardt, 2003, Gomez, 2002), Tables 14 and 15 show that the survey respondents once again indicated that their ability to secure job advancement and increased financial compensation at a pace equal to men with whom they worked was perceived as a problem area. Their satisfaction responses of 52.7% and 50.4% were the lowest levels expressed in the survey. According to Gibleman (2003), respondents to an AFLCIO survey revealed that women believe that the way to solve inequitable pay and other workplace problems is for women to work together and to secure more help from employers, government, women's organizations, and unions.

The following comments are examples of how respondents perceived the difficulty of competing with males in today's corporate climate:

It's still a man's world.

The pay scale of comparable positions between men and women is very discouraging.

For my experience and abilities, most men would make more than me.

Please, when will the day come that women will keep pace with men?

The men definitely receive the higher promotions.

Men are still favored in the workforce, but this has nothing to do with my college experience.

Although women dominate the health insurance industry, men seem to advance at a much faster pace and to higher-level positions.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

When comparing the frequency distributions for specific questions we can see that the means were higher for questions in the second study. However, the differences were not statistically significant (p> .05). Thus, the perceptions of the women who entered the workforce between 1990-1997 and who responded to the follow-up study remained the same across both studies. Respondents expressed strong satisfaction with their quality of instruction and were quite willing to recommend the experience to others. Respondents were satisfied with their ability to maintain a meaningful job and they were satisfied with their ability to secure job advancement and financial compensation at a pace equal to women they worked with. They were less satisfied with their advancement and financial success when they compared their employment experiences to male co-workers.

TABLE 1: QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION

                                             Valid    Cumulative
                         Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid    Very            2          1        1.0      1.0
         Dissatisfied

         Dissatisfied    7          3        3.6      4.6

         No Opinion      7          3        3.6      8.2

         Satisfied       103        53       53.1     61.3

         Very Satisfied  75         39       38.7     100.0

         Total           194        99       100.0

Missing  System          1          1

Total                    195        100

TABLE 2: WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SCHOOL?

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Yes              173         88.7      88.7      88.7
          No               2           1.0       1.0       89.7
          Uncertain        20          10.3      10.3      100.0
          Total            195         100.0     100.0

TABLE 3: PRESENTLY EMPLOYED IN AREA RELATED TO MAJOR FIELD

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Yes              130         66.7      67.0      67.7
          No               64          32.8      33.0      100.0
          Total            194         99.5      100.0
Missing   System           1           .5
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 4: ABILITY TO MAINTAIN A MEANINGFUL JOB

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Very             6           3.1       3.1       3.1
          Dissatisfied
          Dissatisfied     11          5.6       5.8       8.9
          No Opinion       20          10.3      10.5      19.4
          Satisfied        74          37.9      38.7      58.1
          Very Satisfied   80          41.0      41.9      100.0
          Total            191         97.9      100.0
Missing   System           4           2.1
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 5: ADVANCEMENT VS. OTHER WOMEN

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Very             8           4.1       4.2       4.2
          Dissatisfied
          Dissatisfied     8           4.1       4.2       8.4
          No Opinion       28          14.4      14.7      23.2
          Satisfied        81          41.5      42.6      65.8
          Very Satisfied   65          33.3      34.2      100.0
          Total            190         97.4      100.0
Missing   System           5           2.6
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 6: COMPENSATION VS. OTHER WOMEN

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Very             7           3.6       3.7       3.7
          Dissatisfied
          Dissatisfied     13          6.7       6.9       10.6
          No Opinion       22          11.3      11.6      22.2
          Satisfied        90          46.2      47.6      69.8
          Very Satisfied   57          29.2      30.2      100.0
          Total            189         96.9      100.0
Missing   System           6           3.1
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 7: ADVANCEMENT VS. MEN

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Very             14          7.2       7.4       7.4
          Dissatisfied
          Dissatisfied     33          16.9      17.4      24.7
          No Opinion       48          24.6      25.3      50.0
          Satisfied        56          28.7      29.5      79.5
          Very Satisfied   39          20.0      20.5      100.0
          Total            190         97.4      100.0
Missing   System           5           2.6
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 8: COMPENSATION VS. MEN

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Very             16          8.2       8.5       8.5
          Dissatisfied
          Dissatisfied     43          22.1      22.9      31.4
          No Opinion       40          20.5      21.3      52.7
          Satisfied        54          27.7      28.7      81.4
          Very Satisfied   35          17.9      18.6      100.0
          Total            188         96.4      100.0
Missing   System           7           3.6
Total                      195         100.0

TABLE 9: WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SCHOOL?

                                                 Valid     Cumulative
                           Frequency   Percent   Percent   Percent

Valid     Yes              103         93.6      96.3      96.3
          Uncertain        4           3.6       3.7       100.0
          Total            107         97.3      100.0
Missing   System           3           2.7
Total                      110         100.0

TABLE 10: PRESENTLY EMPLOYED IN AREA RELATED TO MAJOR FIELD

                                     Valid    Cumulative
                 Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid    Yes     63         57.3     60.0     60.0
         No      42         38.2     40.0     100.0
         Total   105        95.5     100.0
Missing  System  5          4.5
Total            110        100.0

TABLE 11: ABILITY TO MAINTAIN A MEANINGFUL JOB

                                             Valid    Cumulative
                         Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid    Dissatisfied    5          4.5      4.6      4.6
         No Opinion      7          6.4      6.4      11.0
         Satisfied       49         44.5     45.0     56.0
         Very Satisfied  48         43.6     44.0     100.0
         Total           109        99.1     100.0
Missing  System          1          0.9
Total                    110        100.0

TABLE 12: ADVANCEMENT VS. OTHER WOMEN

                                              Valid    Cumulative
                          Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid  Very               2          1.8      1.8      1.8
       Dissatisfied
       Dissatisfied       8          7.3      7.3      9.1
       No Opinion         18         16.4     16.4     25.5
       Satisfied          40         36.4     36.4     61.8
       Very Satisfied     42         38.2     38.2     100.0
       Total              110        100.0    100.0

TABLE 13: COMPENSATION VS. OTHER WOMEN

                                             Valid    Cumulative
                         Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid    Very            1          .9       .9       .9
         Dissatisfied
         Dissatisfied    11         10.0     10.1     11.0
         No Opinion      12         10.9     11.0     22.0
         Satisfied       44         40.0     40.4     62.4
         Very Satisfied  41         37.3     37.6     100.0
         Total           109        99.1     100.0
Missing  System          1          .9
Total                    110        100.0

TABLE 14: ADVANCEMENT VS. MEN

                                           Valid    Cumulative
                       Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid  Very            4          3.6      3.6      3.6
       Dissatisfied
       Dissatisfied    23         20.9     20.9     24.5
       No Opinion      25         22.7     22.7     47.3
       Satisfied       34         30.9     30.9     78.2
       Very Satisfied  24         21.8     21.8     100.0
       Total           110        100.0    100.0

TABLE 15: COMPENSATION VS. MEN

                                             Valid    Cumulative
                         Frequency  Percent  Percent  Percent

Valid    Very            8          7.3      7.3      7.3
         Dissatisfied
         Dissatisfied    28         25.5     25.7     33.0
         No Opinion      18         16.4     16.5     49.5
         Satisfied       36         32.7     33.0     82.6
         Very Satisfied  19         17.3     17.4     100.0
         Total           109        99.1     100.0
Missing  System          1          0.9
Total                    110        100.0

REFERENCES

Bruce, W., Hart, D. & Sullivan M.C., "A Profile of Adult Women Students: The Emerging Cohort in Colleges and Universities." Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Association for Women, Deans, Administrators and Counselors, Nashville, TN., March 1990.

Bryant, A., "Women Gain at the Top, but Slightly." New York Times, December 16, 1997, D6.

Evans, B., "Gender Gap for Pay Persists, Study Finds." Albany Times Union, November 21, 2003, A4.

Francese, P., "Trend Ticker: Working Women." American Demographics Vol. 25, March 2003, 40-41.

Gibelman, M., "So How Far Have We Come? Pestilent and Persistent Gender Gap in Pay." Social Work, Vol. 48, January 2003, 22.

Gomez, R., "More Women Get Corner Office." Albany Times Union, November 19, 2002, E1.

Hawkins, D. & Sides, J., "Older Students Make Their Mark." U.S. News & World Report, September 1994, 112-113.

Himelstein, L., "Shatterproof Glass Ceiling." Business Week, October 28, 1996, 55.

Jones, D., "Few Women Hold Top Executive Jobs, Even When CEOs are Female." USA Today, January 27, 2003, A1.

Joy, L., "Salaries of Recent Male and Female College Graduates: Educational and Labor Market Effects." Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Vol. 56, July 2003, 606.

Leonhardt, D.," Women Outpace Men in Wage Gains." New York Times, February 17, 2003, A1.

McElhiney, A.B., "Genesis of a Planned Mentoring Program for Re-Entry Women." Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, Vol. 6, Summer 1990, 21-26.

McKeen, C.A. & Bujaki, M.L., "Taking Women Into Account." C.A. Magazine, March 1994, 29-35.

United States Census Bureau Report. Report on Status of Women in Corporate Structure, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1994.

U.S. Department of Labor. Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education: Appropriations for 2001(Part 5)[2], Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2000.

Author Profiles:

Dr. Frederick J. DeCasperis earned his Ed.D. from the University of Sarasota in 1995. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Management at Siena College, Loudonville, New York. His research areas include strategic decision-making, market segmentation, outcomes assessment, and gender related workplace issues.