College and Research Libraries W. C. BLANKENSHIP Head Librarians: How Many Men? How Many Women? Questionnaires were sent to 660 head librarians of American colleges in an effort to determine whether or not there are significant differ- ences between the number and kinds of libraries directed by men and those headed by women. A total of 414 were returned. Results indicated that there are approximately as many male head librarians as female, but that more of the publicly supported libraries and more of the larger libraries are supervised by men. Men seem to take on administrative positions at an earlier age than women, but women tend to change positions less frequently. Furthermore, women seem to be more successful at eliciting financial support for their libraries than their male counterparts. IT IS POSSIBLE that many men hesitate to enter college library work because they feel that the profession is over- feminized and that most of the admin- istrative jobs are held by women. Con- versely, it is possible that many women believe that most head librarians' posi- tions are filled by men and that admin- istration-minded women have few op- portunities to enter this area of librari- anship. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to present some data which may help to form some tentative conclusions concerning the frequency that men and women may b'e found serving as head librarians in various types and sizes of colleges. Therefore, the central problem may be stated in the form of this ques- tion: Is there a difference in the per- centages of men and women who are head librarians of colleges, when the institutions are grouped according to the nature of their financial support and by the size of their enrollments? Dr. Blankenship is Professor of Library Science in Wisconsin State University, Whitewater. In order to collect the data, 660 ques- tionnaires were mailed to selected head librarians of colleges of the United States.1 Of this number, 414 were re- turned. This number of returns was above average, being 62.727 per cent of the total number. Among the items in- cluded on the schedules were the fol- lowing questions, which will serve as the bases for this report. A. How long have you been the head librarian of your institution? (1) 1-5 yrs.?-- (2) 6-10 yrs.? -- ( 3) 11-15 yrs.?-- ( 4) 16 ormore?-- B. Please check the total length of time that you have been a head librarian in all academic libraries with which you have been associated. (1) 1-5 yrs.?-- (2) 6-10 yrs.? -- (3) 11-15 yrs.?-- (4) 16 or more?-- 1 The term "colleges" is used in this report as it is defined in the "Standards for College Libraries," College and Research Libraries, XX (July 1959), 274 -except that institutions were not included in the pop- ulation, which: (a) do not pay their head librarians a salary, and/ or (b) have enrollments exceeding five thousand students. I 41 42 I College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 C. Is your age ( 1) 20-30?-- ( 2) 31- 40?-- ( 3) 41-50?-- ( 4) Over 50?-- D. Sex: Male-- Female- E. Please check the percentage of the institutional budget that is allotted to your library. Please estimate the figure if you do not know exactly. ( 1) Under 2 per cent-- ( 2) 2-4 per cent-- ( 3) 4-6 per cent-- ( 4) Over 6 per cent-- The data were coded and placed upon punched cards, which were verified for accuracy by a key-punch operator, and most of the information was abstracted by use of the card sorting machine. Of the 414 head librarians who re- turned the questionnaire, the number of men and women was almost equally di- vided. The number and per cent of male and female respondents is listed in Ta- ble 1. TABLE 1 REsPONSEs AccoRDING TO THE SEx OF CoLLEGE HEAD LIBRARIANS College Head Librarians Number Per Cent Males 201 48.55 Females 213 51.45 ToTAL : 414 100.00 In analyzing the data by comparing the returns from men and women head librarians when their colleges are classi- fied according to type and size, the insti- tutions were divided into five groups, which may be described in this man- ner: Group 1 consists of publicly supported colleges which have enrollments rang- ing from 1,501 to 5,000 students. Group 2 consists of publicly supported colleges which have enrollments ranging from 500 to 1,500 students. One college having an enrollment of less than 500 students is included in this group. Group 3 consists of privately support- ed colleges which have enrollments ranging from 1,501 to 5,000 students. Group 4 consists of privately support- ed colleges which have enrollments ranging from 500 to 1,500 students. Group 5 consists of privately sup- ported colleges which have enrollments of fewer than 500 students. Table 2 indicates the number and per cent of the respondents according to groups in which the colleges were placed. From the figures included in Table 2, it would appear that the majority of col- lege head librarians are women; how- ever, the difference is only 2.90 per cent. The figures would indicate also that men are more likely to be heads of publicly supported libraries than are women, since Table 2 indicates that from a total of 143 head librarians, 82 men (57 .34 per cent) and 61 women ( 42.66 per cent) are the respondents which com- pose Groups 1 and 2. On the other hand, from the total of 271 head librarians in- cluded in Groups 3, 4, and 5, 119 men ( 43.91 per cent) and 152 women ( 56.09 per cent) are associated with privately supported colleges. A further inspection of this table re- veals that men are more likely to be head librarians of the larger colleges. For example, Groups 1 and 3 are com- posed of 114 head librarians who are associated with colleges having enroll- ments ranging from 1,501 to 5,000 stu- dents. Of this number, 72 ( 63.16 per cent) are men and 42 ( 36.84 per cent) are women. Conversely, the table indi- cates that the majority of the head li- brarians of the colleges having enroll- ments of 500 to 1,500 students are women. Groups 2 and 4 include 228 li- brarians; of these, 103 ( 45.175 per cent) are men and 125 ( 54.825 per cent) are women. The percentage of women is even larger in Group 5, which includes a total of 72 head librarians, who are associated with colleges having enroll- How Many Men? How Many Women? I 43 TABLE 2 RESPONSES AccoRDING TO THE TYPE AND SIZE oF THE CoLLEGES WITH WHICH THE HEAD LIBRARIANS ARE AssociATED Number of the Group Number of Male Head Librarians Per Cent of Male Head Librarians 1 2 3 4 5 TOTAL 50 32 22 71 26 201 66.67 47.06 58.72 44.375 36.11 48.55 ments of fewer than 500 students. Of the 72 head librarians, 26 ( 36.11 per cent) are men and 46 ( 63.89 per cent) are women. From the analysis of the information reported by the head librarians the fol- lowing generalizations may be derived: There is very little difference in the percentages of men and women who serve as head librarians in colleges of the United States. There is a considerable difference in the percentages of men and women who serve as head librarians when the colleges are divided into groups according to the nature of financial support. Number of Per Cent of Total Number Female Head Female Head of Head Librarians Librarians Librarians 25 33.33 75 36 52.94 68 17 41.28 39 89 55.625 160 46 63.89 72 213 51.45 414 There is a considerable difference in the percentages of men and women who serve as head librarians when the colleges are divided into groups ac- . cording to the size of the enrollment. In the paragraphs above, ·the central question of this study has been an- swered. Additional questions concerned with head librarians were included on the schedules, and in the following pages these data are analyzed when the respondents are grouped according to sex and (a) the length of time. that they have served as head librarian in their present colleges, (b) the total length of time that they have been a head librarian in all academic libraries with which they have been associated, TABLE 3 Length of Time (Yrs.) 1-5 6-10 11-15 16+ No Answer TOTAL LENGTH OF TIME THAT THE RESPONDENTS HAVE BEEN IN THEIR PRESENT PosmoNs As HEAD LIBRARIANS Number of Per Cent of Number of Per Cent of Male Head Male Head Female Head Female Head Librarians Librarians Librarians Librarians 96 60.76 62 39.24 40 51.28 38 48.72 39 42.87 52 57.13 25 30.49 60 69.51 1 1 201 48.55 213 51.45 Total Number of Head Librarians 158 78 91 82 2 414 44 I College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 TABLE 4 ToTAL LENGTH OF TIME THE RESPONDENTS HAv E SERVED As HEAD LIBRARIANS IN ALL lNSTITUTIO s L ength Number of Per Cent of of Male H ead Male H ead Time ( Yrs.) Librarians Librarians 1-5 59 54.62 6-10 51 60.71 11-15 43 53.75 16+ 47 34.56 No Answer 1 ToTAL 201 48.55 (c ) their approximate ages, (d) the geographical location of their colleges, and (e) the per cent of the collegiate budgets which are allotted to their li- braries. The above topics will be ex- amined in the order in which they are listed. Therefore, Table 3 indicates the tenure of the head librarians in their present positions. From examining the data presented in Table 3 it appears that women tend to move less often than men since we notice that the number and per cent of male respondents steadily decreases as the number of years increases, whereas the opposite is true for women. When tenure is examined from the viewpoint of the total length of time that the re- spondents have been head librarians of Number of Per Cent of Total Number Female Head Female Head of H ead Libra rians Librarians Librarians 49 45.38 108 33 39.29 84 37 46.25 80 89 65.44 136 5 6 213 51.45 414 all institutions with which they have been associated, however, the results are slightly different. Table 4 indicates that there is a ris- ing percentage of men in the six-ten year length-of-time group and a sharp drop in the percentage of women in this same group. Perhaps marriage and/ or age have something to do with this. In any case, men who have been head li- brarians for ten years or less number 110 ( 58.33 per cent) from a total of 192 respondents. On the other hand, 126 ( 58.33 per cent) women are found in a total of 216 head librarians who have served in that capacity for eleven years. Percentages for the other periods of service may readily be determined from inspecting the table. TABLE 5 APPROXIMATE A GES OF THE HEAD LIBRARIANS Ages of Number of P er Cent of Number of Per Cent of Total Number the H ead Male Head Male Head F em ale Head F emale Head of H ead Librarians Librarians Librarians Librarians Librarians Libraria ns 20-30 yrs. 8 72.73 3 27.27 11 31-40 yrs. 57 77.03 17 22.97 74 41-50 yrs . 76 55.88 60 44.12 136 50+ yrs. 60 31.58 130 68.42 190 No Answer 0 3 3 TOTAL 201 48.55 213 51.45 414 How Many Men? How Many Women? I 45 From an inspection of Table 5, it would seem that men become heads of college libraries at a younger age than do women, since the number and per- centage of women who are head li- brarians rises sharply after they reach forty years of age. It was noted earlier that women tend to remain in a position for longer periods than men. Thus, it may be true that some women inherit the job of head li- brarian by virtue of a combination of capability and seniority rather than by actively seeking the position. It seems to be well known in the li- brary profession that if one wishes to become a supervisory or administrative librarian more quickly than might other- wise be the case, he must move. Thus, since women apparently do not change jobs as often as men, they do not be- come heads of libraries as quickly as men. Table 6 is a more detailed presenta- tion of the data. In this table, the re- spondents are grouped: ( 1) by the total length of time that they have been col- lege head librarians, ( 2) by approximate ages, and ( 3) by sex. In almost every age group there is a steady rise in the percentage of women head librarians; however, the correlation between men and wo:r;nen does not ap- pear to be a perfect -1.00. For instance, in the 16+ years group, the percentage of men head librarians is 50 per cent, whereas in the 50+ years group, the per- centage drops to 32.1 per cent. It is true that there is a great deal of difference in the actual numbers of head librar- TABLE 6 NUMBER AND PER CENT OF HEAD LmRARIANS WHEN GROUPED BY ToTAL LENGTH OF TIME SERVED As HEAD LmRARIAN, SEx, AND AGE Total Length of Time as Head Librarians ( Yrs.) 1-5 6-10 ll-15 16+ No Answer Total Ages of the Head Librarians 20-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 50+ years Total 20-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 50+ years Total 20-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 50+ years Total 20-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 50+ years Total Number of Per Cent of Male Head Male Head Librarians Librarians 7 70.0 28 73.6 19 47.5 5 27.8 59 0 00.0 25 86.2 17 63.0 8 29.7 50 0 00.0 4 66.7 26 61.9 13 41.9 43 0 00.0 0 00.0 13 50.0 35 32.1 48 1 201 Number of Per Cent of Total Number Female Head Female Head of Head Librarians Librarians Librarians 3 30.0 10 10 26.4 38 21 59.5 40 13 62.2 18 47 106 0 00.0 0 4 23.8 29 10 37.0 27 19 70.3 27 33 83 0 00.0 0 2 33.3 6 16 39.1 42 18 58.1 31 36 79 0 00.0 0 0 00.0 0 13 50.0 26 74 67.9 109 87 135 10 II 213 414 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I . 46 I College & Research Librari f3.s • January, 1967 TABLE 7 REsPONSES FRoM MEN AND WoMEN HEAD LIBRARIANS AccoRDING To THE LOCATION OF THE COLLEGE Accrediting Number of P er Cent of Body of the Male Head Male Head College Librarian s Libra rians North Central 87 52.09 Southern 52 45.61 Middle States 32 45.07 New England 14 53.85 Northwest 9 50.00 Western 7 38.89 TOTAL 201 48.55 ians in the two age groups, but never- theless the drop in percentage seems to be a sharp one. What happens to these men? Do they tend to retire earlier than women? Do some of them leave college libraries to become associated with university li- braries? Presumably, the life span of men and women engaged in library work does not vary from the national norm ; therefore, is it possible that this is the cause for the lowered percentage of m en in this age bracket? These are in- teresting questions, but these data can- not answer them. In most age groups, however, within the four total length-of-service divisions of the table, there is a drop in the per- centage of men who are librarians, which, as was mentioned previously, may indicate that men become head li- brarians at earlier ages than women. It is also interesting to note the curve that is formed by the "Total Length of Time as Head Librarian" groups. The 1-5 years group includes 106 head li- brarians; the 6-10 years group includes 83 head librarians; the 11-15 years group includes 79 head librarians; and the 16+ years group includes 135 of the total of 414 head librarians. The punched cards representing each Number of Per Cent of Total Number F emale Head Female H ead of H ead L ibraria n s Librarians Librarians 80 47.91 167 62 54.39 114 39 54.93 71 12 46.15 26 9 50.00 18 11 61.11 18 213 51.45 414 college were coded according to type, size, and regional accrediting body. Therefore, when it was decided to de- termine the number of the respondents reporting from various geographical lo- cations, it was a simple matter to do so. Table 7 contains this information. Because of t4e wide range in numbers (although the percentage of returns ac- cording to regional accrediting associa- tions did not vary excessively ), it is dif- ficult to make assumptions from these data. One observation that might be made is that since the South has many of the smaller private colleges, and since women are more likely to be head li- brarians in such colleges, this might account for the higher percentage of women in this group. No attempt will be made, however, to explain the differ- ence in the percentages of men and women head librarians in the New Eng- land and Middle States, respectively, other than to say that, perhaps, the num- ber of respondents may not be large enough to present a true picture. Since one of the more important du- ties of a head librarian is getting an ap- propriation large enough so that a "qual- ity" library may be provided to aid the college in achieving its educational ob- jectives, the respondents were also . How Many Men? How Many Women? I 47 grouped according to the percentages of the institutional budgets which were allotted to their libraries. It would .appear that the ladies are slightly better at getting the money than are the men. One hundred and twenty- seven ( 53.37 per cent) of the 238 col- leges which report receiving over 4 per cent of the institutional budget are headed by women. Conversely, 87 (56.86 per cent) of the 153 colleges which re- ceive less than 4 per cent of the total college budget are headed by men. On the other hand, twenty of the women did not know, or did not have access to information concer11ing the amount of the college budget; whereas, only three men lacked this information. Some of the more obvious generaliza- tions, which according to the data ap- pear to have a factual basis are sum- marized below: 1. There are opportunities for admin- istration minded people of either sex in librarianship. Responses to 660 question- naires totaled 414. Of this number, 201 ( 48.55 per cent) of the head librarians were men and 213 ( 51.45 per cent) were women. 2. Men are more likely to be head li- brarians of publicly supported colleges. Even though the percentage of head li- brarians of colleges is nearly equal, men are more likely to be head librarians of tax-supported colleges. There .are 143 head librarians in the study that are as- sociated with these institutions, and 82 (57.34 per cent) of this number are men. 3. Men are more likely to be head li- brarians of larger colleges. Included in this study are 114 head librarians as- sociated with colleges having enroll- ments ranging from 1,500 to 5,000 stu- dents. Of these librarians, 72 ( 63.16 per cent) are men. The percentage of men head librarians decreases as the enroll- ments of the colleges decrease. 4. Women head librarians tend to change positions less often than men. Of 173 head librarians, who had been in their present positions for over ten years, 112 ( 64.80 per cent) were women. Of the 82 librarians, who had been in their present positions for over sixteen years, 60 (73.17 per cent) were women. 5. Men tend to become head librar- ians at an earlier age than women. Of the 85 librarians in the study who are under forty years of age, 65 ( 76.46 per cent) are men. If the age limit is raised to fifty, of 221 head librarians who range from twenty to fifty years of age, 141 ( 63.80 per cent) are men. 6. Women appear equally as capable~ as if not more capable than~ men in get- ting funds for the library. Two hundred and forty colleges reported receiving over 4 per cent of the institutional budg- TABLE 8 PER CENT OF INSTITUTIONAL BUDGETS ALLOTTED TO THE LIBRARIES Per Cent of Number of Per Cent of Number of Per Cent of Total Number Institutional Male Head Male Head Female Head Female Head of Head Budget Librarians Librarians Librarians Librarians Librarians Under 2 per cent 9 60.00 6 40.00 15 2-4 per cent . 78 56.52 60 43.48 138 4-6 per cent . 92 45.87 109 54.13 201 Over 6 per cent . 19 51.35 18 48.65 37 No Answer 3 20 23 TOTAL 201 48.55 213 51.45 414 I~ 48 I College & Research Librari-es· January, 1967 et as the library appropriation, and of this number 127 ( 52.92 per cent) were colleges which had libraries headed by women. This is a very small difference, but it does raise the question: Are women more adept at getting library ap- propriations than men? Equally impor- tant, however, is the fact that 153 ( 36.96 per cent) of the 414 college libraries re- ceive less than 4 per cent of the institu- tional budget for the library and that 23 ( 5.5 per cent) of the respondents cannot ascertain the amount of the in- stitutional budget. Perhaps the chief value of this report lies in its indication that there are op- portunities for both men and women, who want to be administrators, to be appointed as head librarians of colleges in the United States. • •