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Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS)

The Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS) is a 45-item measure designed to assess the supportive nature of a departmental work environment for female assistant professors. The CCWAS consists of four cultural dimensions that shape women's careers in academia: equal access to resources that contribute to career success (Equal Access), support for balancing work and family (Work-Life Balance), ability to voice concerns regarding subtle and overt gender biases (Freedom from Gender Bias), and the extent to which the unit leader supports important aspects of women's careers (Supportive Leadership).

Categories

Geographies Tested: United States of America

Populations Included: Female

Age Range: Adults

Items:

Dimension: Equal access
In general, in my department, compared to men faculty...
1. Women faculty have equal access to career development opportunities.
2. Women faculty get as much mentoring from senior faculty.
3. Women faculty are as frequently considered for leadership positions.
4. Women faculty receive as much feedback regarding their performance.
5. Women faculty receive as much guidance about potential research opportunities.
6. Women faculty receive equitable salaries.
7. Women faculty get as much research spaceequipment.
8. Women faculty get as much office space.
9. Women faculty have equal access to administrative support.
10. Women faculty have LESS protected time for research. (r)
11. Women faculty are as frequently recognized for their work.
12. Women faculty are as often asked to sit on prestigious committees.
13. Women faculty are as frequently nominated for awards and honors.
14. Women faculty are more likely to have others take credit for their work. (r)
15. Women faculty are as frequently included in discussions of division policies and administration.
16. Women faculty play equally important roles in decision-making.
17. The comments made by women faculty in meetings are given as much credit and attention.
18. Women faculty are as frequently included in professional social gatherings (e.g., dinners with guest scientists).
19. Women faculty are as often included in informal social gatherings (e.g., sporting events, happy hours).

Dimension: Support for work-life balance
In general, in my department...
20. Colleagues are supportive when women faculty members take time for family life.
21. Colleagues are supportive when women faculty members talk about work-family issues.
22. Attending to personal needs, such as taking time off for sick children, is frowned upon. (r)
23. Women faculty who reduce their work load are viewed by their colleagues as less committed to their careers. (r)
24. Family demands are considered when the division schedules events andor meetings.
25. Family demands are considered when the division schedules teaching and clinical hours.
26. An obstacle for full-time women faculty is the expectation of a minimum of a 60 hour work week. (r)
27. Reducing their work load hurts the chances that women faculty will succeed in their careers. (r)
28. Women faculty who temporarily reduce their workload for parenting responsibilities are 29. expected to take on extra work when they return to full-time. (r)
30. Work is expected to be the primary focus of faculty members' lives. (r)
31. It is possible for women faculty to get promoted working 50 hours per week or less on a regular basis.

Dimension: Freedom from gender bias
In general, in my department...
32. Women faculty members are comfortable raising issues about the supportiveness of the work environment for women.
33. Women are encouraged to raise concerns about biases against women, even if those biases are subtle.
34. When women faculty raise concerns about gender issues, they are seen as "whiners." (r)

Dimension: Supportive ChairChief Leadership
In general, in my department...
35. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty have equal access to support and resources (e.g., space, administrative support, career development opportunities) to help them in their careers compared to men faculty.
36. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are equally recognized and rewarded for their work compared to men faculty.
37. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are included in FORMAL division events.
38. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are included in INFORMAL division gatherings (e.g., coffee, lunches, sporting events, etc).
39. My chair is supportive when women faculty talk about work-family issues.
40. My chair encourages women faculty to take advantage of policiespractices for managing work and family.
41. My chair sends a message that parenthood is an expected part of life.
42. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are able to manage the demands of work and family.
43. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty feel free to express concerns regarding the treatment of women.
44. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are not sexually harassed.
45. My chair tries to ensure that women faculty are not subject to subtle gender-based biases.

Note. Items to be reverse scored are denoted with "(r)".

Response Options:
Strongly disagree - 1
Disagree - 2
Neither agree nor disagree - 3
Agree - 4
Strongly agree - 5

Scoring Procedures

The average of all dimension scores is used to calculate the total culture score for each individual or academic division/department.

Original Citation

Westring, A. F., Speck, M. R. M., Sammel, M. D., Scott, M. P., Tuton, L. W., Grisso, J. A., & Abbuhl, S. (2012). A Culture Conducive to Women’s Academic Success: Development of a Measure. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 87(11), 1622 - 1631. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e31826dbfd1


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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