Best Practices for Search Committees Workshop Chadwick Allen Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement Russell F. Stark University Professor
Outline for Today 1. UW Tacoma faculty and student data 2. Brief overview of Handbook 3. Focus on Outreach 4. Focus on Bias 5. Resources for Recruitment 6. Resources for Retention
UW Tacoma Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty, 2015- 16 American Indian Did Not Complete 0.6% 3.2% Asian Black 17.1% 4.4% Hispanic 8.2% White 59.5% No Response 4.4% N=158 2+ Races 2.5% Source: UW Office of Academic Personnel
UW Tacoma Undergraduate Enrollment, Fall 2015 Did Not Indicate American Indian 4% 2% Asian American 21% White African American 43% 10% Hispanic 12% N=3813 Hawaiian Pacific Islander 2% International 5% Sources: Planning & Budgeting Database and Enterprise Data Warehouse
Handbook of Best Practices for Faculty Searches
Outreach: Practices for attracting highly qualified and diverse applicants • Initiative 200 (I-200): enacted through popular initiative in 1998 “ The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting .” Prohibits discrimination and preferential treatment during the • selec lection phase e of hiring Outr treach efforts rts to broaden pools of qualified candidates are • allowed ed and enco courage ged by the university
Allowable Outreach Practices Scouting Establish connections at professional meetings • Host a targeted reception • Offer invitations to participate in lecture or seminar • Networking Send job announcements/request nominations from institutions that serve large • numbers of historically underrepresented populations Send announcements to diversity-related sections of professional organizations • Take advantage of social media • Invite junior colleagues who may be under-placed and thriving •
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants Job ads are the sum of several discrete but related parts. Job ads should be closely linked to your assessment rubric.
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants 1. Position Description – include a commitment to diversity and inclusion Department of Health Services, Chair and Professor “We seek an individual demonstrating dedication to excellence in teaching, and research programs, as well as a strong commitment to public health practice and to engagement with communities and policy makers; to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusiveness. Strong management and administrative skills, combined with a vision for the future of Health Services and a sense of mission for the department are also needs and a sincere commitment to promoting diversity as evidenced by prior successful and innovative measures.”
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants 2. Unit Description – describe the unit as a place that values diversity and diversity-related work on multiple levels School of Social Work, Assistant Professor “Our School’s social justice mission leads us to invest in recruiting colleagues who in their scholarship, teaching, and service demonstrate experience with, knowledge of, and sensitivity to the needs of culturally diverse and oppressed populations. As a program with a core mission of social justice and a deeply diverse student body, successful candidates will have a demonstrated commitment to work with marginalized communities and with students holding a range of worldviews.”
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants 3. University Description – UW’s broader commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion Department of Psychosocial and Community Health, Professor and Chair “In accord with the University’s expressed commitment to excellence and equity, contributions in scholarship and research, teaching, and service that address diversity and equal opportunity may be included among the professional and scholarly qualifications for appointment and promotion. Seattle is a culturally diverse urban center. It also has growing racial, ethnic and immigrant communities. The University of Washington is committed to building a diverse faculty, staff, and student body and is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.”
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants 4. Description of Potential Allies – faculty, interdisciplinary research centers, or outreach programs identified across the campuses Department American Indian Studies, Assistant Professor “The department faculty represents a range of disciplines and approaches their teaching and research from a decolonized, community-based and global perspective. The search is open to candidates in relevant fields, including but not limited to Biology, Forestry, Fisheries, Marine Sciences, Botany, Environmental Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Anthropology, and Geography. This is one of three new positions at the University of Washington to address environmental equity and justice, indigenous environmental and sustainability studies, and diversity and access. Prospective applicants are encouraged to review all three job announcements prior to submitting their application.”
Writing the Job Advertisement to Attract Diverse Applicants 5. Description of Materials to be Submitted – request a statement that describes the candidate’s experiences with and commitments to diversity UW Tacoma Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor “Applicants should include a cover letter describing their academic qualifications and professional experiences, how they will bring value to the Institute’s curricula, and how they align with current faculty research interests. Applicants’ statements should detail how their teaching, service and/or scholarship has supported the success of students from racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds that are underrepresented in their academic field; applicants who have not yet had the opportunity for such experience should note how their work will further University of Washington Tacoma’s commitment to diversity.”
Writing Job Ads Group Exercise
Working Against Bias “Early Bird” Bias: over-valuing applications that arrive early in the process, or simply giving them more attention “Moving Target” Syndrome: changing the requirements for the position as the search proceeds in order to include or exclude particular candidates
Working Against Bias “Early Bird” Bias: over-valuing applications that arrive early in the process, or simply giving them more attention Avoid reviewing applications until the closing date • “Moving Target” Syndrome: changing the requirements for the position as the search proceeds in order to include or exclude particular candidates Use an assessment rubric to ensure that the applications of the criteria • remain consistent
Working Against Bias Implicit Bias: the stereotypes and preconceptions about social groups stored in our brains that can influence our behavior toward members of those groups, both positively and negatively, without our conscious knowledge Negative Bias Triggers: Positive Bias Triggers: Non-traditional career paths Traditional career paths • • Non-traditional research interests or Traditional research interests and • • methodologies methodologies Degrees from less historically prestigious Degrees from historically prestigious • • institutions institutions Prior work experience at less prestigious Prior work experience at prestigious • • or lower-ranked institutions or highly-ranks institutions Do not appear to “fit” the unit’s existing Appear to “fit” the unit’s existing • • profile profile…sometimes referred to as “cloning”—replicating the current unit profile in new hires
Research on Bias Uhlmann, E.L. and Cohen, G.L. (2005). Constructed Criteria: Redefining Merit to Justify Discrimination. American Psychological Society , 16 , 474-480. In three studies, participants redefined the criteria for success at the job based on the • gender of the desired candidate. Commitment to hiring criteria prior to review of files eliminated gender discrimination. • Bertrand, M. and Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?: A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. The American Economic Review, 94 , 991-1013. Authors sent fictitious resumes with randomly assigned African-American- or White- • sounding names to job postings in Chicago and Boston. White names received 50% more callbacks for interviews, regardless of the quality of • the resume.
Research on Bias Clauset, A., Arbesman, S., and Larremore, D. (2015). Systematic Inequality and Hierarchy in Faculty Hiring Networks. Research Article of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Science Advances, 1 . Analyzing data on nearly 19,000 faculty, the authors found that faculty hiring follows a • common hierarchical structure that reflects profound social inequality. Doctoral prestige predicts placement better than a U.S. News & World Report rank • Women generally place worse than men • Increased institutional prestige leads to increased faculty production, better faculty • placement, and a more influential position within the discipline
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