University of Michigan
Center for the Education of Women
http://www.umich.edu/~cew
As a member of the Coalition for Independence Through Education, a Michigan advocacy group, CEW works to inform state and national policy-makers about the need for low-income women to have access to higher education, and the resulting benefits to them, their families, and society. CFITE produced a 2002 report, Access and Barriers to Post-Secondary Education under Michigan's Welfare to Work Policies, which is available online through CEW.
The 2001 conference Beyond Gender Divides: Educational Access, Leadership, & Technology brought together over 300 researchers and advocates. Coordination with NCRW allowed NCRW board members to combine attendance at the conference with the annual board meeting, held in Ann Arbor.
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Contact Information:
330 East Liberty
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Phone: 734-998-7080
Fax: 781-998-6203
E-mail: cew.mail@umich.edu
CENTER DESCRIPTION
Founded in 1964, the Center for the Education of Women, within the University of Michigan, was one of the nation's first comprehensive, university-based centers focused on women. The Center remains committed to its three-fold mission of research, service, and advocacy regarding women's issues.
AREA(S) OF EXPERTISE
Corporations and Women; economic and social status of women; education; employment; faculty and administration; higher education; leadership and leadership development; welfare reform; work and family.
RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity. A joint report from CEW, Catalyst, and the University of Michigan Business School presents results from a survey of graduates of top MBA programs. While women MBAs express high satisfaction, female enrollment in business school remains just 30%.
Junior Women Faculty Network. In order to foster the professional development and success of women faculty, and to assist them in creating a cross-disciplinary network, CEW hosts formal and informal activities for junior women faculty. Initial funding provided by the Alcoa Foundation.
Women of Color in the Academy Project. This initiative, with the Women's Studies Program, highlights the contributions of women of color faculty at the university; it also aims to build a community of women of color faculty and prepare materials and disseminate research that focuses on women of color in the academy. The project has produced Through My Lens, a videotape detailing the experiences of women of color faculty.
Faculty Focus Groups. CEW conducted a series of focus groups with junior women faculty members and a series with women associate professors to investigate and increase awareness of the issues affecting tenure track women faculty members.
Visiting Scholar Program. The Visiting Scholar Program is an opportunity for scholars to pursue research projects relevant to women using the vast resources available through the Center for the Education of Women (CEW) and the University of Michigan. Scholars must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree. A scholar's stay at the Center can range from one to twelve months, as appropriate to the scholar's research needs. Visiting Scholars prepare a working paper based upon their research, which is published as part of the Center's series of occasional papers.
CEW Scholar Survey. Since 1970, CEW has awarded scholarships to over 800 women enrolled at the University of Michigan. Past scholars are being surveyed regarding the intersection of work, family and community particularly with regard to how scholars define and contribute to the well-being of their communities.
The Graduate Women's Leadership Program provides an opportunity for female graduate students who have demonstrated an interest in leadership to develop more sophisticated skills. The program includes five sessions focusing on leadership styles and decision making, strategic action, conflict management, negotiation, and life planning.
The January 2000 policy report Michigan: A "Smart State" for Women? Women and Higher Education reviews women's access to higher education in the state of Michigan, and was funded by the Nokomis foundation. It examines barriers to women's access to higher education, the cost and climate of post-secondary educational funding in Michigan, the benefits that accrue to individuals and the state with higher education, and Michigan's need for an increasingly educated workforce. The report includes policy recommendations.
The Michigan Faculty Work-Life Study. This study surveyed over 1,000 U of M faculty members concerning career satisfaction. Included were questions on climate issues, organizational structure, policies, and resources, workload and productivity, family work-life issues, and career satisfaction and retention. This report was conducted in collaboration with the U-M Center for the Study of Higher and Post-Secondary Education of the School of Education.
PUBLICATIONS
Sloan Faculty Work-Life Survey. CEW received a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in order to conduct survey research on work-life policies affecting faculty in over 700 colleges and universities. The survey will indicate the extent to which such policies are available and used by faculty and the institutional factors that support development and use of such policies.
Committee on Student Parent Issues. CEW Director Carol Hollenshead chairs the University of Michigan's Committe on Student Parent Issues. With faculty, staff and student members, appointed by the Provost, this committee assists the Provost in prioritizing and overseeing initiatives designed to improve the quality of academic and social life for UM students with parenting responsibilities.
ADVANCE Grant. CEW participated in the development of a campus wide NSF Institutional Transformation Award/ADVANCE grant. CEW will conduct the qualitative portion of the research, investigating "best practices" for the hiring and retention of women faculty members in sciences and engineering who have left the university, and organizing focus groups with female and male faculty in targeted and comparison departments.
Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity, (Press Release) (2000). A joint report from CEW, Catalyst, and the University of Michigan Business School presents results from a survey of graduates of top MBA programs. The full report is available through Catalyst.
Time and Money: Women Workers, Unions, and the Political Economy. Peggy Kahn (1998). Originally delivered as the Dorothy McGuigan Lecture at the University of Michigan in March 1998 as part of the conference "Rocking the Boat: Women in the Labor Movement."
Advocacy, Research, and Service for Women: The Pioneering Origins of the Center for the Education of Women at the University of Michigan. Linda Eisenmann (2001). This paper uses CEW as an example of early efforts to provide gender equity on campuses. CEW Visiting Scholar Linda Eisenmann explores the particular strengths of the Michigan model and re-defines the thread of women's activism from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Between the Work I Love and the Work I Do: Creating Professors and Scholars in the Early Post-Tenure Career. Anna Neumann (1997).
Women Looking Ahead: Life and Career Planning for College Women. Marcy Plunkett, Carol Hollenshead, and Jane Hassinger (1995).
The Michigan Women's Leadership Project Report and Bibliography (1997). The Michigan Women's Leadership Project represents a new model of leadership development and training created for the executive directors and board leaders of non-profit organizations that serve women and girls. The blend of training, experiential learning, customized consultation, and peer support that characterize the project enhanced leaders' self-confidence and skills, improved staff-board cooperation, and increased collective planning activities, leading to higher levels of organizational efficacy.
Access and Barriers to Post-Secondary Education Under Michigan's Welfare to Work Policies--Policy Background and Recipients' Experiences (2002). This 2002 report, researched and written by the Coalition for Independence Through Education, presents quantitative and qualitative research on Michigan welfare recipients' participation in post-secondary education.
Michigan: A "Smart State" for Women? Women and Higher Education. Susan Kaufmann, Sally Sharp, Jeanne Miller and Jean Waltman (2000). This report, funded by the Nokomis foundation, examines barriers to women's access to higher education, the cost and climate of post-secondary educational funding in Michigan, the benefits that accrue to individuals and the state with higher education, and Michigan's need for an increasingly educated workforce. The report includes policy recommendations.
Struggling to Stay in School: Obstacles to Post-Secondary Education under the Welfare-to-Work Regime in Michigan. Peggy Kahn and Valerie Polakow (2000). Documents the experience of low-income single mothers in Michigan pursuing post-secondary education while receiving public assistance.
Former Women Faculty: Reasons for Leaving One Research University. Stacy Wenzel and Carol Hollenshead (1998). Presents the results of a qualitative research project looking at the experiences of women faculty at a large research university who had left that university.
The Michigan Faculty Work-Life Study (1999). Presents the findings of a survey of over 1,000 U of M faculty members concerning career satisfaction. Included were questions on climate issues, organizational structure, policies, and resources, workload and productivity, family work-life issues, and career satisfaction and retention.
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