Working With Dual Career Couples: A Ten-Year Perspective

1. Working With Dual Career Couples: A Ten-Year Perspective John T. Snow Dean, College of Geosciences The University of Oklahoma

2. The Goal • Build, sustain a community of scholars who support the institutional missions of teaching, research, and outreach • Hire a diverse mix of individuals who show exceptional promise as scholars/teacher-mentors/researchers • Professionally develop • Retain • Tenure/promote Being a faculty member is not a job, it is a lifestyle

3. Dual Career Couples • Opportunity for both the institution and the couple • Institution: Obtain exceptional faculty, some of whom who might not otherwise consider applying • Couple: Obtain satisfying careers for both partners • Success depends on the couple, faculty colleagues, and the academic chain of department-college-university administrators

4. The Couple • Key to success: Both must be sufficiently accomplished that each would be a successful on an independent basis • Each case is unique! • Most consider both personal and professional goals as individuals … and as a couple • Commitment to both personal and professional success of oneself and of one’s partner • Openness and honesty, planning essential • Establish goals, make known early in the interview/hiring process

5. The Institution • Be open, flexible, creative in hiring process • Clear policies • Central administration willing to work with colleges, departments to place/retain a partner • Targeted $$$: 1/3 – 1/3 - 1/3 on salary; start-up ??? • Provide a supportive environment  flexibility at the department level • Couples happen! • Provide mentoring opportunities for own students/graduates who are couples seeking positions

6. Hiring Issues • Privacy • Institution legally bound to follow • Individuals must choose what to reveal and when • Continues throughout career • Late “revelations” • “Too Hard To Do” Cases • Both partners in same (sub-) disciplinary area • Hard to hire in small program • Partner’s research area has large start-up costs • Hiring at the senior level • Partner is a professional, but not academic • Community ties essential • “Go extra mile”

7. Key Milestones • Hire • Initial deal • Receipt of tenure/promotion • Renegotiate the initial deal • Retention • The outside offer • One • Both • “In-house” couples – numerous combinations • Rethink career plans

8. Challenges • External: Child and other family responsibilities (care of elderly parents, relatives) • Internal: Nepotism • Handling of proposals, salary increases, roles in faculty governance, administration • Credit for scholarly and research activities if couple are also research partners • Institution needs to get out in front, develop policy, educate department heads, individuals

9. Success Divergence • Salary divergence • Wrong career choice(s) • Bad fit to department, institution • Just not an “academic” • Differing expectations w/i the academic community • Failure of partner to obtain tenure • Ready to move on!  administration, government service, industry • Divorce, affairs, mid-life crises, etc…

10. Bottomline • A well-structured, well-implemented dual career couples program, coupled with a supportive institutional environment at all levels, has big payoff for individuals and for the institution • Such an environment also positive for those who are not a dual career couple • Openness, honesty are keys to success