icwes15 - retaining and advancing women faculty. presented by dr canan bilen-green, north dakota...

Retaining and Advancing Women Faculty

NDSU Advance FORWARD

Donald P. SchwertGeosciences, and

Center for Science & Math EducationNorth Dakota State University

Fargo, North Dakota, USA

Canan Bilen-Green

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

North Dakota State UniversityFargo, North Dakota, USA

Focus on Resources for Women’s Advancement

Recruitment/Retention and Development


U.S. National Science Foundation #HRD-0811239September, 2008 – August, 2013

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Genesis of the Project

% Tenure-line % Tenured % Full Professor

Women Men Women Men Women Men

*Average 45 55 31 69 24 76*Doctoral 41 59 26 74 19 81

*AAUP Report, Curtis and West, 2006N = 1445 universities; data from U.S. Dept Educ and AAUP

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*AAUP Report, Curtis and West, 2006N = 1445 universities; data from U.S. Dept Educ and AAUP

% Tenure-line % Tenured % Full Professor

Women Men Women Men Women Men

*Average 45 55 31 69 24 76*Doctoral 41 59 26 74 19 81NDSU 2006

36 64 10 90 7 93

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NDSU Climate and Female Faculty

• Work-life surveys revealed that (vs. male faculty) female faculty:– Reported higher stress levels

– Struggled with work/life balance

– Scored lower on work environment

– Rated climate lower

– Spent significantly more time on their teaching and service

• No significant differences between STEM and non-STEM faculty

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North Dakota State University’s Advance FORWARD Project

• Campus climate• Faculty recruitment• Faculty retention and advancement • Leadership opportunities

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Major Project Components

NDSU Advance FORWARDExecutive Director and Project Staff

Internal Advisory Board External Advisory Board

Steering Committee

ResearchCampus Climate Advancement/Leadership

v Unstructured spaces v Interventions into climate v Programs to recruit, retain,

and advance v Role of critical mass in

climatev Gender and productivityv Mentoring and reverse

mentoringv Women in leadership

EvaluationInternal & External

v Faculty recruiterv Advocates and Allies Programv Gender/equity awareness

education/training for§ Academic administrators§ Faculty

v Grant programs§ Climate/gender equity

research§ Department climate initiative

v Cohort mentoring program for junior faculty

v Mid-career mentoring program

v Professional development grant programs § Course Release § Leap § Leadership Development § Mentor Relationship

Travel

Dissemination Activities FORWARD Team

NDSU Administration

External to NDSU FORWARD Administration

Key:

Implementation GroupAcademic Deans and

Department Chairs/Heads

Commission on the Status of Women Faculty

Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs

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Evaluation• NSF 12 Indicator data collection

• Faculty work-life survey and academic administrator survey

• Evaluation of workshops, lectures, and programs.

• Interviews with faculty who have resigned

• Focus groups with faculty

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FORWARD Advocates & Allies

• Male faculty interested in supporting female faculty members in departments, colleges, and the university

• Advocates: tenured male faculty men with a proven record of supporting female faculty

• Allies: trained male faculty who identify themselves as allies of female faculty

• Advocates and Allies are active proponents of gender diversity and equality in their units

• Male faculty trained to date: 65

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• New faculty cohort mentoring program and mentor training– Same-gender mentoring groups composed of 4-5 new

faculty and 2 senior faculty (expanded to include male and non-STEM faculty)

– Groups meet monthly from first-year through third-year review process

– Planned activities offered once per semester (e.g., scholarly writing, teaching assessment)

– Two workshops/year led by outside experts

Junior Faculty Mentoring Program

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Junior Faculty Mentoring Speakers

Gender & the Evaluation of Teaching: What We Can't Count Can Hurt Us- pedagogical lunch, workshop for PTE committee members

Joey Sprague

Rising Above Cognitive Errors: Tips for Promotion, Tenure and Evaluation, Good and Bad Practices related to job searches and review processes- pedagogical lunch, workshops for chairs, deans, female faculty, PTE committees

JoAnn Moody

Networking workshop for female faculty

Bonnie Coffey

How to Feel as Bright as Everyone Thinks You Are: Why Smart Women (and Men) Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and What to Do About It- pedagogical lunch

Valerie Young

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Junior Faculty Mentoring Program:Evaluation

• Increased mentees’ sense of connection across campus and in the community

• Women were less likely to agree that their comfort level with the promotion and tenure process increased

• Female faculty mentees preferred female mentors• Both mentors and mentees mutually found the

experience valuable • Time and scheduling were reported to be the greatest

challenges

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Mid-Career Mentoring Program• Peer mentoring teams, which may be

interdisciplinary• Teams meet informally once a month and include at

least two women but can be mixed gender• Includes twice-yearly formal meetings with academic

administrators • Funding for teams to purchase items needed to meet

the mentoring goals of the group

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Promotion to Professor Panels• Promotion to Professor Panel Series

− Recently-promoted professors, department chairs, promotion/tenure committee members

• Panels inform faculty about how/when to apply for professorship

– Understanding of the process and criteria for promotion to full professor improved (81.2%)

– Acquired new skills and/or information about determining when they are ready to apply for promotion to full professor (73.5%)

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Grant Programs• Promote the advancement of tenure-line women

faculty• Major grants involve external reviews; internal

committees • Mentor travel relationship, course release, leap

research, lab renovation, and leadership development

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Travel, Course Release, Climate/Gender, Leadership, and Leap Awards 2008-2011

• As of summer 2011, those awards have translated into – 20 articles under review, – 15 articles accepted for publication, – 21 grants submitted and under review, and – 9 grants funded.

81 faculty received FORWARD awards totaling of

$740,850

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•Positive Impacts:– decision to remain at NDSU (94.7%) – tenure and/or promotion process (89.5%)– career advancement (78.9%) – experience of the NDSU campus climate (92.1%)

Grant Programs: Evaluation

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92-93 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

24%

36%39% 40% 41% 42% 42% 44% 44% 42%

12%11% 11%

15% 16%19% 20%

23%

31% 29%

5% 5% 6% 6% 8% 7% 7% 7% 7%

%Assistant %Associate %Full

Before FORWARD

“Early” FORWARD


Percentage of NDSU Women Tenure-Line Faculty by Rank

10%

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• Grant/award recipients and mentees agreed that their participation in these programs had a positive impact on their decision to remain at NDSU

• Retain/promote women assistant professors – 2008-09: 8 women to associate rank (of 20 promotions)– 2009-10: 5 women to associate rank (of 17 promotions)– 2010-11: 8 women to associate rank (of 18 promotions)

• Promote/advance women associate professors – 2008-09: 1 woman to full rank (of 13 promotions)– 2009-10: 6 women to full rank (of 12 promotions)– 2010-11: 3 women to full rank (of 12 promotions)

Retention Progress

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Policy Related Work• Spouse/partner hire• Required formal search for all positions

• Childbearing leave• Modified duties• Tracking compliance with policies• Instrument for student rating of instruction

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Impacts• Increased the number of female

• full professors• faculty in leadership roles• advanced associate professors to consider promotion

• Enhanced research productivity

• Stimulated conversations about climate

• Fostered greater interest in engaging in issues

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Conclusions • Universities seeking to tap top talent pools

need to pay attention to the progress of women faculty in order to enhance institutional performance

• Through FORWARD’s institutional transformation framework, changes in policy, attitude, and outlook are taking place

• NSF ADVANCE guidelines are a good resource for other institutions interested in institutional transformation

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www.ndsu.edu/forward

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Thank You…

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Additional Slides

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Mentor Relationship Travel Grant• Provide funds to offset costs of meeting with mentors

from outside NDSU to build long-term professional mentoring relationships– Travel costs associated with meeting a mentor– Travel costs associated with bringing a mentor to

NDSU

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Course Release Grants• Provides funds for one-semester release from teaching

responsibilities• Open to tenure-line women faculty in STEM disciplines• Budget cap: Cost of teaching replacement• Awardees are expected to submit manuscripts (peer

reviewed)

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Leap Research Grants• Provides research grants to seed successful grant

proposals• Open to tenure-track and tenured women faculty in

STEM disciplines• Proposals reviewed by external researchers; internal

committee

• Awardees are expected to submit proposals, manuscripts

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Barriers to Women’s Advancement

in the Academic Ranks• “the chilly climate”

― committee assignments― support roles

• empirical evidence of gender bias― overrating of men; under-rating of women

• “the gendered organization”― work policies evolved from life experience of

traditional male bread-winner, but now . . .

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• coincidence of biological and tenure clocks― the “glass floor”; the “second shift”; the “invisible

job”; the “hidden curriculum”; and a “catch 22”

• a variety of remedies− Mentoring− Policy

• critical mass― 35-40% women needed to overcome perceived

tokenism and extra scrutiny

Barriers to Women’s Advancement

in the Academic Ranks

Retaining and Advancing Women Faculty

NDSU ADVANCE FORWARD

Donald SchwertCenter for Science and Math Education

North Dakota State University

Canan Bilen-Green

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

North Dakota State University

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NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Program

• Funding for comprehensive and sustainable institutional transformation to increase participation of women faculty

• 49 ADVANCE Institutions– 2001; 9 – 2003; 10– 2006; 13– 2008; 9 (including NDSU)– 2010; 8 more funded in 2010

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Genesis of the ProjectUniversities seeking to tap top

talent pools NEED to pay attention

to the progress of this large

segment of the labor force in order to enhance

institutional performance.

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Outline• NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation

Program• NDSU Advance FORWARD • Goals and Major Project Components• Retention and Advancement of Women Faculty

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A relatively narrow and quite leaky pipeline –

So what?

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New Faculty Orientation: Enhancing Department Climate Session• Offered in 2008, 2009, and 2010

• Participants generate ideas on – barriers to promoting a positive department climate – helpful aspects to promoting a positive department climate

• Participants somewhat agreed that – their knowledge of how to promote a positive climate at

NDSU increased (100%)– they have acquired new skills, information, or

understanding about gender and climate at NDSU (100%)

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Impact on Climate• Grant/award recipients:

– agreed to some extent that their participation in the FORWARD award/grant program(s) enhanced their experience of the NDSU campus climate (78.0%)

• Mentees somewhat agreed that being in the cohort mentoring program has:

– increased their sense of connection with other faculty (100%)– decreased their sense of isolation on the NDSU campus (71%)

• Mentors somewhat agreed that being in the cohort mentoring program – has increased their sense of connection with other faculty on

campus (75.1%)– felt that they were mentored during the cohort mentoring process (50.0%)– had a positive impact on their own experience of the climate at NDSU (56.3%)