Transcript Deliberation, Constraint and Complexity

Effective Faculty Searches
Lynn Hollen Lees
Vice Provost for Faculty
November 11, 2010
Our Goals
• Excellence
• Diversity
• Interdisciplinary scholarship
Effective Faculty Searches | # 2
Why Diversity?
• Increased talent pool
• Student support
• Better teamwork
• Equity
Effective Faculty Searches |er # 3
A Diverse Pool
Penn Standing Faculty 2009
82.5%
Population
Ph.D. Pool
Penn Faculty
12.4%
3.1%
2.0%
Effective Faculty Searches | # 4
A Diverse Pool
Penn Standing Faculty 2009
Population
74%
Ph.D. Pool
Penn Faculty
26%
Effective Faculty Searches | # 5
Comparison to peers
Penn’s Rank
Among Peers
Low to High
Range Among
Peers
Asian
Black
Hispanic
Women
11 / 18
9/ 18
16 / 18
9/18
5.6% – 12.3%
1.8% - 4.9%
0.8% - 3.3%
34.1% – 19%
(6.7points)
(3.1 points)
(2.5 points)
(15.1 points)
Data reflect only tenured and tenure-track faculty
Comparison Peers: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT,
Northwestern, Princeton, Rice, Stanford, Chicago, Rochester, Washington University, Yale
Source: Data Reported to the U.S. Department of Education
Effective Faculty Searches | # 6
Grooming Large and Diverse Pools
Active Searches
•Know the obstacles
•Network before opening search
•Use targeted outreach
•Use word of mouth
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Careful and Unbiased Evaluation
Harder than you think!
•Diffusion of responsibility
•Short cuts
•Unconscious bias
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Unconscious Schemas
Natural part of perception and evaluation
• Beliefs about people
• Beliefs about how people “ought” to be
Contributing factors
• Ambiguity
• Stress from competing tasks
• Time pressure
• Lack of critical mass
Fiske (2002). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 123-128
.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 9
Unconscious Schemas
High
Women
Warmth
Whites
Asians
Blacks
Men
Hispanics
Low
Low
High
Competence
Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu (2002). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 10
Evaluating C.V.s
Brian
Karen
University psychology
professors preferred
“Brian” over “Karen” by 2:1
Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999) Sex Roles, 41, 509.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 12
Callbacks
Black-sounding names (“Jamal”):
15 resumes = callback
White-sounding names (“Greg”):
10 resumes = callback
Equivalent to 8 extra years experience
Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) Poverty Action Lab, 3, 1-27.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 13
Letters of Recommendation
Letters for women
• Shorter
• Fewer references to c.v.
• Twice as many gender references
• More references to personal life
• Fewer standout references (“excellent”) and more
“grindstone” references (“hardworking”)
• Twice as many hedges and irrelevancies (“It’s amazing how
much she’s accomplished”)
Trix & Psenka (2003) Discourse & Society, 14(2), 191-220.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 14
Influences on Advancement
Simulated organizational hierarchy
• Start with 50-50 gender mix
• Assume 1 percent bias in promotions
After eight promotion cycles:
• Highest management level 65% male
Martell, Lane, & Emrich (1996) American Psychologist, 51, 157-158.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 15
Reducing Bias
• Reducing ambiguity
• Avoiding “solo” presence in pool
• Taking time to review applications
Dovidio & Gaertner (2000). Psychological Science, 11, 315-319.
Fiske (2002). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 123-128.
Martell (1991). Journal of Applied Soc Psychol, 21, 1939-1960.
Dasgupta & Greenwald (2001). Journal of Pers & Soc Psych, 81, 800-814.
Effective Faculty Searches | # 16
Careful and Unbiased Evaluation
• Wider accountability
• Supportive, diverse committee
• Familiarity with research on bias
• Structured, evidence-based review
• Apply consistent, objective criteria
• Evaluate entire application
• Treat recommendations with care
• Avoid over-reliance on prestige
Effective Faculty Searches | # 17
Effective Visits
• Show enthusiasm
• Offer dual-career and family-friendly policy
information
• Identify colleagues who can discuss climate for
women and minorities
• Introduce the city and region
• Stay in contact
• Be even-handed and transparent in negotiating
Effective Faculty Searches | # 18
Partner Status of Penn Faculty
Women (n=396)
Are Single
9%
Are Single
18%
Have Stay-atHome Partner
17%
Have Stay-atHome Partner
4%
Have Employed
(non-Academic)
Partner
35%
Men (n=553)
Have Academic
Partner
44%
Source: Stanford Clayman Institute 2006 Survey
Have Employed
(non-Academic)
Partner
39%
Have Academic
Partner
35%
Some Resources
• Faculty Opportunity Fund
• Benefits and Retirements Brochures
• Online Application System
• HERC
• Accompanying Spouse-Partner Program
• Relocation Assistance
• Child Care
Effective Faculty Searches | # 20
Discussion
Effective Faculty Searches | # 21
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