Retention of Women Faculty

1. Retention of Women Faculty Strategies and Tactics for Retention to Improve Diversity and Excellence (STRIDE) Meera Chandrasekhar, Committee Chair, Department of Physics MIZZOU ADVANCE, University of Missouri, Columbia This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. 0618977. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

2. MIZZOU ADVANCE Programs • STRIDE • Mentoring Program • Interactive Theatre • Research

3. STRIDE Members Lex Akers, College of Engineering Nancy Flournoy, Statistics John Gahl, Chemical Engineering Noah Manring, Electrical and Computer Engineering Kathy Newton, Biological Sciences Silvia Jurisson, Chemistry Marc Linit, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Bruce McClure, Biochemistry Jerry Taylor, Animal Science Former Members: Karen Cone, Biological Sciences Michael Devaney, Electrical and Computer Engineering STRIDE is a committee of 10 senior MU professors, working within the NSF-funded Mizzou ADVANCE Program Meera Chandrasekhar, Physics, Committee Chair Jackie Litt, Women’s and Gender Studies, Project PI Jackie Litt, Kathy Newton, Noah Manringand John Gahl not in picture

4. STRIDE Goals • Raise awareness about changing MU culture to promote advancement of STEM faculty… without regard to gender • STRIDE will: • Educate faculty, administrators, and promotion and tenure (P&T) committees about unconscious bias and other practices that impede women's advancement • Identify specific departmental- and college-level policies and practices that may affect the advancement of women and other underrepresented groups • Identify best practices and policies that can lead toward sustainability of successful interventions

5. STRIDE accomplishments 2007- present • Members have educated themselves on issues related to women in the academy • The committee has developed three presentations: • Retention, promotion and success of tenured and senior faculty: barriers and recommendations • Recruitment of new female faculty: ideas that will help search committees and departments • Examination of departmental policies on promotion and tenure that will maximize probability of faculty success STRIDE is based on the U of Michigan model

6. Presentation Attendees • Department Chairs of 17 STEM departments in the colleges of Arts & Science, Engineering and Agriculture & Natural Resources • Deans, Associate Deans, Division Directors • Promotion and tenure committees of three colleges and campus

7. Source: National Science Foundation, 2003

8. Lack of Women Faculty means... • Fewer points of view • Less diverse approaches to science and engineering • Fewer women role models for all students • Under-utilization of a national resource

9. Barriers and Impacts • Climate - Institutional and departmental • Professional assessment and rewards • Work-family balance • Absence of women has multiple impacts on: • Climate and isolation • Ability to provide mentoring that is supportive of diversity • Role of unconscious gender perceptions in faculty assessment and reward structures • Service demands imposed on women faculty • Creation of family-friendly institutional cultures in departments/colleges

10. Climate • A favorable climate contributes to faculty success • Strong mentors and collaborators • Clarity of promotion process and expectations • Supportive and transparent chair • An unfavorable climate differentially affects minority groups, such as women • Faculty isolation, lack of critical mass • Opaque procedures and policies • Non-supportive chair • Skewed evaluation

11. Gender Schemas • Gender schemas often contribute to skewed evaluations • Schemas are expectations or stereotypes that define “average” members of a group • Guide perceptions and behaviors • Influence group members’ judgments about themselves and others

12. Schemas are... • Widely culturally shared • Both men and women have same schemas about gender • People often unaware of schemas • Applied more under circumstances of:Ambiguity or lack of information …stress from competing tasks …time pressure …lack of critical mass • Four examples from the literature: • Blind auditions • Evaluation of resumes • Evaluation of postdoctoral fellowship applications • Letters of recommendation Fiske (2002) Current Directions in Psychological Science. 11:123-128

13. Gender Schemas Affect Evaluation Blind Auditions When musicians auditioned behind a screen … … the proportion of females hired for orchestral jobs increased significantly. Evaluation of CVs When evaluating identical application packages … … male and female university psychology professors preferred 2:1 to hire “Brian” over “Sarah.” Brian Sarah

14. Fellowships at the Swedish Medical Research Council : women had to be 2.5 times more productive to receive the same reviewer rating as the average male applicant. Letters of recommendation for successfulfaculty candidates in a medical school differed in ways that reflected gender schemas……Letters for women were shorter, had more references to personal life and more irrelevancies, faint praise, and hedges ..Letters for men were longer, had more references to CV, publications, patients and colleagues

15. Unintended Impact of Schemas • Systematically skew evaluations for members of both groups • Accumulation of very small differences in treatment lead to major consequences in salary, promotion, and prestige Cole & Singer. 1991. In Zuckerman, Cole, and Bruer, eds., The Outer Circle: Women in the Scientific Community. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

16. What’s the Solution? Improve evaluation processes Encourage and reward excellence Improve climate

17. Improve Evaluation Processes • Be aware of gender bias and its effects on evaluation and workload assignment • Ensure equitable distribution of teaching, service and advising responsibilities • Develop and implement specific criteria for tenure and promotion • Make sure all policies and processes are transparent • Include flexible family-friendly options • Provide annual feedback on progress

18. Encourage and Reward Excellence • Provide opportunities for women faculty to excel as scientists and leaders • Encourage research or development leaves • Offer opportunities for leadership training • Nominate women for leadership positions • Encourage effort, reward achievement

19. Improve Climate • Promote scientific and social interaction • Include women in academic life and decision-making • Promote peer mentoring • Ensure that every faculty member has a mentor • Build “virtual” critical mass through cross-departmental mentoring • Institute policies that provide employment for dual-career couples

20. Conclusions • It is important for women and other responsible stakeholders to be educated about the literature on gender issues. • When women’s issues are addressed, institutional climate is improved, and women and men gain. • Changes are not the responsibility of just the women, or even their immediate superiors, but of all senior members in the institution. mizzouadvance.missouri.edu