UAB ADVANCE: A Study of
Faculty At Mid-career
Wendy Gunther-Canada, Principal Investigator
Richard Shewchuk, Co-principal Investigator
and
UAB ADVANCE Steering Committee: Claire Peel,
Jean Ann Linney, Lowell Wenger, Linda Lucas,
Louis Dale, Scott Snyder, and Sherry Pigford
Introduction
To date, there has been little research on women faculty at the rank of
associate professor. Throughout the nation women faculty are
clustered in the lowest academic ranks of instructor and assistant
professor. For women who have earned tenure and promotion to
the rank of associate professor there are new demands to fulfill in
department and university life and additional research expectations
for a successful candidacy for promotion to full professor. Today
less than twenty percent of the full professors at doctoral
institutions are women. Among UAB ADVANCE units (the Schools
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral
Sciences and Engineering), this percentage is closer to 16%.
Study Design
•Tenured women in the Schools of Engineering, Natural Sciences and
Mathematics, and Social and Behavioral Sciences were invited to participate
as key informants.
•Our research was guided by a series of questions aimed at assessing the
impediments to steady progress to promotion to full professor for women.
Questions
(-)
(+)
What sorts of things interfere with career development of
female faculty at the associate professor level?
What sorts of things could be done to overcome the
barriers that interfere with career development of female
faculty at the associate professor level?
Question
Development
Participants
Associate
Professors
Full
Professors
Group1
n =8
- Question
Group1
n =5
Group 2
n =7
+ Question
Group 2
n =5
Nominal Group Technique
Methodology
•
•
•
•
Structured, multi-step group process
Lead by trained facilitator
Elicits and prioritizes responses to a question
NGT Steps:
• Silent generation of ideas
• Round-Robin recording of ideas
• Serial clarification
• Vote on item importance / Ranking
NGT Voting Process
• Weighted ballots/cards
(3, 2, 1)
• Each ballot assigned a
different number of votes
(3= 3 votes, 2= 2 votes,
etc)
• Participants voted on 3
most important responses
• Final group product:
ranked list of responses
Rank Order
Item
Votes
Total
1.
1,1,2
4
2.
2,2,2
6
3.
1,1,3
5
4.
2,2
4
5.
…
…
RESULTS
(-) Most important problems that interfere with career development for
female faculty at the associate professor level
(Associate Professor Perspective)
(Generated responses: 48 Responses endorsed 14)
# of Votes
Votes
Total
Votes
% of Total
Votes
5
2
2, 3, 3, 3, 3
3, 3
14
6
29.17%
12.50%
3
2
1, 2, 2
2, 3
5
5
10.42%
10.42%
Framing women's contribution of work as lower or diminished by those in power; More suspicious
about actual quality of women and their work as they move up the ladder; Female faculty's work is
scrutinized more closely, especially if working with males; Disappointment from the lack of
appreciation that results from the application of different standards depending on gender
(Combined Response)
2
Persistent emotional harassment from chair
2
1, 2
1, 2
3
3
6.25%
6.25%
Women have small and less prestigious professional networks
1
3
3
6.25%
Women are less willing to deal with and engage in conflict
Productivity/Publication "Gap"
Too much mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students;
Women at this level have more frequent advising and directed readings roles which 'eat up time'
(Combined Response)
Having too many leadership responsibilities
1
1
2
2
2
2
4.17%
4.17%
1
1
1
1
1
1
2.08%
2.08%
Fatigue & burnout result in women not wanting to work at a pre-tenure pace (Combined Response) 1
1
1
2.08%
Biases that limit chair and leadership position opportunities for women
Motivation undermined by differential compensation and smaller bonuses for women, an effect
that increases over time
Total
1
1
1
2.08%
1
15
1
1
48
2.08%
100.00%
Responses
Increasing family responsibilities; Work-family balance; Caring for aging parents; Physical
constraints on sabbatical options; Desire to raise kids well; Being a single parent; Changes in life
status and conditions that occur at this stage in life (Combined Response)
Forced change in research interests
Too many formal/institutional service responsibilities; Excessive committee assignments (Combined
Response)
Need for re-tooling of outdated technical skills
(-) Most important problems that interfere with career development for
female faculty at the associate professor level (Professor Perspective)
(Generated responses: 21 Responses endorsed: 11)
# of
Votes
2
Votes
Assigned
3,3
6
Percentage of
Total Votes
20.00%
Experiencing the pervasive belief that the innate abilities of women are viewed as not
being equal to those of their male counterparts
2
2,3
5
16.67%
Having a sense of isolation and loneliness due to limited professional and social
networking opportunities
3
1,2,2
5
16.67%
Having women value the incentives (rights and privileges) that accompany promotions
as less important
1
3
3
10.00%
Not having follow-up support after initial hiring facilitated by Advance-type initiatives
Women often hold lower expectations for themselves
1
1
3
2
3
2
10.00%
6.67%
Being viewed by students in a more informal, less respectful manner in contrast to
how males are viewed
1
2
2
6.67%
Focusing on needs of students rather than publication production
1
1
1
3.33%
Having excessive committee assignment -- given that every committee seems to need
female representation
Not having appropriate mentors
1
1
1
1
1
1
3.33%
3.33%
1
15
1
1
30
3.33%
100.00%
Responses
Having family care responsibilities
Finding it difficult to travel for extended periods of time (for sabbaticals)
Totals
Sum of
Votes
(+) Most Important Facilitator Strategies –Things could be done to overcome the
barriers that interfere with career development for female faculty at the associate
professor level (Associate Professor Perspective)
(Generated responses: 28 Responses endorsed: 14)
Responses
# of Votes Votes
Total
Votes
% of Total
Votes
Take comprehensive action based upon concerns raised during focus groups
3
3, 3, 3
9
21.43%
Ensure department chairs treat all faculty fairly and above board in all respects
Remove any administrator with a reputation/record of complaints for oppressing/harassing female
faculty outside of legal action
3
3
1, 2, 3
1, 1, 2
6
4
14.29%
9.52%
Ensure all faculty have leave/sabbatical opportunities to pursue research
Implement a policy/framework that promotes the inclusion of women in interdisciplinary and
interlevel groups
2
1
1, 3
3
4
3
9.52%
7.14%
Encourage administration at all levels to take a stand on gender training issues
Identify a ‘powerful female’ mentor for monthly meetings to address a broad spectrum of needs
including assisting in setting priorities
1
1
3
2
3
2
7.14%
4.76%
Examine the Advance program carefully in light of its unintended consequences.
1
2
2
4.76%
Ensure that deans provide oversight of how chairs how treat female faculty regarding promotion
and distribution of responsibilities
1
2
2
4.76%
Nominate women for awards
Ensure that faculty have a voice in university policy that affects them, especially with respect to
work load issues
1
1
2
2
2
2
4.76%
4.76%
Increase internal funding for faculty mid-career research transitions at both the university &
department levels
1
1
1
2.38%
Incorporate service activities in the compensation/reward structure
Provide the same compensation for similar type of work performed
Total
1
1
21
1
1
1
1
42
2.38%
2.38%
100.00%
(+) Most Important Facilitator Strategies --Things that could be done to
overcome the barriers that interfere with career development for female
faculty in general at the associate professor level (Professor Perspective)
(Generated responses: 24 Responses endorsed 12)
Responses
Provide effective mentoring by senior female faculty, not necessarily a female, and/or by
senior person in your academic discipline, not necessarily internal
Do something to make the advancement of women important to the senior men in the
department/university
Create clear, explicit, and consistent guidelines for promotion at all levels to avoid
loopholes
Require bi-annual review of progress towards promotion by the department's promotion
committee
Votes
Assigned
# of Votes
Sum of
Votes
Percentage of
Total Votes
2
3,2
5
25.00%
2
3,2
5
25.00%
1
3
3
15.00%
2
1,2
3
15.00%
Stress the importance of their promotion to the department
Facilitate collaborations that would be productive for the individual
1
1
3
3
3
3
15.00%
15.00%
Consider family commitment in the scheduling of meetings
1
2
2
10.00%
Provide information about alternative career paths, e.g.-how to move into administration
Provide more research support for all mid-level faculty
1
1
2
1
2
1
10.00%
5.00%
Prohibit assistant professors from serving as department and/or program director
Increase transparency of promotion process in an effort to create trust, allowing females
to believe that achieving full professor status is possible
Develop and increase awareness about creative opportunities for professional
development and sabbatical opportunities for those who can't leave due to family
commitments
1
1
1
5.00%
1
1
1
5.00%
1
1
1
5.00%
20
100.00%
Totals
11
Conclusions
• Emerging themes from NGT research:
– Productivity issues surrounding work-family
conflict
– A need for transparent and equitable policies
regarding promotion to full professor
– A need for focused faculty development
– Impaired networking opportunities
Recommendations
• To increase visibility and support for women
associate professors who have demonstrated
meritorious achievement in teaching, research, and
service.
– Address microclimate issues at departmental
level.
– Analyze Career trajectories of mid-career faculty.
– Encourage effective mentoring programs for
faculty at mid-career.
– Initiate and implement family friendly policies to
support women at mid-career.
Future Plans
• Future Nominal Group Technique sessions will be
scheduled with associate and full professor men to elicit
problems and strategies at mid-career.
• The co-investigators have discussed looking at racial
distinctions at mid-career.
• The principal investigators have discussed collaboration
with other ADVANCE institutions using NGT sessions.
– Additional sampling of professors at other institutions
using the web-based platform for NGT assessment.
– Integrating multi-institutional data to develop other
assessment (e.g. cognitive mapping and ranking tasks)