About PFWFGE

To build an inclusive community of women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and trans scholars and their allies that enriches the university, the Penn Forum for Women Faculty and Gender Equity:

• Advocates for policies and practices that promote gender equity;
• Creates opportunities for education, professional skill-building, networking, and cross-school and cross-disciplinary interactions;
• Provides advice to Penn’s administration on matters of significance to gender equity;
• Enhances Penn’s visibility as a welcoming community for faculty who are women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, or trans;
• Engages with prominent scholars and colleagues at other institutions to identify best practices for enhancing gender equity;
• Develops initiatives and programming to share with faculty nationwide.

The Forum was conceived and developed by women faculty across all twelve schools at Penn, with support from the Office of the Provost and the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and was created with the belief that all faculty, regardless of gender, age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, marital status, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or physical abilities, should have the opportunity to network and engage with a diverse and supportive community of scholars. 

A recent history of advances for women faculty at Penn begins with five women—Phoebe Leboy, Helen Davies, Madeleine Joullie, Phyllis Rackin, and Mildred Cohn.

As part of a committee chaired by Cohn in 1969, they recognized severe gender disparities throughout the university. Such disparities prompted the release of the Cohn Report revealing that only 7% of faculty members were women and 14 departments had no female faculty. After the University failed to respond to the report, the women formed Women for Equal Opportunity at the University of Pennsylvania (WEOUP). The organization was committed to equality in campus life and became the voice of the women’s activist community. WEOUP helped develop the Women’s Studies Program, and, in response to a series of on campus rapes in 1973, organized a sit-­‐‑in at College Hall that led to improved security measures and the creation of the Penn Women’s Center.

These women acted as a catalyst for many of the advances that women faculty enjoy today. In June 2000, Provost Robert Barchi and Faculty Senate Chair Larry Gross established the Gender Equity Committee to evaluate the status of women faculty at Penn. The committee released the first annual Gender Equity Report on December 4, 2001, which led to the creation of the Senate Committee on Faculty Development, Diversity and Equity. As the name suggests, this committee addresses issues relevant to women faculty and minority faculty, with a focus on the creation of mentorship programs for all junior faculty across the university.

Another organization called the Association of Women Faculty and Administrators (AWFA) was founded in 1948 and changed its name to Penn Professional Women’s Network in 2004. While no longer active, its charge was to address the needs of both female faculty and administrators across the university. In recent years, however, it has become clearer that the needs of women faculty differ from those of women administrators.

In order to address diverging interests and the disparity between the number of male and female faculty across the university, a few women faculty members began a discussion with Provost Vincent Price to find a way to address these issues. In 2009, the Penn Forum for Women Faculty was realized, and in February 2010, it hosted the first annual Celebration of Women Faculty. 

In 2023, PFWF formalized its desire for inclusivity and goal of gender equity and updated its bylaws, mission, and name accordingly. PFWF is now the Penn Forum for Women Faculty and Gender Equity (PFWFGE). 

Updated: Fall 2023

Mission

To build an inclusive community of women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and trans scholars and their allies that enriches the university, the Penn Forum for Women Faculty and Gender Equity:

• Advocates for policies and practices that promote gender equity;
• Creates opportunities for education, professional skill-building, networking, and cross-school and cross-disciplinary interactions;
• Provides advice to Penn’s administration on matters of significance to gender equity;
• Enhances Penn’s visibility as a welcoming community for faculty who are women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, or trans;
• Engages with prominent scholars and colleagues at other institutions to identify best practices for enhancing gender equity;
• Develops initiatives and programming to share with faculty nationwide.

The Forum was conceived and developed by women faculty across all twelve schools at Penn, with support from the Office of the Provost and the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and was created with the belief that all faculty, regardless of gender, age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, marital status, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or physical abilities, should have the opportunity to network and engage with a diverse and supportive community of scholars. 

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Bylaws

ELIGIBILITY: All Standing Faculty (Tenure Track and Clinician Educator) within Penn’s twelve schools who are committed to supporting gender equity for women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and trans scholars are eligible to participate in the Forum. 

GOVERNANCE 

A Council of women, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and trans scholars and their allies in the Standing Faculty, representing all 12 schools, and all ranks, will be responsible for strategic planning and development of activities and programs, and the creation of informal alliances and relationships with faculty at other institutions. Council shall also serve as an advisory committee to the Office of the Provost on issues related to gender equity, including the development of centralized initiatives and reports to the University of Pennsylvania community (e.g. Gender Equity Report, Diversity Action Plan Report). 

Every year, the Council will elect one member (at Associate Professor or Professor rank) to serve as Chair-Elect of the Faculty Forum; the former Chair-Elect shall begin a 1-year term as Chair, and the immediately preceding Chair shall then begin a 1-year term as Past-Chair. The Chair is responsible for overseeing the daily Council activities with administrative assistance, leading the Council meetings, and forming sub-committees. The Chair-Elect serves as an ex officio member of the sub-committees for Communication and Programming, is responsible for integrating activities of the committees and assisting the Chair in overseeing the continuing and periodic Forum activities. The Past-Chair serves in an advisory role to both the Chair and Chair-Elect, substituting for either as needed. 

Council members will be nominated (e.g. by self, Deans, Forum members), vetted by the PFWFGE leadership, elected by Council members, and can serve up to six years. 

Members wishing to serve for longer than six years may be appointed as members-at-large, at the nomination of the Chair and Chair-Elect. Their membership on the Council will be confirmed each year by PFWFGE leadership.

Changes to the bylaws require a majority vote of the leadership council, with a quorum of at least 50 percent of Council.