An analytical solution for approximating simple structure in factor analysis

It is proposed that a satisfactory criterion for an approximation to simple structure is the minimization of the sums of cross-products (across factors) ofsquares of factor loadings. This criterion is completely analytical and yields a unique solution; it requires no plotting, nor any decisions as to the clustering of variables into subgroups. The equations involved appear to be capable only of iterative solution; for more than three or four factors the computations become extremely laborious but may be feasible for high-speed electronic equipment. Either orthogonal or oblique solutions may be achieved. For illustrations, the Johnson-Reynolds study of flow and selection factors and the Thurstone box problem are reanalyzed. The presence of factorially complex tests produces a type of hyperplanar fit which the investigator may desire to adjust by graphical rotations; the smaller the number of such tests, the closer the criterion comes to approximating simple structure.     

In Search of Token Women in Academia

Women faculty in predominantly male departments at a large university were interviewed and responded to paper-and-pencil instruments in a test of Laws' analysis of the necessity for the „token women” adaptation to their marginality for success in academia. By multiple criteria, three clusters were identified: (a) token women, who accepted academia as a meritocracy, were aware of little sex discrimination and belonged to no feminist group; (b) non-token women, who disagreed with academia as a meritocracy and were aware of sex discrimination; and (c) women with mixed or moderate orientations. (Membership in feminist groups was found in the latter two clusters.) Women in the three clusters did not differ significantly by academic rank or marital status and only marginally by age and longevity in academia. As predicted, however, they did differ by tenure status. Contrary to Laws' analysis, token women were not more likely to have had a sponsor, which was significantly related only to rank. Women in the three clusters were equally accurate in recognizing male-female status discrepancies. Their differing definitions of sex discrimination were revealed in differential bias when choosing among alternatives of indeterminate correctness. Token women minimized such discrepancies, in line with beliefs attributing them to women, rather than the system. Others maximized such discrepancies.
The university faculty has traditionally been a man's world, except in those fast-disappearing enclaves considered „women's fields” (e.g., home economics). Today, faculty women are tallied on affirmative action reports in columns for persons with „minority characteristics.”