Transcript Faculty Career Flexibility: A Primer for Those Considering

Kate Quinn, PhD
Upper Midwest HERC/MnCUPA-HR
Spring 2013 Conference
Overview
 Examples of flexible policy options
 Why flexible policies are needed
 Why the devil is in the policy details
 Examples of key details
 Examining policy details: Internal and external
benchmarking
 Translating the details into best practices
 Resources for creating career flexibility on
campus
Policies, Programs, Supports:
For Anyone
 Paid leave for caregiving
 Childcare, parent support groups, referral
services
 Eldercare support groups, resources, and
referral services
 Other care (spousal, sibling, etc.) support
groups, resources, and referral services
 Retirement transition supports and resources
Policies, Programs, Supports:
For Faculty
 Tenure Clock Extension
 Part-time Tenure
 Active Service Modified Duties
 Dual Career Hiring
 Housing Assistance
 Phased Retirement
Policies, Programs, Supports:
For Staff
 Flex-time
 Compressed Workweek
 Telecommuting
 Part-time and Job-share
 Shared Leave
Two Studies
 Tomorrow’s Physician (APSA)
 The Work-Life Balance Experiences of
Administrators in the Academy (Dr. Wilk)
Tomorrow’s Physician
 American Physician Scientists Association
 Explores experiences, perceptions, and
predicted experiences in medical training
and careers
 5 medical schools
 1103 responses, 37.8% response rate
 Focusing on 845 indicating “education” for
career intention
Obstacle
Pred. Exp.
Balancing family and work responsibilities
84.7%
37.4%
Balancing clinical, research, and education
61.7%
25.2%
Not finding position in desired location
44.5%
5.2%
Loan repayment
37.3%
15.6%
Lack of opportunity/funding
29.8%
13.9%
Under-compensation
28.5%
7.0%
Satisfactory professional advancement
26.8%
8.8%
Malpractice/lawsuit
24.0%
0.4%
Discrimination/biases against gender/ethnicity
12.5%
6.2%
1.3%
1.1%
Sexual harassment
Listwise N = 845
Top Three Factors in Career Selection
Ability to balance work and personal life
Opportunities for patient care
Opportunities to teach
Financial security
Opportunities for research
Opportunities for community service
Opportunities for international work
Autonomy
Opportunities for interactions with students
Prestige
Opportunities for travel
Opportunities for national work
Opportunities for local work
Other
Listwise N = 845
72.3%
69.4%
36.3%
35.2%
33.9%
18.7%
14.6%
14.2%
12.3%
6.8%
6.6%
2.1%
1.8%
1.2%
Work-Life Balance for Administrators
in the Academy: Under Ideal Worker
Pressure
 Dissertation of Kelly E. Wilk (2013)
 Qualitative study
 Interviews with 32 administrators across one
campus
 The campus had one work-life benefit: an
employee assistance hotline
Work-Life Challenges for Staff
 Half of all participants reported that they
experienced difficulty balancing their
personal and professional lives
 Student Affairs: most likely to report trouble
balancing their work and non-work
responsibilities (11 of 14)
 “There’s an expectation that you’ll work
harder because you don’t have kids or a
husband.”
Staff Work-Life by Gender
Administrators with Self-Rated Good to Excellent Work-Life
Balance
Men, 78%
Women, 43%
Administrators Under Age 40 with Young Children Who
Report Poor Work-Life Balance
Men, 25%
0%
20%
Women, 80%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Staff Policy Desires
 94% desired formal work-life balance
policies (30 out of 32 interviewed).
 Administrators reported difficulty managing
work and life commitments and they
wanted organizational support to help them
do so.
 Telecommuting (53%)
 Flexible Hours (41%)
 On-Campus Childcare (34%)
 Eldercare (16%)
The Big Picture for Staff
Administrators shared many reasons why they
felt such policies were important and several
confided that the ability to work flexibly was
simply something that they expected from
their employer in today’s mobile society.
--Kelly E. Wilk, PhD
Flexible Policies Are Needed…
 They need to be inclusive of various work-
life needs
 They need to be inclusive of all employee
types
 They need to be inclusive across the lifeand career- course
The Devil Is in the Details
 If no one is eligible to use a policy, does it
really exist?
 If everyone is eligible to use a policy that
meets no ones needs, is this any better?
 If using a policy might hurt a career more
than not using it, how many people will risk
using it?
 If a policy excludes half your employees and
sabotages morale, does it help your campus?
Details
 Who is eligible? Who is excluded?
 What circumstances are included/excluded?
 Are there limitations to utilization?
 Who approves utilization requests?
 What impact does policy use have on career
outcomes?
 Who monitors utilization and impacts?
 How is the option funded?
Eligibility
“Tenure-line faculty who give birth during
their normal 9 month contract after a period
of at least 2 years of regular employment ….”
Eligibility Details
 Open to men and women?
 Biological parents, or all care-givers?
 Early career, mid-career, late-career?
 All employees, or select tiers?
 Restricted to certain circumstances or
flexible?
Limitations
“…have 12 months from the birth event to
formally request a tenure clock extension.
Faculty may request one additional year on
the tenure clock per birth event, up to a
maximum of two additional years.”
Limitation Details
 Is there a maximum number of occurrences?
 Is there a maximum length of
occurrence(s)?
 Are there restrictions to when or how
occurrences can happen?
The Request Process
“Within 12 months of the birth, faculty must
submit a written request to the department
chair, who will submit a request to the dean
of the college, who submits a request to
Academic HR, with the final decision resting
with the Provost.”
Details of the Request Process
 How intimidating/burdensome is the
request process?
 How many “gate-keepers” are involved?
 Is policy use an entitlement or negotiable?
 Does the process make flexibility part of the
standard business practice or a special
accommodation?
Faculty Evaluation
“Faculty who receive tenure clock extensions
for childbearing will be evaluated for tenure
by the same standards as other faculty,
without consideration of the extra year.”
Details of Faculty Evaluation
 Does changing the clock increase
productivity expectations?
 Are review committees provided guidelines
for how to evaluate faculty who used flexible
policy options?
 What safeguards exist to ensure that policy
use does not hinder faculty careers?
Tracking Policy Utilization
 Need data to conduct policy analysis,
recognize trends, recommend changes, etc.
 Do policy users all come from one
department/college?
 Is utilization increasing?
 Are career outcomes different for faculty
who use policies and faculty who don’t?
 Are resources being efficiently allocated?
Funding
 How are policies funded?
 Centrally?
 At the college level?
 The department level?
 Fewer faculty tend to use policies if it will be
a hardship on the department
 Central funding signals institutional
commitment
The Details in Action
 Internal assessments, with benchmarks for
improvement over time
 External benchmarking to peers
Internal Assessments
 Who uses policies, for what reasons, and
what are the career outcomes?
 Are policies and programs effectively
supporting faculty/staff?
 Is availability and utilization consistent
across campus?
 What is the “ROI”?
 What improvements are needed?
External Comparisons
 Are policies and programs competitive with
those offered at other schools?
 How does utilization compare to other
schools?
 What improvements are needed?
Why Details Are Important
 Policy availability ≠ utilization
 Wait lists don’t always measure demand
 Context matters
 “Suites” of policies and programs most
effective
Two Examples
 Flexible Policy Options
 Paid Family Leave
Flexible Policy Options
 Do flexible options exist formally or informally, or
are they under development
 Who is eligible and under what circumstances
 Are there limitations on policy utilization (total
number of terms, years, etc.)
 How are the options communicated and funded
 Is utilization tracked and who has usage statistics
 Are there written guidelines for how employees are
evaluated after policy use
Paid Family Leave
 Are paid options available or under development
 Is paid family leave separate from paid sick leave,
even for birth mothers
 Who is eligible and under what circumstances
 Are there limitations on policy utilization
 If paid leave is accrued – at what rate
 If paid leave is not accrued – what amount is
available
 How are the options communicated and funded
 Is utilization tracked and who has usage statistics
Best Practices
 Inclusive policies and programs
 Support across the life- and career-course
 Leadership from the top – visible support
 Flexibility is part of the strategic plan
 Intentional and consistent communication
 Training for chairs/supervisors, committees
 Utilization of policies monitored/assessed
 Improvements made as needed
Resources
 Establishing a Family-Friendly Campus:
Insights on Success. J. Lester & M. Sallee,
Eds. Stylus Publishing (2009)
 Tenure-Track Faculty Job Satisfaction
Survey© – Collaborative on Academic
Careers in Higher Education (COACHE)
 College and University Work-Family
Association (CUWFA)
 National and Regional HERCs
Resources (cont.)
 Kate Quinn. (2010). Tenure Clock Extension
Policies: Who uses them and to what effect?
Journal about Women in Higher Education, 3(1),
182-206.
 Kelly E. Wilk, PhD
Seton Hall University
[email protected]
(609) 313-4147
 Flexible Faculty Careers Award – American
Council on Education and the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation
For Additional Information
Kate Quinn, PhD
[email protected]
703.574.3746
Skype: kate.quinn.phd