Abstract
Abstract
The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice was to determine if differences in risk tolerance among men and women in post-secondary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) faculty positions affected the retention and success of women in those positions. The aim of the study was to determine whether women who pursue STEM faculty positions have different perceptions of their professional settings and risks to success than men who pursue the same career paths in order to determine if their tolerance of those risks differed from men. Using the qualitative methodology of phenomenology, the researcher conducted telephone interviews with faculty members in STEM positions at universities in the United States to ascertain their perspectives on their career path. Interviewees included both men and women from nascent faculty to retired. Findings revealed a wide variety of perspectives and approaches to the career path of men and women who pursue academic and research careers in STEM disciplines within the Academy, while revealing a nearly unanimous reason for choosing the path in the first place: curiosity. The disparity of outlooks suggested there would be no simple, one-sizefits-all, solution to the problem of unequal distribution of men and women in STEM faculty and the resultant distribution of university senior administration they might rise to. The dissertation offered a suggested course of action to enable the post-secondary academic and research enterprise at her institution, and by replication in similar institutions in the U. S., to become more flexible in approaches toward recruitment, retention, and promotion of all faculty members in order to ensure a vibrant climate through which to educate and inspire its future leaders in thought, policy, and innovation. Keywords: Education, faculty, post-secondary, research, STEM.