CWAE Track Sessions

Women appear to be impacted by different barriers and reward structures than do their male counterparts at various points in their academic training and professional careers. This track session contains a collection of three papers which analyze women at different points in their academic training and professional life. This track session will stimulate discussion and contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and barriers, and opportunities, that women face first as students, and then as faculty members and leaders in their professional careers. One paper identifies factors that impact the success of students in pursuit of their undergraduate degree, with a focus on gender differences in success. The research identifies multiple points where women fail to continue their education despite being academically able to do so! Another paper addresses a problem often faced by academic couples: finding two jobs at the same institution. This paper examines how specific types of spousal and partner accommodation policies affect a university's ability to recruit and retain highly productive candidates. This paper finds that assistant professors hired under the accommodation policy at one institution are more likely than their peers to gain tenure. And the third paper addresses rewards and challenges for female leaders, providing an overview of changes in the female leadership (styles, positions, and approaches) with respect to education, family environment, and societal expectations based on literature review and cases in our profession (academia, government, non-profit, commercial enterprise, and others). This paper concludes despite no significant difference in leadership styles, that the barriers and rewards impact men and women differently.

Does gender make any differences in career development? This panel discussion will bring people together to share experiences and information related to gender and its relationship to personal growth and support with respect to career development. Led by colleagues and experts in different career paths and stages, we will explore these issues based on theories and real examples (theories, surveys, cases, and personal experiences): (1) Is gender a significant factor to influence organizational strategies associated with career development? (2) How do women perceive career decisions and personal growth differently from men? (3) How do different career development options influence women’s personal growth that might be different from men’s experiences? (4) What are some differences and discrepancies to support or discourage women in making career choices based on culture, family, religion, environment, and other situations? And how do people handle these issues? (5) What are some best practices offered by different organizations to support women and men in career development and personal growth, given their different needs? Women in general don’t have problems to be competitive in all aspects in job market. What women do struggle with more, compared to men, is to claim authority and ownership. Literature has shown little or no differences between men and women in acquiring knowledge and skills and in identifying resources. What makes women unique is in the way how women are treated in different families, cultures, countries, religions, and communities. Women deal with a set of constraints associated with physical and emotional characteristics. Other circumstantial factors impose more limitations for women to access equal opportunities in education, skill training, and employment. The goal of this panel discussion is to invite participants to share their thoughts and experiences and to identify issues and successful/innovative strategies to support both men and women in our profession.

In highly competitive meat markets it is important to understand which attributes are especially valued by consumers. This track session will contribute to a better understanding of consumer preferences for value added meats across different countries and simultaneously address different stages of the food chain by acknowledging factors such as breeding, forage (fat content), meat cuts as well as product labeling and packaging. All papers present current empirical studies from countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy and Australia.