Nick Coltrain

nickcoltrain@coloradoan.com

A climate of institutionalized gender inequity colors the experience of female workers at Colorado State University, according to a study released Monday.

The report details a workplace where women face a pervasive fear of retaliation, sexist insinuations and inconsistent applications of earned benefits such as parental leave.

President and Chancellor Tony Frank called the report's findings "troubling," the behaviors described "unacceptable," and also called the study a necessary step for improving conditions at the university. His office commissioned it as part of an effort to combat gender inequity, a move praised by the study's drivers.

"If we really mean that we want to improve the climate here, and I believe we do, then taking a good hard look in the mirror is a critical step," Frank said.

Hundreds of people filled a ballroom at the Lory Student Center for the unveiling of "Experiences and Perceptions of Campus Climate for Women Faculty at Colorado State University." Researchers surveyed the experiences of 76 women who self-selected for the report, and used focus groups, individual interviews and online surveys to guide the findings.

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University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Nadya Fouad, who led the study, said she was most struck by the number of participants who feared being seen participating.

"There was such a fear of retribution that people asked me to open the door and make sure no one saw them," Fouad said.

Participants were given anonymity to the point where Fouad didn't know their names or departments for which they worked when she spoke with them. In group settings, some even asked to sit with their backs to covered windows to further make sure they weren't seen.

The study didn't address the facts of participants' allegations, but was designed to chronicle their experiences. As professor Ellen Fisher, chair of the CSU Standing Committee on the Status of Women Faculty, said, "Whether it's real or not does not matter, because perception is reality."

The fact that some at CSU feel women are treated poorly indicates a problem, she said.

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Frank echoed Fisher, and said the study's findings required attention from the university. He was supportive of existing anti-retaliation policies, but noted that a lack of confidence in them — or in their enforcement — means work needs to be done.

"It's a bit of a cognitive dissonance for me, in that it's not how I picture our university or our administration," Frank said. "But, on the other hand, it's a perfect example of where my experiences aren't the issue, right?

"I'm the president of the university and I come from this position of power and privilege of being a white male, and so for me to say that's not how I experience these things probably isn't any more relevant than to reinforce that we all see these things different in society."

In quotes from participants used in the presentation, some described a cynicism that things won't change, with administrators and department heads being too set in their ways and with no meaningful evaluation process to measure progress.

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Some described bosses who introduced themselves with anecdotes of casual sexism, where his wife "did the right thing and stayed home with the children," or unequally enforced policies like parental leave. Fouad said some women reported department chairs being "very liberal," with family leave for new parents and essentially letting new mothers take as much time as they needed to recover; others, if unable to manage without the faculty member, would essentially demand a new mother that "I need you to be here Monday."

Complaints weren't directed solely at university administration and management. The report noted that female faculty, particularly non-tenure track and adjunct, felt a sexist attitude from some students.

A quote from a participant described it as "behavior that suggests ... that women are not as capable." On the flip side of that, a woman at the presentation who described herself as a non-traditional undergraduate student said she's been sexually harassed by two male professors in as many semesters at CSU. Officials in attendance promised to follow up immediately.

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Frank, who received the report several weeks ago, told faculty members in an email before the presentation that the comments made aren't falling on deaf ears. His office "embraced" the primary recommendation from the study and formed the President's External Advisory Committee on the Status of Women, which is reviewing CSU's efforts on gender equity and making its own recommendations.

CSU is also set to unveil its new salary equity model later this month that's designed to enshrine gender parity for its faculty, in response to a 2014 finding by a CSU statistics professor that the university could have been systematically, if inadvertently, paying female full professors less than their male counterparts.

CSU officials gave raises to almost 60 full professors at the end of 2015 after completing an initial salary equity review. They looked at the salaries of 152 full professors out of 377. It found that 28 female full professors — a quarter of those employed at the time — weren't being paid enough.