The Effects of Minority Size on Women's Position in Academia

This study examines the effects of minority size on the academic position of women in higher education in Israel Findings from faculty women show that their proportional representation is negatively related to their achievement in terms of academic rank; the smaller their proportion in a scientific field the more does their hierarchical distribution resemble that of their male colleagues. It is also found that women, as a rule, participate in larger proportions in the humanities than in the natural sciences. It is suggested that sex ratios affect women's position in combination with the stereotypes attributed to the feminine diffuse status-characteristic in different contexts. In scientific fields in which women's sex status is more salient they fare less well than in disciplines in which it is neutralized.