An official website of the United States government
ABSTRACT Faculty of Color and women faculty face significant obstacles (e.g., isolation, marginalization, tokenism) on the road to tenure and promotion. We translate social psychological research on the contact hypothesis and belonging and adapt previous interventions at other universities to deliver an institutional‐level intervention designed to support faculty belonging and retention. This study utilizes a faculty climate survey and institutional‐level demographic data to assess tenure‐track faculty belonging and retention following the intervention. We observe greater perceptions of institutional support for diversity and lesser disparities in belonging and tenure rates among historically marginalized faculty over three years following the intervention. We discuss how social psychologists may help translate basic research into institutional interventions that promote racial justice and equity. Our work illustrates the potential for targeted initiatives to reduce disparities and promote equity and representation in academia, ultimately benefiting both faculty and students.
more »
« less
Flourishing together: Leveraging social‐personality psychology in community building for scholars of color
Abstract Many faculty of color (FOC) lack the necessary social and professional support structures to facilitate their successful advancement on the tenure track. We present Flourish, a network for pre‐tenure social and personality psychologists of color, as a case study to illustrate how an affinity group model can aid in supporting FOC. We demonstrate that using social support to diffuse social identity threats can increase belonging and academic fit and, as a result, promote the success of early career FOC. As a field, psychological science has the potential to transcend the boundaries of academic institutions by leveraging our theories, methods, and applied expertise to build infrastructure to better support FOC. Attracting and retaining a diverse faculty workforce addresses racial inequities in higher education, diversifies research output, and makes our science more representative and reproducible. Thus, investing in affinity groups is essential for developing accessible social support systems and increasing role models for future scholars of color.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2041389
- PAR ID:
- 10646094
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Social and Personality Psychology Compass
- Volume:
- 18
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 1751-9004
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Purpose While postdoctoral research (postdoc) training is a common step toward academic careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, the role of postdoc training in social sciences is less clear. An increasing number of social science PhDs are pursuing postdocs. This paper aims to identify factors associated with participation in postdoc training and examines the relationship between postdoc training and subsequent career outcomes, including attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and early career salaries. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the National Science Foundation Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients, this study applies propensity score matching, regression and decomposition analyses to identify the role of postdoc training on the employment outcomes of PhDs in the social science and STEM fields. Findings Results from the regression analyses indicate that participation in postdoc training is associated with greater PhD research experience, higher departmental research ranking and departmental job placement norms. When the postdocs and non-postdocs groups are balanced on observable characteristics, postdoc training is associated with a higher likelihood of attaining tenure-track faculty positions 7 to 9 years after PhD completion. The salaries of social science tenure-track faculty with postdoc experience eventually surpass the salaries of non-postdoc PhDs, primarily via placement at institutions that offer relatively higher salaries. This pattern, however, does not apply to STEM PhDs. Originality/value This study leverages comprehensive, nationally representative data to investigate the role of postdoc training in the career outcomes of social sciences PhDs, in comparison to STEM PhDs. Research findings suggest that for social sciences PhDs interested in academic careers, postdoc training can contribute to the attainment of tenure-track faculty positions and toward earning relatively higher salaries over time. Research findings provide prospective and current PhDs with information helpful in career planning and decision-making. Academic institutions, administrators, faculty and stakeholders can apply these research findings toward developing programs and interventions to provide doctoral students with career guidance and greater career transparency.more » « less
-
In this essay, we share historical and structural components of mentoring within institutions of higher education and grapple with technical and moral obligations of support. We argue for more humanizing approaches that embed personal, social, and cultural aspects of mentoring, and seek to disrupt the purposes of mentoring, and for whom? Using a critical approach, we promote justice-oriented and equity-driven models of mentoring that account for excessive teaching loads and service commitments for faculty at minority-serving institutions and Black and Brown faculty at predominantly White institutions. Current promotion and tenure publish or perish models neglect the intellectual and scholarly contributions made through teaching and service and therefore hold the same level of expectations for engagement in and dissemination of research. We share our own stories as Faculty of Color navigating institutional structures during the promotion and tenure process, while also negotiating incongruent cultures of our personal and professional lives. Furthermore, we address the need for mentoring and networking within exclusionary spaces to support the productivity and critical research agendas of Black and Brown faculty that often challenge the white heteronormative cultures of our institutions, professional organizations, peer-reviewed journals, and prestigious funding mechanisms. Implications of this essay include an acknowledgment of oppressive systems that early-career Black and Brown faculty often navigate and a call for diverse mentoring programs and supports that conform with and validate our lives and needs. Furthermore, we provide recommendations on evidence-based resources and approaches that are available to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics faculty and science educators.more » « less
-
While many institutions are focusing on increasing STEM belonging for students, we argue that supporting faculty will increase STEM belonging and build social capital, which is vital for career growth and collaboration, creating stability for student success. Faculty at small and large institutions may struggle to find a community of STEM professionals where they feel they belong. Faculty members may struggle with the lack of connections to others in their field and miss out on support that helps them succeed in their careers. When faculty lack support, they may even leave an institution because of failure to get promotion or tenure. This in turn causes problems for students relying on the faculty for guidance and identity. We contend that the improvement science initiatives and other activities of the First2 Network, an NSF funded project, build connections in the STEM community in WV, help STEM students persist in their given field and build STEM belonging and social capital for the faculty members involved. Thus, providing a more stable environment for students to flourish. We surveyed faculty and found that the First2 Network had a positive influence on faculty members’ STEM Belonging, and on their development of social capital to further their academic careers. The faculty also provided examples of how their participation in improvement science work has contributed to their professional growth and benefited students at their institution.more » « less
-
Abstract BackgroundThe lack of racial diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is perhaps one of the most challenging issues in the United States higher education system. The issue is not only concerning diverse students, but also diverse faculty members. One important contributing factor is the faculty hiring process. To make progress toward equity in hiring decisions, it is necessary to better understand how applicants are considered and evaluated. In this paper, we describe and present our study based on a survey of current STEM faculty members and administrators who examined applicant qualifications and characteristics in STEM faculty hiring decisions. ResultsThere are three key findings of the present research. First, we found that faculty members placed different levels of importance on characteristics and qualifications for tenure track hiring and non-tenure track hiring. For example, items related to research were more important when evaluating tenure track applicants, whereas items related to teaching and diversity were more important when evaluating non-tenure track applicants. Second, faculty members’ institutional classification, position, and personal identities (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) had an impact on their evaluation criteria. For instance, we found men considered some diversity-related items more important than women. Third, faculty members rated the importance of qualifications with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related constructs significantly lower than qualifications that did not specify DEI-related constructs, and this trend held for both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty hiring. ConclusionsThis study was an attempt to address the issue of diversity in STEM faculty hiring at institutions of higher education by examining how applicant characteristics are considered and evaluated in faculty hiring practices. Emphasizing research reputation and postdoctoral reputation while neglecting institutional diversity and equitable and inclusive teaching, research, and service stunt progress toward racial diversity because biases—both implicit and explicit, both positive and negative—still exist. Our results were consistent with research on bias in recruitment, revealing that affinity bias, confirmation bias, and halo bias exist in the faculty hiring process. These biases contribute to inequities in hiring, and need to be addressed before we can reach, sustain, and grow desired levels of diversity.more » « less
