that the tenure candidate stopped the clock. Therefore, some tenure 

 recommendations may criticize resulting gaps in a resume. 



Reduced Teaching Duties Some universities, primarily mayor research institutions, relieve faculty 



members of one semester of teaching duties when a child is bom or other 

 urgent family issues arise. Some faculty we spoke with noted that there 

 are events other than childbirth that require large amoimts of a faculty 

 member's time and attention, such as assisting elderly parents. Reduced 

 teaching loads may operate in tandem with stopping the tenure clock and 

 generally applies to both men and women professors. 



ReUef from teaching duties frees up time to deal with family issues and 

 provides added flexibility in arranging work hours. However, when one is 

 involved in scientific research, pressure remains to produce results. 

 Researchers still have to run their laboratories. Scientists responsible for 

 research projects have to organize the work, supervise graduate students 

 working on the projects, and also advise students on their academic 

 course work and projects. Some faculty we spoke with pointed out that 

 reUef from teaching duties may benefit male faculty more than female 

 faculty. In connection with the arrival of a child, to the extent that male 

 faculty may have less involvement in caring for newborns, male faculty 

 may use the extra time to do additional research or laboratory work. 



Several Practices Seek to 

 Expand the Recruiting 

 Pool for Scientific Jobs 

 and Make Them More 

 Attractive to Women 



On-site Child Care 



Some imiversities and at least one laboratory we visited have developed or 

 expanded on-campus child care or made arrangements with nearby 

 faciUties. Sometimes, when on-campus facilities are unavailable or 

 inadequate, arrangements may be made with nearby child care providers 

 to reserve a certain number of openings for faculty and staff. However, 

 obtaining child care can still be a problem in some situations such as care 

 for sick children. One laboratory we visited had plans for developing a 

 separate day care facility for sick children, but it has not come about 

 because of lack of funding. 



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GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



