S cience and T echnology Recruiting to I mprove D iversity and E xcellence (STRIDE)

Mission Statement "The STRIDE committee provides information and advice about practices that will maximize the likelihood that well- qualified female and minority candidates for faculty positions will be identified, and, if selected for offers, recruited, retained, and promoted at the University of Michigan. The committee works with departments by meeting with chairs, faculty search committees, and other departmental leaders involved with recruitment and retention."

The STRIDE Committee and What They Learned John Vandermeer, Samuel Mukasa, Pamela Raymond, Carol Fierke, Anthony England Michael Savageau, Martha Pollack, Abigail Stewart, Melvin Hochster

Five Myths and Partial Truths

Myths and Partial Truths #1 There just aren’t enough female Ph.D.’s – the problem is the pipeline True, but only in some disciplines…the proportion of female faculty in science and engineering overall is much smaller than the proportion of female Ph.D.’s

* Source: NSF Report on Women, Minorities, and Persons With Disabilities in Science and Engineering, 2000

SOURCE: National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Studies, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Science and engineering total Physical sciences Earth, atmospheric and ocean sciences Math Computer science Agricultural sciences Biological sciences PsychologySocial sciences Engineering Percent Pipeline Leakage: Women as a Percentage of Science and Engineering Graduate Students, by Field in 1980 and 1997

** Source: UM CEW Report, 1996

Progress has been especially slow at the highest ranks, which hold the most faculty

Why This Problem Matters  Faculty demographics that differ significantly from student demographics carry implicit and unwelcome messages that discourage women from entering the academy. Unhappy women faculty further exacerbate this effect. FairnessLegitimacy Quality  We claim to be a meritocracy but when we fail to recognize women’s talents and energies we are practicing another form of inherited privilege.  Denying the talents and energies of half our population negatively affects the potential quality of our future faculty.

Discrimination is only practiced by a small set of ignorant people. False! Research shows that everyone — males and females alike — perceive and treat women differently from men. Myths and Partial Truths #2

How It Happens Virginia Valian (CUNY) speaking at Rice University, March 2000* **  video: gender schemas video: gender schemas video: gender schemas  video: fellowship applications*** video: fellowship applications video: fellowship applications * Webcast : ** Based on findings reported in her book: Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women. Boston: MIT Press, *** See also Wenneras, C. & Wold, A. (1997). “Nepotism and sexism in peer-review.” Nature, 387,

The problems will all be solved if we just recruit more women. False… although we must recruit more female faculty to increase the numbers, we also need to be concerned with retention to avoid continued leakage in the pipeline. Myths and Partial Truths #3

Since many of the problems encountered by female faculty are minor, this emphasis on remedies to improve retention of women is an over-reaction. Myths and Partial Truths #4 False... over time, small disadvantages accumulate into significant ones that have large impacts on career success and satisfaction.

Accumulation of advantage and disadvantage “Like interest on capital, advantages accrue. Like interest on debt, disadvantages also accumulate. Very small differences in treatment can, as they pile up, result in large disparities in salary, promotion, and prestige.”(Valian, 1999) “Like interest on capital, advantages accrue. Like interest on debt, disadvantages also accumulate. Very small differences in treatment can, as they pile up, result in large disparities in salary, promotion, and prestige.” (Valian, 1999)  video: mountains out of molehills video: mountains out of molehills video: mountains out of molehills

These data give us a better understanding and an explanation of ‘How it Happens’ Evaluation bias Lack of Critical Mass Gender schemas Accumulation of disadvantage

Career success Performance We believe the academy functions as a meritocracy based on peer review

Lowered career success rate Gender schemas Lack of critical mass Accumulation of disadvantage Evaluation bias Performance is underestimated

There’s nothing I or my department can do about the under-representation of women in the science and engineering faculty. False! There are lots of steps you can take to increase the likelihood of successfully recruiting and retaining highly qualified women. Myths and Partial Truths #5

Some Solutions — Search Committee Practices (1)* Recruitment Personal contacts with potential candidatesPersonal contacts with potential candidates groups of women in the field groups of women in the field Job postings targeted at women and minoritiesJob postings targeted at women and minorities  Active recruiting for a diverse applicant pool  Think about implications of position description  Discuss potential role of evaluation bias * This presentation includes only a subset of the strategies described in the Faculty Recruitment Handbook.

Some Solutions – Search Committee Practices (2)  Widen the range of institutions from which the top candidates are selected  Consider women and minorities who are ‘underplaced’ (at lower-ranked institutions)  Revisit applicant pool if no women or minorities are on the final short list  Make multiple short lists using multiple criteria of quality (research grants, publication impact, teaching)

Some Solutions — Visits (1) Campus Visits  Interview more than one woman (Research shows that a woman is much more likely to be selected as the top candidate if she is not the only woman interviewed.)  Invite women for informal visits (seminar presentations) before officially recruiting them  Address climate issues in the department prior to recruitment

Some Solutions — Visits (2)  Don’t let dual career issues eliminate a good candidate  Recruit women as scientists, not as “women”  Provide an opportunity for women to talk to another woman — but not the search committee — about gender and climate issues Campus Visits

Some Retention Strategies (1)  Develop transparent policies and promotion criteria  Reach critical mass (break the ‘evaluation bias-gender schema loop’)  Support collaborations among women scientists/engineers across departments at UM, and nationally/internationally  Improve mentoring of women faculty

Some Retention Strategies (2)  Encourage inclusion of women in the academic life and decision-making of the department  Recognize and compensate women’s extra service The UM Climate Survey found that women faculty serve on more committees than men but do not chair more; women’s higher rate of service is not rewarded with a similar rate of opportunity for leadership.

Some Retention Strategies (3) The ADVANCE 2001 climate survey revealed high rates (41% and 20%, respectively, in last 5 years) among women science and engineering faculty at UM  Ensure that faculty, students and staff know how to recognize and discourage gender discrimination and sexual harassment

Appoint Women to Leadership Roles  Consider making senior hires - identify female candidates who may currently be underplaced (resources to assist can be requested from your Dean and from the Provost’s Office)  Invite women to chair important committees and provide women with academic leadership positions

UM Resources – College Level College of Engineering  Dean’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Female Faculty College of Literature, Sciences, and the Arts  Discretionary Budget for ADVANCE in Dean’s Office  Dual Career Support Program in Dean’s Office School of Medicine  Sponsors participation of women faculty in Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM)

University Resources  Discretionary funds to assist in diversifying the faculty  Dual career program  Can provide specific pipeline and other data for disciplines  Available for consultation on climate and retention Provost’s Faculty Initiative Program (PFIP) ADVANCE

We Are Available to:  Advise chairs on search committee composition and search practices  Work with search committees throughout the process  Contact us via or