Policies Not Enough
Kathleen Christensen
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Leading Through Diversity Chairs Retreat
Lake Arrowhead, California
September 16, 2009
Family Status of Tenured Faculty in the Sciences*
Women
Married
without
Children
15%
Married
with
Children**
50%
Men
Single
with
Children**
11%
Single
without
Children
24%
N=4,157
Married
without
Children
14%
Single
with
Children**
4%
Single
without
Children
9%
Married
with
Children**
73%
N=19,767
*PhDs from 1978-1984 Who Are Tenured 12 Years out from PhD in STEM, Bio. Sciences & Health Sc.
**Had a child in the household at any point post PhD to 12 years out.
Source: Marc Goulden, UCB, Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Sciences, 1979-1999,
2
Having Fewer Children Than They Wanted:
UC Faculty, Ages 40-60
Women
22%
0
Number of Children
Men
Men=424
Women=205
34%
42%
1
64%
13%
2
Men=514
Women=224
32%
8%
3+
Men=236
Women=50
24%
20%
All
Men=1,413
Women=632
40%
0%
10%
20%
Men=239
Women=153
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Percent who indicated "Yes, I had fewer children than I wanted."
Source: Mason, Mary Ann, Angelica Stacy, and Marc Goulden. 2003. “The UC Faculty Work and Family Survey.”
http://ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edu
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Exciting Times
•General awareness
•Increased diversity of new professoriate
•Growing awareness
•Dual-focused, not single-focused, work force
•Emerging awareness
•Need to align career paths with changing
needs of professoriate
•Provide fair, equitable flexiblity to all campus
stakeholders: faculty, administration & staff
Focus Today:
Career Flexibility
Structurally Realigns the Academic Career
Path to Fit Work-Family Needs of
Increasingly Diverse Work Force
6
Career Flexibility Policies
1.
2.
3.
4.
Tenure Clock Extension
Active Service Modified Duties
Unpaid leave beyond 12 weeks of FMLA
Reduced Appointment – Extraordinary
circumstances
5. Reduced Appointment – Ordinary circumstances
6. Spouse/Partner Employment Assistance
Institution-wide, Formal, Written Policies
2002 - 2007
65%
Tenure Clock Stop
48%
44%
40%
UNPAID leave > FMLA 12 weeks
21%
20%
Modified Duties
Paid Dependent Care
18%
17%
Reduced AppointmentExtraordinary
17%
16%
15%
14%
Reduced Appointment-Ordinary
Spouse/Partner Employment
Assistance
2007
2002
13%
10%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Prevalence of Career Flexibility
Policies by Type of School
Type of Institution
2007 Average #
Doc – Extensive
Doc - Intensive
2.8
1.7
Masters I & II
1.4
Baccalaureate –Lib Arts
Baccalaureate – General
1.8
1.3
Overall average
1.9
Source: University of Michigan, Center for the Education of Women
9
Type of Work/Family Policies at Doctoral –
Extensive & Intensive Schools
90%
80%
70%
80%
79%
73%
60%
63%
50%
52%
40%
38%
37%
30%
28%
20%
15%
10%
0%
6%
Tenure Clock Stop
27%
25%
20%
11%
Unpaid Leave
12%
5%
0%
Modified Duties
Reduced ApptExtraordinary
Formal
Informal
Source: University of Michigan, Center for the Education of Women
Reduced ApptOrdinary
0%
Part-Time/Job
Share
No Policy
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Fear of Bias Prevents Use of Policies
and Impacts Families
“Came back to work sooner than I would have
liked after new child to be taken seriously as an academic.”
“Missed children’s important events when they were
young to appear committed to my job.”
“Did not bring children to the office during their school breaks
because I worried that other faculty would be bothered.” [parents]
“Did not ask for reduced teaching load when needed for
family reasons, because of adverse career repercussions.”
“Did not ask for parental leave even though it would
have helped me to take it.” [parents]
“Did not ask to stop the tenure clock for a new child even though it would
have helped me to take it.” [parents]
Source: Drago, R., Colbeck, C. (2004). “Family-Work Policies & Practices: Results from the Mapping Project”.
11
PhD Students
Shifting Career Goal away from Professor with Research Emphasis
% Citing Factor As “Very Important*” in Career Goal Shift
Total
Men
Women
1
Negative experience as PhD student
45%
44%
46%
2
Other life interests
42%
35%
48%
3
Professional activities too time consuming
41%
35%
45%
4
Issues related to children
36%
21%
46%
5
Geographic location Issues
35%
28%
40%
6
Feelings of isolation/alienation as PhD student
33%
31%
35%
7
Bad job market
30%
29%
30%
8
Career advancement issues
30%
34%
27%
9
Job security
29%
29%
29%
27%
22%
32%
27%
31%
23%
25%
23%
27%
10 Spouse/partner issues or desire to marry
11
Monetary compensation (e.g. salary, ben.)
12 Other career interests
*Not applicable is excluded from analysis.
N=956 to 1201
402 to 529
550 to 666
Yellow shading indicates the group’s response is significantly higher than the other group’s response (P<.01).
Source: Mason, Mary Ann and Marc Goulden. 2006. “UC Doctoral Student Career Life Survey.”
http://ucfamilyedge.berkeley.edu/grad%20life%20survey.html
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Policies Necessary, But Not
Sufficient
Fundamentally, the challenge is to change the
culture on campus so that
• Fear of bias is reduced
• Critical mass of users exists
• Career flexibility becomes the “new normal.”
BUT HOW?
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Alfred P. Sloan Awards for
Faculty Career Flexibility
• Recognize leadership and accelerate progress in
career flexibility through multi-stage application
process:
– Institutional Survey
– Faculty Survey
– Accelerator Grant applications
• In 3rd Round:
Round 1 – Research Universities
 Round 2 – Master’s Universities
 Round 3 - Liberal Arts Colleges (in progress)

• 5 -6 Awards in each round
– Accelerator grants range from $200,000 to $250,000 each
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Winners of the Sloan Awards
Research Universities
• UC Berkeley and Davis
• Duke University
• U Florida
• Lehigh University
• U Washington
Masters Universities
• U Baltimore
• Boise State University
• Canisius College
• Santa Clara University
• San Jose State University
• Simmons College
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Changing the Culture:
Programmatically & Strategically
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Know your culture
Engage leaders & tie to mission
Train key gatekeepers
Mount awareness campaign
Reward, not penalize, use of policies
Level the playing field
Build the business case
Prepare for the unexpected
1a. Know Internal Culture
Sloan Award application process designed to
establish baseline data:
– Institutional availability of policies
– Faculty & staff knowledge of policies
– Use of policies
– Biases against using policies
Why important?
– Unmasks biases and obstacles
Instruments available for use by other schools
– UC Berkeley’s Family Friendly Edge set standard
– Sloan survey instruments available through ACE
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1b. Know External Culture
Sloan Award application process designed to
benchmark applicants to peers.
Why important?
Benchmarking provides critical change incentive
Other examples of benchmarking.
•University of Baltimore - benchmarked itself against
12 other universities re tenure clock extension
•Chronicle of Higher Educ.- Great Place to Work
(Canisius College & Duke University among winners)
•Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)
•Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher
Education (COACHE)
1c. Track Changes Over Time
To Be Accountable
Sloan Winners
– Complete internal surveys on policy availability,
usage and climate when apply and two years later
– Benchmarked against peers at two points in time
– Track progress against goals set in accelerator plan
U Washington
– Internal survey of career outcomes for faculty,
hired between 1995 and 2001, who requested
tenure clock extensions
UC Berkeley
– Tracking doctoral students career goals over time
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2. Engage Leaders & Tie to Mission
Most Sloan winners house flexibility initiatives in
offices of Provosts/CAOs
– Even presidents directly involved: Simmons
– Details count: Duke’s website – provost.duke.edu/
– Dean & chairs comprise advisory groups: Lehigh U
Others tie flexibility to mission or core values
– Santa Clara ties to Jesuit tradition of educating
“the whole person”
– University of Baltimore president views flexibility
as integral to recruitment of excellent faculty
Engaged top leadership most important !
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3. Train Key Gatekeepers
Targeting new department chairs
– San Jose State – Office of Faculty Affairs’ training
– UC Davis – mandatory 2 day training session and
family-friendly advisor/mentor program
– UC Berkeley – comprehensive online training
Targeting promotion and tenure review
committees
– U Florida - Mandatory online certification on
how to assess gaps in candidate’s resume
– UC Davis – Shares, across 10 UC campuses,
prototypical internal & external review letters,
ensuring reviewers “evaluate without prejudice” 21
4. Mount Awareness Campaign
To ensure acceptance and transparency
– UC Berkeley
• online newsletter UC Families, part of the Berkeley
Parents Network, with interactive blog and links to
policies and program
• Family Friendly Edge – online & most comprehensive in
nation re flexibility
– UC Davis – daylong workshops and brown bags for
new faculty
– Duke University – award-winning Duke Advantage
– Lehigh University – Balancing Work & Life, online
and hard copies, mailed to all faculty
– U Washington’s Balance @UW postcard outlining
“8 by ‘08” and mailed to all faculty
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5. Reward, Not Penalize, Use of
Flexibility Policies
Commit central funds to not penalize depts.
– UC Davis expanded to all 10 UC campuses its
model of central funding of leaves or ASMD.
Reward faculty who use policies
– Lehigh U makes automatic $6,000 Sloan Career
Flexibility grants to all tenure-track faculty on
dependent care leaves
Recognize departments and leaders
– U Florida makes awards to those who take
effective steps to promote family-friendly
accommodations
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6. Level the Playing Field
Many ways to create culture of inclusiveness
– Automatic extension of tenure clock
• Duke
– Extend availability of leave policies to men and
upon adoption
• U Washington’s pilot program for this population
– Extend availability of part-time to retiring faculty
• U Baltimore in its Balance that Works@UB
– Ensure no abuse of leave policies involving their
use for research purposes
• UC Berkeley’s MOU
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7. Build the Business Case
Formal cost-benefit analyses
• Iowa State University – building model
• UC Berkeley and Davis –Tracking costs to
university of replacement instruction for faculty
on child bearing leaves or ASMD
Systematic assessment of policy use on career
outcomes
• University of Washington assessed career
outcomes for faculty, hired between 1995 and
2001, who requested tenure clock extensions
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8. Prepare for the Unexpected
Budget cuts, turnover in leadership tests
business continuity on all counts, including
flexiblity policies & programs
– Several Sloan winners had significant leadership
changes and continued to meet goals set in
accelerator plans
• Lehigh University, Simmons College, and University of
Baltimore had new presidents or provosts
• University of Baltimore president met with all new hires
and recommitted to flexiblity as integral to recruitment
and institutional reputation.
29
What Have We Learned?
– Career flexibility must be achieved through
simultaneous changes in policy and culture
– Career flexibility must be positioned as a means to
an institutional end
– Career Flexibility must be embraced by the top,
but driven by chairs, and pursued without fear by
faculty
– Career flexibility must be made available at all
stages of career
What Remains to Be Done?
• What other steps needed to ensure culture
change?
• How can we best learn from one another?
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32
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Early Intervention:
Graduate Students
• Assessment of work-family issues
• Paid family leave
• Part-time post doc appointments
• University & federal grant policies
• Delayed entry/alternate entry points
• non-tenure lines (research or teaching)
• re-tooling and re-entry fellowships
Family Status of Tenured Faculty
Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities in the U.S.*
Women
Married
with
Children**
44%
Married
without
Children
19%
Men
Married
without
Children
15%
Single
with
Children**
11%
Married
with
Children**
70%
Single with
Children**
4%
Single
without
Children
11%
Single
without
Children
26%
N=10,652
N=32,234
*PhDs from 1978-1984 Who Are Tenured 12 Years out from PhD.
**Had a child in the household at any point post PhD to 12 years out.
Source: Marc Goulden, UCB, Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Sciences, 1979-1999, Humanities, 1979-1995
35