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Science and Technology
Recruiting to Improve
Diversity and Excellence
(STRIDE)
Mission Statement
"The STRIDE committee provides
information and advice about practices
that will maximize the likelihood that wellqualified 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
National Percentages of
Female Faculty in the Social Sciences,
Sciences, and Engineering: 1987-1997*
50
40
1987
30
1997
20
10
So
in
ee
rin
g
nc
es
Sc
ie
En
g
ci
a
lS
ci
e
nc
es
0
* Source: NSF
Report on
Women,
Minorities, and
Persons With
Disabilities in
Science and
Engineering,
2000
Pipeline Leakage: Women as a Percentage of
Science and Engineering Graduate Students,
by Field in 1980 and 1997
Percent
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Science and
engineering
total
Earth,
Physical
Math
sciences atmospheric
and ocean
sciences
Computer Agricultural Biological Psychology Social Engineering
science
sciences sciences
sciences
SOURCE: National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Studies,
Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
Percent of Female Faculty in the Social Sciences,
Sciences and Engineering at University of Michigan:
1980, 1990, and 1995*
50
1980
1990
1995
40
30
20
10
0
Social
Sciences
Sciences
Engineering
Progress has been especially slow at the
highest ranks, which hold the most faculty
Percent of UM Instructional Track Faculty in
Engineering, LSA Science Departments, and
Medicine Who are Women, by Rank, 2000-01
50
Assistant
40
Associate
Full
30
20
10
0
Medicine
LSA Sciences Engineering
T a u lb e e D a ta o n C S /C E P ro d u c tio n a n d H irin g
% P hD 's awarded
P ercent Wom en
30
% Hired to Tenure Trac k
% A sst P rofessor
% A ssoc P rofessor
20
% P rofessor
10
0
93-94
94-95
95-96
96-97
97-98
Year
98-99
99-00
00-01
UM
Why This Problem Matters
Fairness

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.
Legitimacy

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.
Quality

Denying the talents and energies of half our population
negatively affects the potential quality of our future
faculty.
Myths and Partial Truths #2
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.
How It Happens
Virginia Valian (CUNY) speaking at Rice
University, March 2000* **
 video: gender schemas
 video: fellowship applications***
*
**
Webcast : www.rice.edu/webcast/speeches/20010329valian.html
Based on findings reported in her book: Why So Slow: The
Advancement of Women. Boston: MIT Press, 1999.
*** See also Wenneras, C. & Wold, A. (1997).
peer-review.” Nature, 387, 341-343.
“Nepotism and sexism in
Myths and Partial Truths #3
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 #4
Since many of the problems encountered
by female faculty are minor, this emphasis
on remedies to improve retention of
women is an over-reaction.
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)

video: mountains out of molehills
These data give us a better
understanding and an explanation of
‘How it Happens’
Lack of Critical Mass
Gender schemas
Evaluation bias
Accumulation of disadvantage
We believe the academy functions as
a meritocracy based on peer review
Career success
Performance
Lowered career success rate
Accumulation of disadvantage
Performance is underestimated
Gender
schemas
Evaluation
bias
Lack of
critical mass
Myths and Partial Truths #5
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.
Some Solutions — Search
Committee Practices (1)*
Recruitment
 Discuss potential role of evaluation bias
 Think about implications of position description
 Active recruiting for a diverse applicant pool
•
Email groups of women in the field
•
Job postings targeted at women and minorities
•
Personal contacts with potential candidates
* This presentation includes only a subset of the strategies
described in the Faculty Recruitment Handbook.
Some Solutions – Search
Committee Practices (2)
 Make multiple short lists using multiple criteria
of quality (research grants, publication impact,
teaching)
 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
Some Solutions — Visits (1)
Campus Visits
 Address climate issues in the department
prior to recruitment
 Invite women for informal visits (seminar
presentations) before officially recruiting them
 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.)
Some Solutions — Visits (2)
Campus Visits
 Don’t let dual career issues eliminate a good
candidate
 Provide an opportunity for women to talk to
another woman — but not the search
committee — about gender and climate issues
 Recruit women as scientists, not as
“women”
Some Retention Strategies (1)
 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
 Develop transparent policies and
promotion criteria
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)
 Ensure that faculty, students and staff know
how to recognize and discourage gender
discrimination and sexual harassment
The ADVANCE 2001 climate survey revealed
high rates (41% and 20%, respectively, in last 5
years) among women science and engineering
faculty at UM
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
Provost’s Faculty Initiative Program (PFIP)

Discretionary funds to assist in diversifying the faculty

Dual career program
http://www.umich.edu/~provost/programs/fcltinit.html
ADVANCE

Can provide specific pipeline and other data
for disciplines

Available for consultation on climate and retention
http://www.umich.edu/~advproj/
We Are Available to:
 Advise chairs on search committee
composition and search practices
 Work with search committees throughout
the process
 Contact us via [email protected]
or 647-9357