Workshop on Faculty Recruitment for Diversity and Excellence ADVANCE Program at the University of Michigan Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to Improve Diversity and Excellence

2 Overview Why do we need to recruit a diverse faculty in order to attain excellence? What are the obstacles to achieving diversity on the faculty? What can we do?

3 Why do we need to recruit a diverse faculty in order to attain excellence? Gives us access to talent currently not represented (both faculty candidates and students) A diverse faculty has positive effects on our diverse student body Carrell, S. E., Page, M. E., & West, J. E. (2009). National Bureau of Academic Research.(14959), 1-42.

4 Why do we need to recruit a diverse faculty in order to attain excellence? More perspectives are taken into account and fewer things taken for granted –A concept car designed by women and including many new features was also highly rated by men. –Compared with all-white juries, diverse juries deliberate differently about an African American defendant Ely, R. J., & Thomas, D., A.. (2001). Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(2), Page, S. (2007). Princeton University Press, Temm, T. B. (2008). In L. Schiebinger (Ed.), Gendered Innovation in Science and Engineering (pp ). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Sommers, S. R. (2006). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(4),

5 Why is it difficult to recruit for diversity and excellence? Available pool of candidates may be too homogeneous Partly true, but the pipeline does not fully account for outcomes, and it is uneven in different fields.

6 Beyond the Pipeline Research suggests that overt prejudice or old-fashioned bigotry has been reduced in US society… L. Bobo, J. Kluegel & R. Smith (1997). In S. Tuch & J. Martin (Eds.), Racial Attitudes in the 1990s: Continuity and Change. (pp ). Westport, CT. Praeger. Dovidio & Gaertner (2000). Psychological Science, 11, BUT… Research also shows that we all – regardless of the social groups we belong to – perceive and treat people differently based on their social groups (race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.). Research also shows that we all – regardless of the social groups we belong to – perceive and treat people differently based on their social groups (race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.). We are all subject to unconscious bias. Valian (1998) Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 280.

7 Schemas: Non-conscious Hypotheses Schemas (expectations or stereotypes) influence our judgments of others (regardless of our own group). All schemas influence group members’ expectations about how they will be judged.

8 Schemas do… allow efficient, if sometimes inaccurate, processing of information. often conflict with consciously held or “explicit” attitudes. change based on experience/exposure. Nosek, B. A., Banaji, M., & Greenwald, A. G. (2002). Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6(1), Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6),

9 Schemas are… Widely culturally shared –Both men and women hold them about gender. –Both whites and minorities hold them about race/ethnicity. –People are often not aware of them. Applied more under circumstances of: –Stress from competing tasks –Time pressure –Lack of critical mass –Ambiguity (including lack of information) Fiske, S. T. (2002). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(4), Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (1998). In J. Eberhardt & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Confronting racism: The problem and the response (pp. 3-32). Newbury Park: Sage.

10 Critical Mass Affects the Use of Schemas When there are many individuals from a group, we differentiate among them and do not rely on group-based schemas. In both experimental and field settings, increasing the female share of those being rated increased ratings of female applicants and employees. Valian (1998) Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p Heilman, M. E. (1980). Organizational Behavior and Human Performance(26), Sackett, P. R., DuBois, C. L. Z., & Noe, A. W. (1991). Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(2),

11 Ambiguity Affects the Use of Schemas When ambiguous fit of credentials to job –A sample of white evaluators recommended black candidates 45% of the time & white candidates 76% of the time –No difference in other cases White candidates get the benefit of the doubt when fit is ambiguous. Faculty candidate position fit is usually ambiguous. Job Description Credentials of Applicant Ambiguous Fit Credentials of Applicant Job Description Credentials of Applicant Good Fit Bad Fit ? Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Psychological Science, 11(4), Three Conditions with Identical Resumes

12 Schemas Affect Evaluation Numerous studies show that schemas affect evaluation: some examples…

13 Blind Auditions: Gender Records from major US symphony orchestras from : Goldin, C., & Rouse, C. (2000). The American Economic Review, 90(4), Audition data from 14,000 individuals show the use of a screen increases the probability that a woman will advance from preliminary rounds by 50%.

14 Evaluation of Identical Resumes: Race When evaluating identical resumes, applicants with African American-sounding names had to send 15 resumes to get a callback, compared to 10 needed by applicants with white-sounding names. White-sounding names yielded as many more callbacks as an additional eight years of experience. Greg Jamal Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2003). American Economic Review, 94(1), Identical Resumes

15 Evaluation of Identical CVs: Gender When evaluating identical application packages, male and female University psychology professors are more likely 2:1 to hire “Brian” over “Karen” as an assistant professor. When evaluating a more experienced record (at the point of promotion to tenure), reservations were expressed four times more often when the name was female. Brian Karen Steinpreis, R. E., Anders, K. A., & Ritzke, D. (1999). Sex Roles, 41(7/8), Identical Application Packages

16 Evaluation of Identical Resumes: Gender and Sexual Orientation Nearly identical resumes of law students applying to internships in Canadian law firms. Adam, B. D. (1981). The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 18(2), Thomas Trent Susan Trent Thomas Trent Susan Trent Active in Gay People’s Alliance Similar and expanded findings: Weichselbaumer (2003) -Gay-labelled male applicants received only 62% as many offers as other male applicants. -Gay-labelled female applicants received only 50% as many offers as other female applicants.

Exactly how do schemas affect the careers of women and under- represented minorities?

18 Letters of Recommendation Read two examples of letters of recommendation. Which letter would you consider more convincing and helpful? Identify two phrases that are helpful or are not. At your table, briefly discuss with neighbor.

19 Letters of Recommendation for Successful Medical School Faculty Applicants Letters for men: Longer More references to: CV Publications Patients Colleagues Letters for women : Shorter More references to personal life More “doubt raisers” (hedges, faint praise, and irrelevancies) “It’s amazing how much she’s accomplished.” “It appears her health is stable.” “She is close to my wife.” Trix, F., & Psenka, C. (2003). Discourse & Society, 14(2), Differences

20 Gender Bias in Fellowship Applications Wenneras, C., & Wold, A. (1997). Nepotism and sexism in peer-review. Nature, 387, Similar findings: USA/GAO report on Peer Review in Federal Agency Grant Selection (1994); EuropeanMolecular Biology Organization Reports (2001); NIH Pioneer Awards: Journal of Women’s Health (2005) & Nature (August 2006) Male applicants more than twice as successful as female applicants in obtaining postdoc fellowships from the Swedish Medical Research Council Female applicants had to be 2.5X as productive to receive same competence score Analyzed reviewer vs. objective measure of competence objective measure of competence (no. publications X journal impact factors) reviewer’s rating of competence male female

21 Impact of Parent Status Correll, S. J., Benard, S., & Paik, I. (2007). American Journal of Sociology 112(5), When evaluating equally qualified same-gender job applicants, Fathers… were rated as more committed to paid work than nonfathers. were offered higher starting salaries than nonfathers. Mothers… were rated as less competent and less committed to paid work than nonmothers. were less likely to be recommended for hire, promotion, and management, and were offered lower starting salaries than nonmothers. “nonfather” father Active in PTA “nonmother” mother Active in PTA

22 Student Evaluation of Teaching Credibility: Sexual Orientation One male instructor provided the same guest lecture to 8 sections of a communication course. –In half of the sections, he referred to “my partner” as Jennifer and in other half as Jason. –The “straight” instructor received 22% more positive comments than the “gay” instructor. –The “gay” instructor received 526% as many critical comments as the “straight” instructor. Instructors who are members of minority groups may be perceived as less credible instructors. Russ, T. L. S., Cheri J.; Hunt, Stephen K. (2002). Communcation Education, 51(3),

23 Impact of Schemas on Leadership With single sex groups, person at head is identified as the leader. With mixed sex groups, a different outcome observed Porter, N., & Geis, F. L. (1981). Gender and nonverbal behavior (pp. 39–61). New York: Springer Verlag.

24 Biased Leadership Outcomes Burrelli (2011). InfoBrief, NSF , 1-8. Jeang (2011). Telephone Interview. Mervis (2005). Science, 310, (Updated with information from Positions of Leadership for Asians/Asian Americans % Asian/Asian Americans in Group % Asian/Asian Americans in Leadership Roles National Institutes of Health Federal Scientists and Engineers US Life Scientists156

25 Schemas from Your Experience We have discussed many examples of schemas Important to consider how they arise in search process Think of an example of someone relying on a schema or expressing unconscious bias that happened to a … –student in your department –post-doctoral fellow –colleague –faculty candidate –you –It may be something that you observed or experienced or simply heard discussed. At your table, have each person share a quick example of an experience during the search process.

26 Accumulation of Advantage and Disadvantage… Some of the examples just discussed may have seemed minor, but… Because small imbalances and disadvantages accrue, minor slights can have major consequences in salary, promotion, and prestige, including advancement to leadership positions. –“ Mountains are molehills piled one on top of the other.” (Valian, 1998, p. 4) –Similarly, minor advantages accrue to produce major benefits. Merton (1948) Antioch Review, 8, and (1968) Science, 159, Valian (1998) Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 280.

27 Lowered success rate Evaluation bias Performance is underestimated Accumulation of disadvantage Schemas Solo status/Lack of critical mass If We Do Not Actively Intervene, The Cycle Reproduces Itself Institutional Inertia

What can we do?

29 Strategies for Breaking the Cycle 1.Execute searches thoughtfully, with significant advance planning and an awareness of the effect of evaluation bias. 2.Play close attention to the visit for each candidate: evaluation and recruiting are both active during a visit. 3.After the search, reflect on the process, and work to support the success of your new colleagues.

30 Prime the Pump: Active Recruiting Network directly with young scholars, including your own students. Invite them to speak. Foster connections with other institutions to identify and track promising candidates. Widen the pool from which you recruit: actively pursue candidates thriving at less well-ranked institutions. Recruiting begins before you have a position.

31 Search Committee Composition Include people openly committed to diversity and excellence. Require and reward a high level of commitment: an effective search is an intense, extended process. Include women and minorities when possible. –Remember to take account of their added service load in other assignments

32 Job Descriptions and Open Searching Define your search as broadly as possible Use a single committee for all open searches “Open searches led to both a larger number of applicants AND a more diverse applicant pool.” Change in outcomes for one UM department

33 Thoughtful Evaluation of Candidates Be aware of evaluation bias. Make sure your committee works to actively counteract it. Discuss and define evaluation criteria in advance: scholarly activity and support, teaching promise, fit with department priorities. Design organized evaluations that combine examination of written materials and direct contact with the candidate. Avoid global evaluations and summary rankings; acknowledge uncertainty. Bauer, C. C., & Baltes, B. B. (2002). Sex Roles, 47(9/10),

34 Use a Candidate Evaluation Tool

35 Host an Effective Visit Distribute family friendly policy information to all candidates before or during first visit. Try to interview more than one female/minority candidate because of critical mass effects. Treat all applicants as valuable scholars and educators, not representatives of a class. Ensure that all candidates meet a diverse set of people so that they are more likely to meet someone like them. This may include graduate and undergraduate students. Heilman, M. E. (1980). Organizational Behavior and Human Performance(26), Huffcutt, A. I. R., Philip L. (1998). Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2),

36 * Situations derived from 2007 ADVANCE survey of UM candidates who withdrew from searches or turned down offers. The Unintended Consequences of Personal Questions*

37 Do you have a partner who will be coming on the visit and might want to learn more about job options in Ann Arbor? The university and my department are really supportive your partner’s job search. This is a friendly department, where everyone helps one another out. The Unintended Consequences of Personal Questions

38 What the candidate actually infers and says… I don’t have a two- body problem “I might choose to live in a different place from my husband. I was not treated equally.” “I got nonstop questions about family issues from the faculty. Nobody asked my husband about family issues.” “Obviously they didn’t want to offer a job to someone who was going to have a problem”

39 Do you have school-aged children or will you want to learn more about schools in Ann Arbor during your visit? The University of Michigan, this Department, and our faculty are family friendly. Not only that, but Ann Arbor is a great place to raise a family. The Unintended Consequences of Personal Questions

40 What the candidate actually infers and says… No. “I figured the reason they asked me about whether I had kids was that they wanted to figure out whether it would be hard for me to move. Obviously it was a negative.” “A senior male asked me if I was going to have children. Just like that. I said what I was trained to say: No.”

41 So What Should I Do? Make sure that all candidates know about the dual career support that the University provides. Available to domestic partners of faculty recruits regardless of marital status or sexual orientation. Department Chairs request assistance through their Deans as part of the recruiting process. Support for dual careers enhances both recruiting and retention of all faculty.

42 So What Should I Do? What if a candidate mentions a dual career issue? Let the candidate know that the university has a strong dual career program and encourage asking the department chair or dean about how best to access it. Do not ask questions to gather further information from the candidate. Reassure the candidate that dual career issues will not be considered in the selection process.

43 So What Should I Do? How do I find out if a candidate has a dual career issue? Search Committee should not have access to, seek, or discuss information about the existence of a dual career partner. Interviews should only evaluate qualifications that are relevant to a faculty position – questions about matters that are not job relevant (i.e., family status) are not appropriate. Chart of appropriate and inappropriate questions is available on your STRIDE jump drive and on the University HR website: After a candidate is selected, other factors relevant to attracting him/her to UM can be discussed.

44 Unique Challenges in Recruiting LGBT Candidates LGBT candidates know: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual individuals are not protected by federal EEO regulations. LGBT individuals cannot sponsor their partners for immigration purposes, even when legally married in country of origin. The State of Michigan permits single LGBT individuals to petition to adopt but prohibits joint adoption. There is no statewide relationship recognition for same-sex couples. U-M faculty need to communicate that the University makes efforts to overcome this climate: Benefits are provided to “Otherwise Qualified Adults” Offers can include support for legal needs

45 Unique Challenges in Recruiting LGBT Candidates “Governor Snyder [12/22/11] signed legislation that prevents some public employers from offering medical benefits to the domestic partners of public employees, but in doing so he said that university employees are exempt. Based on our analysis, as well as the governor's regarding the state universities' constitutional autonomy, we believe we may continue to provide benefits to other qualified adults in full compliance with the law and will do so. …We know that the competitiveness of our state and our university depends on our ability to attract and retain the very best talent…” Mary Sue Coleman ( to the campus community, 12/23/11)

46 A Successful Search is Just the Beginning! Build a culture of search excellence. Reflect on your search and provide a report suggesting improved approaches for the future. New faculty success is essential. Enable new faculty to take advantage of all UM has to offer. The ADVANCE Program can help. It promotes excellence among faculty in all fields in four areas: recruitment, retention, climate, and leadership Phone: (734)

47 Questions? Comments?