Mexican-American women in professional careers: The price of success
This study explored the most critical problems encountered by Mexican-American women in professional careers. These women were employed in art, science, engineering, education, medicine, law, writing, and administrative and managerial specialties. Both single (N 38) and married (N = 33) women participated in this study. There were no restrictions on age, number of years on the job, or educational level. A questionnaire designed by the researcher was used to gather information on the subjects. The questionnaire was divided into three parts: Part 1 solicited demographic information, Part 2 addressed issues encountered in the workplace, and Part 3 examined issues encountered at home. Findings from the study indicated that the most critical problems encountered by Mexican-American women in the workplace included the "Superwoman complex, 11 being the "only, 11 and establishing legitimacy. At home, crucial issues consisted of the Superwoman complex, self-imposed guilt/torment, and family pressure. Additional questions revealed critical problems encountered by these women.
Gender and Racial Issues for New Counseling Psychologists in Academia
Counseling psychology has begun to focus on the concerns of new professionals, but it has not addressed the concerns of women or visible racial/ethnic group members (i.e., Black, Hispanic, Native American, or Asian American) as new counseling psychologists in academia. This article addresses their unique concerns and makes recommendations for new faculty members as well as for the departments that hire them. The article focuses on issues (a) for new professors in counseling psychology, (b) shared by women and visible racial/ethnic group members, and (c) experienced differently by women and visible racial/ethnic group members.
The Propensity of Community College Chief Academy Officers to Leave an Institution
The study described in this report was designed to measure the propensity of community college chief academic officers (CAOs) to leave their current position and college, the levels of satisfaction they feel with their jobs, and their perceptions of role conflict and ambiguity. For the purposes of this study, a chief academic officer (CAO) is defined as the administrative head with responsibility for all academic affairs at the institution. At most community colleges the chief academic officer is the second highest-ranking administrative officer and reports to the president. Although there are numerous titles in use, the most common titles used by community colleges for the chief academic officer include academic dean, academic vice-president, vice-president for instruction, instructional dean, dean of the college, . . . . In addition, community colleges often use the title "provost" to designate the head of a campus in multi-campus or multi-college operations; in many cases, the provost also serves as the chief academic officer for the campus. Definitions aside, however, each institution recognizes its chief academic officer as the person responsible for the institution's academic programs, the academic leader who works directly with the faculty. (Vaughan, 1990, p. 6) Recently the executive vice president has become an increasingly popular title for those performing the duties of the CAO at community colleges. Despite the nearly universal existence of job descriptions for this position at community colleges, the responsibilities of the chief academic officer are often ill-defined (Wolverton, Wolverton, & Gmelch, 1999). Vaughan (1990) notes that researchers have documented from 48 to 168 separate duties for CAOs at community colleges. Although not all duties carry the same degree of urgency, the CAO is accountable for performing or supervising the performance of all of them. Because CAOs are the direct link between the administration and faculty, they may have a greater effect on the internal affairs of an institution than even the president (Birnbaum, 1992; Mech, 1997; Vaughan, 1990). Despite its potential for effectiveness, this position often means being caught between the administration and the faculty, which is a significant source of role conflict and role ambiguity for CAOs. Role conflict occurs when individuals find it necessary to handle duties that appear to be inconsistent or in conflict with their self-perception of their role or roles within the organizational structure. For example, for CAOs this might occur when (in their administrative role) they have to carry out a personnel action having a negative effect on a faculty member who (in their faculty leader role) they consider a colleague. Role ambiguity, on the other hand, occurs when a CAO is uncertain about the functional boundaries of his or her organizational role. For example, a CAO who believes he or she needs to seek higher-level approval for what to others is a routine decision may be experiencing role ambiguity. Suppose, for example, a CAO believes that a faculty member's willingness to develop an Internet-based course justifies reducing or redistributing his or his workload. If the CAO is uncertain, about whether he or she needs to seek presidential approval before offering the faculty member a reduced load this would be role ambiguity. Several researchers who have focused on institutions of higher education have concluded that there is a direct connection between job satisfaction and stress resulting from role conflict or role ambiguity (McBride, Munday, & Tunnell, 1992; Milosheff, 1990; Simpson, 1984). Researchers have also established that job dissatisfaction and voluntary job turnover are strongly correlated (Cano & Miller, 1992; Glick, 1992; McBride, Munday, & Tunnell, 1992). Job satisfaction represents the individual workers subjective evaluation of the degree to which his or her requirements are met by the work environment. …