UCSD and dozens of other top research universities were found to hire few female faculty members to instruct technical subjects, according to recent studies highlighting the extent of national underrepresentation of women in science and engineering fields.

The nationwide “representation of women and minorities in science and engineering generally is far below that needed to ensure the national security, economic superiority and scientific leadership of our country,” a January report on 50 of the nation’s top research institutions stated, calling the issue a “grave concern.”

Women with the appropriate doctorate degrees and qualifications are are not being hired into teaching positions, the report said, estimating that the percentage of women professors in technical fields remains between 3 and 15 percent. The report, titled “A National Analysis of Diversity in Science and Engineering Faculties at Research Universities,” did not identify the causes for the disparity.

The study used eight UC campuses, including UCSD. It also quoted Marye Anne Fox, the newly appointed chancellor of UCSD, about her experience as one of only two women in her department at the University of Texas.

“It was discouraging to know that when I went to Texas in 1976, I was the second woman in a faculty of about 50, and when I left in 1998, they were again hiring a second woman,” Fox stated.

Donna J. Nelson, the study’s primary author and an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, said that as the overall proportion of women in the country increases, their continued low percentages in these fields may mean that those most qualified to perform research will not be in positions to do so.

“We can no longer rely on white males as the supply of scientists and engineers,” Nelson said.

The report claims that the lack of female professors may also discourage undergraduate students from entering the career fields, creating a self-perpetuating cycle.

“Women have preferences and they make choices based upon their expectations of what will meet them in the labor market,” said Maria Charles, an associate professor of sociology at UCSD.

As a co-author of a soon-to-be-published report on segregation of students in technical fields, Charles said she has found that the perception of discrimination or hostility toward women in specific fields may affect their choice in field of study.

“There is much talk about ‘chilly climates’ for women in these kinds of firms — these so-called male-dominated types of occupational cultures — which certainly affect preferences [in choosing fields of study],” Charles said.

The trend is present not only in the United States but all developed nations, she said.

According to Charles, as traditionally female-dominated fields like nursing move beyond the purview of professional and vocational schools and gain acceptance in the upper echelons of prestigious higher education institutions, a growing population of college-bound women choose them for their degrees.

Because women who are employed full time typically do the majority of housework and child nurturing, elements like time commitment and parenting factor into their career choices, according to Mary Blair-Loy, UCSD associate professor of sociology and author of “Competing Devotions: Career and Family Among Women Executives.”

At the same time, a new study by University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Jerry A. Jacobs and graduate student Sarah E. Winslow concludes that putting in long hours is a key cause of dissatisfaction specific to academia.

Jacobs’ and Winslow’s study aims to explain the relationship between gender equity in university faculties and family compatibility with an academic career. Since the average age of professors is just over 40, few can wait to start a family until they reach the job security acquired through tenure, an issue that makes women more likely to work only in part-time positions and be more dissatisfied with a job in university circles, according to the study.

Nelson said such concerns about family and career are an important reason why undergraduates need female role models to discuss their hesitations about pursuing academic jobs.

“I hear from young women all the time that they want to see female professors and talk to them,” she said.

While the need for family time has affected both male and female faculty, compensation disparity remains a problem for women, according to an annual report issued by the American Association of University Professors in April.

The report noted that, nationally, women received a salary of 88.4 percent that of their male counterparts at the full professor level in 2003-04. It noted smaller gaps for associate and assistant professors, at 93 percent and 92.3 percent, respectively.

“These percentages have been remarkably stable over the past 15 years,” the report stated, noting that many factors were responsible and that the AAUP would take a closer look at the factors in next year’s study.

By comparison, a 2002 campus-wide report found that female faculty at UCSD on average receive 5.6 percent less in pay for a nine-month academic year base salary and 12.5 percent less in overall 12-month compensation than their male counterparts.

Nelson’s report did not address pay irregularities.

Though underrepresentation of women in technical fields is a national phenomenon, Nelson said, she believes that each institution must design individual solutions.

“When it gets right down to it, it’s going to be change within the department,” she said, suggesting workshops targeted at individual department chairs that would increase sensitivity for the concerns of faculty and student and create “hospitable” environments.

In addition, Charles believes that increasing mandatory general education requirements for undergraduates would help move women into currently isolated fields of study.

“Giving boys and girls more choices about what courses to take probably exacerbates segregation,” she said. “If you require a certain amount of math or science of everyone in a belief that this is a necessary part of one’s education, and at the same time you require humanities and supposedly ‘female’ fields by exposing people to these things, there is a chance you’ll find that they’ll overcome some of these barriers and stereotypes.”