Lessons from a Female Academician: Some Further Reflections on a Glass Ceiling

Rehfeldt (2018) wrote a personal story about her climb up the academic ladder. She shares the bumps she hit as a woman in behavior analysis.

The paper gives advice to new female professors. It is not a research study with numbers. It is a mentor talking to you over coffee.

The author found that hidden rules can stall women’s careers. She calls this the glass ceiling.

She lists fixes: find mentors, speak up, and share your story so others know they are not alone.

Li et al. (2019) extends this tale by adding hard data. Their survey shows women ABA faculty earn 6–15 % less than men at every rank. The numbers back up the ceiling Rehfeldt felt.

Sundberg et al. (2019) also extends the advice. They describe WIBA, a yearly conference built to give women the very mentorship Rehfeldt urges.

Together, the three papers form a ladder: Rehfeldt names the problem, Li proves it with pay data, and Sundberg offers a place to fix it.

If you advise female students or supervise new BCBAs, pass these papers along. Share the pay-gap numbers when you sit on hiring committees. Bring mentees to WIBA or create a local circle. One hour of your time can shorten someone else’s ten-year climb.