The single most important process that shapes the future of a university is the selection of new tenure track faculty. When an institution aspires to the principles of excellence, innovation and diversity, these must be actively used to guide the hiring and subsequent tenure decisions. Traditional patterns of reliance on "expert opinion" in the evaluation of candidates tend to perpetuate the existing faculty composition, and when that is occurring at a STEM-intensive institution, such as Michigan Tech, there is a risk of stasis.
Several federal employment regulations explicitly encourage the consideration of women and minorities in job searches. In some States, however, search committees cannot favor particular groups. The key to improving diversity is, we believe, to increase the qualified applicant pool, and ensure all eligible candidates are given proper and timely consideration. It is also important, given the rising cost of supporting new faculty, to provide strong and effective mentoring not only to the point of tenure, but through the process of advancement through the ranks to senior faculty positions and institutional administration. We believe that application of these principles and support structures for all candidates will be to the great benefit of the institution, and especially to women faculty.
Intellectual Merit: Inclusion of a doctoral student will ensure that the results of the project's initiatives will be reported in the literature, with the opportunity to share best practices with other universities, particularly those with strong STEM emphasis. The project participants will collaborate with the graduate student on professional publications and presentations. Proper data-based analyses of the results of new and past initiatives provide an important opportunity to identify strategies and tactics that bring more women into the STEM faculty ranks. Aspects of the student's study will include: comparisons between male and female faculty in terms of climate perception and climate experience, levels of startup and salary, rate of progress through the ranks, productivity, and research income. It will also allow evaluation of the benefits of mentoring through comparisons "before and after" the introduction of widespread mentoring. The cluster hiring outcomes will be compared with those from traditional departmentally-based processes, and the composition of the applicant pool, short list and final candidate will be compared with historic patterns that resulted from previous departmental hiring processes.
Broader Impacts: The project will have a magnified effect and opportunity to increase the number of women in STEM, because of the fact that most of the new hires we will be making over the next decade will be in the STEM disciplines. There is therefore an opportunity to make a considerable impact as these will represent a 62% turnover in the faculty complement. The project investigators include several senior women in STEM disciplines who have considerable background in disciplinary research and university administration. All are personally and professionally committed to promoting an increase in the presence and impact of women on campus. This ADVANCE grant will structure the education of our 300-plus colleagues about the value of open processes and accountability in the evaluation of candidates. It will also provide a framework of institutional accountability for search committees and their chairs, departments and their chairs, Deans, and the Provost that will provide transferable best practices that can be adopted elsewhere.
