Volume_4_Issue_4_Digest

TPC D igest 59 Career Development of Women in Academia: Traversing the Leaky Pipeline – DIGEST Courtney E. Gasser Katharine S. Shaffer Courtney E. Gasser, NCC, is an assistant professor at the University of Baltimore. Katharine S. Shaffer is a doctoral candidate at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Correspondence can be addressed to Courtney E. Gasser, Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of Baltimore, 1420 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, cgasser@ubalt.edu. W omen’s experiences as they consider, pursue and at times leave jobs in academia are laden with a fundamental set of issues pertaining to gender inequalities. For example, a 1999 issue of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Special Edition Newsletter reported on the experiences of women faculty at numerous colleges and universities, stating that women disappear from the pipeline of academic careers at various points. Researchers have approached the question of why this is the case from myriad perspectives, including sociological, psychological and cultural. The existing body of literature investigating women’s experiences as academicians addresses the issue of women’s struggle for equality in the institution, but does not comprehensively address how faculty women developed their career aspirations and expectations, how the essential component of career development influences their experiences within the pipeline, and how career counseling may address women’s career outcomes. To aid in the comprehension and explanation of these considerations, the authors review empirical literature on women’s processes in career development and academia, identify salient themes, and present a model reflecting women’s career development and