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
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?
2
Why do we need to recruit a diverse faculty
in order to attain excellence?
• Gives us access to talent currently not
represented
• A diverse faculty has positive effects on our
diverse student body – at both undergraduate
and graduate levels
Carrell, Page, & West (2009). National Bureau of Economic Research.(14959), 1-42.
Hale & Regev (2011). Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper, (2011-19).
3
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 more
thoughtfully about an African American defendant.
Ely & Thomas (2001). Administrative Science Quarterly, 46(2), 229-273.
Page (2007). The Difference. Princeton University Press, 6-20.
Sommers (2006). J Personality and Social Psychology, 90(4), 597-612.
Temm (2008). In Schiebinger (Ed.), Gendered Innovation in Science and Engineering (pp. 131-149). Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
4
Why is it difficult to recruit for
diversity and excellence?
Pool of candidates may be too homogeneous
• Partly true
• Perceptions vs. realities
• Perceptions may result from focus on single
criterion
• Schemas about us
• Who we want
Shaw & Stanton (2012). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1743), 3736-3741.
5
Single Criterion
• Within your discipline, think of a criterion
that sometimes excludes candidates.
• Discuss at your tables.
6
Beyond the Pipeline
Research suggests that expressed attitudes and explicit
discrimination have been reduced in US society…
Bobo, Kluegel, & Smith (1997). In Tuch & Martin (Eds.), Racial Attitudes in the 1990s: Continuity and Change. (pp.
15-42). Westport, CT. Praeger.
Dovidio & Gaertner (2000). Psychological Science, 11, 315-319.
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/ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, 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: Unconscious 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 rapid, but sometimes inaccurate,
processing of information.
• often conflict with consciously held or
“explicit” attitudes.
• change based on experience/exposure.
Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu (2002). J Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902.
Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald (2002). Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6(1), 101-115.
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
Present in
faculty
searches
• Implicit Association Test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Dovidio & Gaertner (1998). In Eberhardt & Fiske (Eds.), Confronting racism: The problem and the
response (pp. 3-32). Newbury Park: Sage.
Dovidio & Gaertner (2000). Psychological Science, 11(4), 315-319.
Fiske (2002). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11(4), 123-128.
Heilman (1980). Organizational Behavior and Human Performance(26), 386-395.
Sackett, DuBois, & Noe (1991). J Applied Psychology, 76(2), 263-267.
Valian (1998) Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 280.
10
Schemas Affect Evaluation & Performance:
Faculty Interviews
I don’t walk into a classroom expecting that, especially, my white
students, and particularly my white male students, will
automatically accept that I’m a scholar in my area. My white
colleagues can do that. And I think a lot of students come in
expecting that “Oh, a black professor. I’m not going to learn that
much about anything that’s real.”
I think my white colleagues can teach about lettuce heads for like a
whole semester, and that’s got nothing to do with what they’re
supposed to be teaching and it’s automatically assumed that, really
the knowledge is there, but this may just be sort of an eccentric
person. I could not get away with that. Not at all. No. (AfAm, W,
SS)
Chesler, Young, & Beale. (2013). Faculty identities and the challenge of diversity:
Reflections on teaching in higher education. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 57.
11
Schemas Affect Evaluation & Performance:
Resume Studies
Identical Resumes
Numerous studies show
that schemas affect
evaluation and
performance.
12
Evaluation of Identical CVs
For a faculty position:
• Male and female psychology professors
recommended for hire “Brian” over “Karen”
as an assistant professor (2:1).
For an undergraduate lab manager position:
• Male and female science professors rated
male applicants more competent, more
hireable, more suitable for mentoring, and
offered higher salaries.
Identical Application
Packages
Karen
Brian
For sales, administrative support, clerical and
customer services positions:
• Similar findings for “Jamal” and “Greg”
Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999). Sex Roles, 41(7/8), 509-528.
Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman (2012). PNAS 109(41), 16474-16479.
Bertrand & Mullainathan (2003). American Economic Review, 94(1), 991-1013.
13
Evaluation of Identical Resumes:
Sexual Identity
• Pairs of matched resumes sent
for 5 different occupations in 7
different states
– Overall, 40% fewer call backs for
gay applicants
Treasurer in Gay
Student Organization
Treasurer in
Environmental Student
Organization
– Largest difference in Ohio, Texas,
Florida (as compared to California,
New York, Nevada and
Pennsylvania)
Tilcsik (2011) American J of Sociology, 117(2), 586-626.
Additional Resource:
Weichselbaumer (2003). Labour Economics, 10, 629-642.
14
mother
Evaluation of Identical Resumes:
Parental Status
father
Active in Parent Teacher
Association
“nonmother”
Active in Parent Teacher
Association
“nonfather”
When evaluating equally qualified same-gender job applicants,
Mothers…
Fathers…
•were rated as less competent and less
committed to paid work than nonmothers.
•were rated as more committed
to paid work than nonfathers.
•were less likely to be recommended for
hire, promotion, and management, and
were offered lower starting salaries than
nonmothers.
•were offered higher starting
salaries than nonfathers.
Correll, Benard, & Paik (2007). American J of Sociology, 112(5), 1297-1338.
15
Musical Auditions: Gender
Records from major US
symphony orchestras from
1970-1996:
• 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%.
Goldin & Rouse (2000). The American Economic Review, 90(4), 715-741.
16
Exactly how do schemas affect the
careers of women and underrepresented minorities?
Letters of Recommendation for Successful
Medical School Faculty Applicants
Differences
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 & Psenka (2003). Discourse & Society, 14(2), 191-220.
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U-M Examples of Doubt-Raisers
• Hedges: "Of the three Indian ladies we have here this
year, she is perhaps the best."
• Faint Praise: "My overall impression is that when xx is
motivated she brings enormous talent and energy and
is very productive."
• Irrelevancies: "Over the past few years, she has
learned to balance her intensity with more fun."
• Personal Life: "XX is also a devoted wife and mother
of two children who manages these responsibilities
efficiently, so that she can achieve the scholarship
she desires."
19
Race Penalty in Grant Success
Independent Investigator Award (R01)
Probability
30%
25%
Black or African American
White
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
‡
• 83,188 NIH grant applications from
40,069 individuals from 2000-2006.
• Differences in funding rate persists
even after controlling for education
and training, previous NIH
experience, research productivity,
and other factors.
Ginther et al., (2011). Science, 333, 1015-1019.
Wenneras & Wold (1997). Nature, 387, 341-343.
20
Student Evaluation of Teaching Credibility:
Sexual Identity
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 five times as many
critical comments as the “straight” instructor.
Instructors who are members of minority
groups may be perceived as less credible
instructors.
Russ, Simonds, & Hunt (2002). Communication Education, 51(3), 311-324.
21
Student Evaluation of Teaching Credibility:
Race and Gender
A woman of color faculty member says:
“I think the first thing is to set the tone in the first class session that you are in
charge. Don’t ever let that slip, because the moment you do, because you are a
person of color, you will never regain that. It’s a cliche to a certain extent that if you
are a person of color you have to come doubly prepared, because you get
challenges in classroom settings that your peers simply won’t ever get.”
A white male faculty member says:
“Are there things I can do in the classroom because of who I am that I can get
away with that other people can’t? Absolutely. Fabulous things. Oh my G-d! I can
make errors, I can make mistakes, I can have a bad day, I can be disorganized. I
can use terms incorrectly, which most people of color can’t use, or they’d be nailed
– not only by the majority students but also by the minority students.”
22
Impact of Schemas on Leadership
• With single sex groups, observers most
often identify the person at the head of
the table as the leader.
• With mixed sex groups
– a male seated at the head of the table is
still most often identified as the leader.
– a female seated at the head of the table
is identified as the leader only half as
often as a man at the head of the table is.
Porter & Geis (1981). Gender and nonverbal behavior (pp. 39–61). New York: Springer Verlag.
23
Biased Leadership Outcomes
Positions of Leadership for Asians/Asian Americans
20
percent
15
% Membership
10
% Leadership
5
0
National
Institutes of
Health
Federal
Scientists and
Engineers
US Life
Scientists
Stereotypes about East Asians show
that competence is accepted, but
warmth and dominance are not.
Berdahl & Min. (2012). Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority
Psychology, 18(2): 141-152.
Burrelli (2011). InfoBrief, NSF 11-303, 1-8.
Jeang (2011). Telephone Interview.
Mervis (2005). Science 310, 606-607. (Updated from
http://www.asbmb.org/Page.aspx?id=102&terms=governance)
http://dpcpsi.nih.gov/council/roster.aspx
Being “white” is positively associated
with leadership
Rosette, et al. (2008). J Applied Psychology, 93(4), 758-777.
Sy, et al. (2010). J Applied Psychology, 95(5), 902-919.
24
Schemas Affect Performance:
Stereotype Threat
• Being in a situation in which one could be seen or judged
in terms of negative group schemas (stereotypes).
• Many studies show that stereotype threat causes
underperformance, that it can be manipulated by
circumstances
– In terms of performance, motivation, and career choices
Steele, Spencer, & Aronson (2002), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 379-440.
Stone, Lynch, Sjomeling, & Darley. (1999). J Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1213-1227.
Stroessner & Good. (n.d.). ReducingStereotypeThreat.org. Retrieved September 9, 2013, from
http://www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/
25
Test Performance by
Stereotype Threat Condition
20
Mean Items Solved
18
16
14
12
10
Black
8
White
6
4
2
0
Threat
No Threat
Aronson, Lustina, Good, Keough, Steele, Brown. (1999). J Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 29-46.
Spencer, Steele, & Quinn. (2005). J Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4-28.
Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: And other clues to how stereotypes affect us. New York: Norton.
Steele & Aronson (1995), J Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797.
26
Math Test Accuracy
Math Test Performance of
Asian American Women
Stereotype
Lift
Stereotype
Threat
• questionnaire given
before test “primes” for
a particular identity
• greater effect on
those who care the
most
Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady (1999). Psychological Science, 10(1), 80-83.
27
Schemas and Their Effects
From Your Experience
• We have discussed examples of schemas and how they may
affect evaluation as well as performance.
• Can you tell us a story about a time when personal identity has
affected others’ interactions with you or someone you observed
(positive or negative)?
Class
Age
Race / Ethnicity
Nationality
Ability Status
Gender
Sexual Identity
Discipline
Parent Status
Religion
Region You Live In
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Accumulation of Advantage and
Disadvantage…
Some of these examples 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.
Casadevall & Handelsman (2014). mBio 5:1-4.
Merton (1948). Antioch Review, 8, 193-210 and (1968). Science, 159, 56-63.
Valian (1998). Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 280.
29
Unless we take action,
the cycle reproduces itself
Schemas and
Lack of critical mass
Evaluation
bias
Lowered
success rate
Stereotype
threat
Accumulation of
disadvantage
Underestimation
of ability
30
What Can We Do?: The Top Ten
#1 – Build an Effective Search Committee
• Require and reward a high level
of commitment.
• Include people openly committed
to diversity and excellence.
Include women and minorities
when possible. Remember to
take account of this service when
making other assignments.
• Be aware of unconscious bias, stereotype threat, and the
challenges of evaluation (e.g. train committees via STRIDE
workshops).
32
#2 – Actively Develop a Diverse Pool of
Applicants
Recruiting begins before you have a position.
• 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.
33
#3 – Define Your Search as
Broadly as Possible
• English Department … excited to consider a broad range
of areas of specialization.
• Philosophy Department: Area of Specialization (AOS):
Open. Area of Competence (AOC): Open. The Department
is open to the possibility of interdisciplinary appointments.
• Anthropology Department …faculty positions in
sociocultural anthropology, rank open…
• Physics Department …considering applications in all
areas of physics represented in the department…
See purple handout.
34
Define Your Search as
Broadly as Possible
•
•
Job description should include as many areas as possible
Consider broadly defined searches with one committee for all positions
60%
5
Before Open Searches (AY01 AY04)
50%
40%
Change in
outcomes for
one UM
department
3
2
30%
20%
10%
Using Open Searches (AY06 AY09)
34/year
15/year
“Open [broadlydefined]
searches led to
both a larger
number of
applicants AND
a more diverse
applicant pool.”
0
0%
Female Applicants
Female Hires
URM Hires (Male)
35
#4 – Ask for Information
You Need from Applicants
• To ensure efficiency of search process
– Provide a template or checklist with clear instructions for
applicants.
– Clearly describe the audience for their application (e.g.,
faculty from other areas).
36
#5 – Make Sustained and Conscious Efforts to
Counter Potential Evaluation Bias
Be aware of evaluation bias. Make sure your
committee works to actively counteract it.
• Discuss and define evaluation criteria in advance.
• Design organized evaluations that combine
examination of written materials and direct contact
with the candidate.
• Consider the environment in which achievements
were made.
• Avoid global evaluations and summary rankings;
acknowledge uncertainty.
Bauer & Baltes (2002). Sex Roles, 47(9-10), 465-476.
Kahneman (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011
37
Use Specific Criteria that Value Diversity
and Excellence to Evaluate at All Stages
Please rate the candidate on each of the following:
Potential for (evidence of) scholarly impact
Potential for (evidence of) research productivity
Potential for (evidence of) research funding
Potential for (evidence of) collaboration
Fit with department’s priorities
Ability to make positive contribution to department’s climate
Potential (demonstrated ability) to attract and supervise diverse graduate students
Potential (demonstrated ability) to teach and supervise diverse undergraduates
Potential (demonstrated ability) to be a conscientious university community member
Potential (demonstrated ability) to mentor diverse students
http://www.umich.edu/%7Eadvproj/CandidateEvaluationTool.doc
38
#6 – Provide a Welcoming Environment
During the Interview
• Try to interview more than one female/minority candidate to
avoid the effects of solo status/‘tokenism’.
• Treat all applicants as valuable scholars and educators, not
representatives of a social group.
• 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.
• Ask the candidate whom s/he would like to meet.
Heilman (1980). Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 26(3), 386-395.
Huffcutt & Roth (1998). J Applied Psychology, 83(2), 179-189.
39
# 7 – Encourage Circumstances that Will Allow
You to See the Candidate at Their Best
• Provide information well ahead of the visit regarding
schedule, expectations, audience, Q&A culture, etc.
• Manage the visit – identify a host who can set the tone
for each activity or event.
• Invite people to job talk to maximize diversity.
• Provide a good introduction at the seminar, stressing
candidate’s expertise.
• Consider altering undesirable cues in the environment.
Latu, I. M., Mast, M. S., Lammers, J., & Bombari, D. (2013). J of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 444-448.
Sekaquaptewa & Thompson (2002). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(5), 694-707.
40
Show Off the Department as It Is or You
Would Like It to Be, Not as It Once Was
Who belongs?
41
#8 – Ensure That All Candidates Know About Dual
Career Support and Family Friendly Policies
• Your unit should provide an information packet to all
candidates with U-M and School/College policies.
• Be aware that dual career support from the Provost’s
Office is available to domestic partners of faculty recruits
regardless of marital status or sexual identity.
• Department Chairs and Associate Deans request
assistance through their Deans as part of the recruiting
process.
• Support for dual careers enhances both recruitment and
retention of all faculty.
42
Dual Career Services at U-M
In 2013-2014, the dual career staff
in the Provost’s Office, LSA, and
Medicine/Engineering responded to
total of 248 requests for assistance
placing partners.
Of the 96 cases handled by the
Provost’s Office, 59 of the partners
were offered positions and 37
accepted (a success rate of almost
40%)
43
Be Sensitive to the Unique Challenges
Faced by LGBT Candidates
LGBT candidates know:
•Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual individuals are
not protected by federal EEO regulations.
•As of June 2013, valid marriages are recognized for federal purposes,
including immigration.
•The State of Michigan does not recognize same-sex couples.
•The State of Michigan permits single LGBT individuals to petition to
adopt but prohibits joint adoption.
We also want LGBT candidates to know that the University
makes efforts to overcome this climate:
•Benefits are provided to “Otherwise Qualified Adults”.
•Offers can include support for legal needs.
44
#9 – Consider Only Job-Relevant Criteria
• Interviews should only evaluate qualifications that are
relevant to a faculty position – questions about matters
that are not job relevant (e.g., family status) are not
appropriate.
• Search Committee should not seek or discuss
information about the existence of a dual career partner
or family status of the candidate.
• Chart of appropriate and inappropriate questions is
available on your STRIDE jump drive and on the
University HR website:
http://www.hr.umich.edu/empserv/department/empsel/legalchart.html
45
The Unintended Consequences
of Personal Questions*
*Actual situations derived from an ADVANCE survey of
UM candidates who withdrew from searches or turned
down offers.
46
The Unintended Consequences
of Personal Questions
Do you have a partner
who will be coming on the
visit and might want to
learn more about job
options in Ann Arbor?
UM faculty
member
The university and my department
are really supportive of your
partner’s job search.
This is a friendly department, where
everyone helps one another out.
Job
candidate
47
What the candidate actually infers and
says…
“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.”
UM faculty
member
I don’t have a twobody problem.
Job
candidate
48
The Unintended Consequences
of Personal Questions
Do you have school-aged
children or will you want to
learn more about schools
in Ann Arbor during your
visit?
UM faculty
member
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.
Job
candidate
49
What the candidate actually infers and
says…
“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.”
UM faculty
member
No.
Job
candidate
50
...So What Should I Do?
What if a candidate mentions a dual career issue
or asks about family life/schools in Ann Arbor?
• Answer the question asked.
• Do not ask questions to gather further
information from the candidate.
• As necessary, identify other resources outside
the search committee.
51
#10 – Recruit the Selected Candidate
After a candidate is
selected, aggressive
recruiting begins.
Now, all factors relevant to
attracting the candidate to
Ann Arbor and UM should
be discussed.
52
Negotiation
• Negotiation process should convey that the goal
in deciding the terms of the offer is to create
conditions for success.
• Provide all candidates with a complete list of
items to discuss in the course of negotiations.
This list will vary by field, and should include
those items that will maximize the likelihood of
candidate success in that field.
53
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.
• Work with colleagues to create a culture in which new
faculty will thrive and succeed.
• The ADVANCE Program can help.
http://advance.umich.edu
Phone: (734) 647-9359
E-mail: advanceprogram@umich.edu
54