Faculty Recruitment Workshop: Strategies and Tactics for Recruiting to

Increase Diversity and Excellence

ADVANCE Program at the University of Michigan

Denise Sekaquaptewa Jennifer Linderman Department of Psychology Department of Chemical Engineering

September 13, 2013

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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?

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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 – at both undergraduate and graduate levels

Carrell, Page, & West (2009). National Bureau of Academic Research.(14959), 1-42.

Hale & Regev (2011). Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper, (2011-19).

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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). 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.

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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.

Shaw & Stanton (2012). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1743), 3736-3741.

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Beyond the Pipeline

Research suggests that overt prejudice or old-fashioned bigotry has 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 – Research also shows that we all – regardless of the regardless of the social groups we belong tosocial groups we belong to – perceive and treat people – perceive and treat people differently based on their social groups (racedifferently based on their social groups (race/ethnicity, , gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.).gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.).

We are We are allall subject to unconscious bias. subject to unconscious bias.

Valian (1998) Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women. Cambridge: MIT Press, p. 280.

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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.

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Schemas do…

• allow rapid, if sometimes inaccurate, processing of information.

• often conflict with consciously held or “explicit” attitudes.

• change based on experience/exposure.Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald (2002). Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6(1), 101-115.

Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu (2002). J Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878-902.

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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)

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.

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Schemas Affect Evaluation & Performance

Numerous studies show that schemas affect evaluation and performance: some examples…

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Evaluation of Identical Resumes: Race

• Applicants with African American-sounding names needed to send 50% more resumes to get a callback than applicants with white-sounding names.

• White-sounding names yielded as many more callbacks as an additional eight years of experience.

Greg

Jamal

Bertrand & Mullainathan (2003). American Economic Review, 94(1), 991-1013.

Identical Resumes

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Evaluation of Identical CVs: Gender

For a Faculty Position:

• Male and female psychology professors more likely to 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.

Brian

Karen

Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman (2012). PNAS 109(41), 16474-16479. Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke (1999). Sex Roles, 41(7/8), 509-528.

Identical Application Packages

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Evaluation of Identical Resumes:Sexual Orientation and Gender

• Pairs of matched resumes sent for 5 different occupations in 7 different states

– Overall, 40% fewer call backs for gay applicants

– Largest difference in Ohio, Texas, Florida (as compared to California, New York, Nevada and Pennsylvania)

Treasurer in Gay Student Organization

Treasurer in Environmental Student Organization

• A similar resume study for law students applying for internships in Canadian law firms

– Gay applicants received fewer offers

– More pronounced for gay female applicants than for gay male applicants

Adam (1981) The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 18(2), 216-221.Tilcsik (2011) American Journal of Sociology, 117(2), 586-626.Weichselbaumer (2003). Labour Economics, 10, 629-642.

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Blind Auditions: Gender

Records from major US symphony orchestras from 1970-1996:

Goldin & Rouse (2000). The American Economic Review, 90(4), 715-741.

• 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%.

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

represented minorities?

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Letters of Recommendation

• Read two examples of letters of recommendation.

• How do the letters differ? Identify a few phrases that stand out as helpful or not helpful.

• At your table, briefly discuss with neighbor.

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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 & Psenka (2003). Discourse & Society, 14(2), 191-220.

Differences

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Racial Bias in Grant Applications

• 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.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

R01

Aw

ard

Pro

bab

ilit

y

Black or African American

White

‡

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Impact of Parent Status

Correll, Benard, & Paik (2007). American J of Sociology, 112(5), 1297-1338.

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 Parent Teacher Association

“nonmother”

mother

Active in Parent Teacher Association

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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 530% 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.

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Impact of Schemas on Leadership

• With single sex groups, person at head is identified as the leader.

• With mixed sex groups, a different outcome is observed.

Porter & Geis (1981). Gender and nonverbal behavior (pp. 39–61). New York: Springer Verlag.

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Biased Leadership Outcomes

0

5

10

15

20

National Institutes of

Health

Federal Scientists and

Engineers

US Life Scientists

% Membership

% Leadership

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.

Positions of Leadership for Asians/Asian Americans

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Schemas Affect Performance: Stereotype Threat

Steele, Spencer, & Aronson (2002), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 379-440.Stone, J., Lynch, C. I., Sjomeling, M., & Darley, J. M. (1999), J Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1213-1277.

• Being in a situation in which one could be seen or judged in terms of a negative group schemas (stereotypes).

• Many studies show that stereotype threat causes underperformance, that it can be manipulated by circumstances, and that it most affects those who care the most– In terms of performance, motivation,

and career choices

• Various mechanisms

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Test Performance by Stereotype Threat Condition

Steele & Aronson (1995), J Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797. Steele, C. M. (2010). Whistling Vivaldi: And other clues to how stereotypes affect us. New York: Norton.

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Math Test Performance of Asian American women

Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady (1999). Psychological Science, 10(1), 80-83.

• questionnaire givenbefore test “primes” fora particular identity

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Schemas and Your Experience

• Recall examples of schemas and how they may affect evaluation as well as performance.

• Think of an example of someone relying on a schema, expressing unconscious bias, or experiencing stereotype threat at any stage of academic development.

• Share a quick example at your table.

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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.

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.

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Evaluation Evaluation biasbias

If We Do Not Actively Intervene, The Cycle Reproduces Itself

Accumulation of Accumulation of disadvantagedisadvantage

Stereotype threat / Stereotype threat / More difficult More difficult

environment for environment for performanceperformance

Ability is Ability is underestimatedunderestimated

Lowered Lowered success ratesuccess rate

Schemas / Schemas / Lack of critical massLack of critical mass

Institutional Inertia

Institutional Inertia

What can we do?

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#1 - Build an effective search committee

• Require and reward a high level of commitment.

• Be aware of unconscious bias and the challenges of evaluation (e.g. train committees via STRIDE workshops).

• 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.

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#2 - 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.

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#3 – Define your search as broadly as possible (“open searching”)

• Job description should include as many areas 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

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#4 – Encourage high quality applications

• Provide explicit directions for applicants.

• Be clear about the audience for applications.

• Provide a checklist with clear instructions.

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#5 – Thoughtfully Evaluate Candidates

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.

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Use a Candidate Evaluation Tool at Multiple Stages

http://www.umich.edu/%7Eadvproj/CandidateEvaluationTool.doc

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#6 - Host an Effective 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.

• Distribute family friendly policy information to all candidates before or during first visit.

Heilman (1980). Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 26(3), 386-395. Huffcutt & Roth (1998). J Applied Psychology, 83(2), 179-189.

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Encourage circumstances that will allow you to see the candidate at their best

• Provide information well ahead of the visit regarding schedule, expectations, audience.

• Ask the candidate who s/he would like to meet.

• Identify a host that can set the tone for the visit and provide a good introduction at the seminar.

• Consider the Q&A culture in your department.

• Consider cues in the environment.

Sekaquaptewa & Thompson (2002). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(5), 694-707.Latu, I. M., Mast, M. S., Lammers, J., & Bombari, D. (2013). J of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 444-448.

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Show off the department as it is or you would like it to be, not as it once was

Who belongs???

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*Situations derived from 2007 ADVANCE survey of UM candidates who withdrew from searches or turned down offers.

The Unintended Consequences of Personal Questions*

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Do you have a partner who will be coming on the visit and might want to learn more about job options in our city?

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

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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.”

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Do you have school-aged children or will you want to learn more about schools here during your visit?

This university, this department, and our faculty are family friendly.

Not only that, but our city is a great place to raise a family.

The Unintended Consequencesof Personal Questions

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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.”

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So What Should I Do?

Make sure that all candidates know about dual career support, family friendly policies, and the local community.

• Your unit should provide an information packet to all candidates.

• At Univ. Michigan, dual career support is available to domestic partners of faculty recruits regardless of marital status or sexual orientation.

• Support for dual careers enhances both recruitment and retention of all faculty.

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So What Should I Do?

What if a candidate mentions a dual career issue or asks about family life/schools in your city?

• Answer the question asked.

• Do not ask questions to gather further information from the candidate.

• As necessary, identify other resources outside the search committee.

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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 (i.e., 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.

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#7 - Recruit the Selected Candidate

After a candidate is selected, aggressive recruiting begins.

Now, all factors relevant to attracting the candidate to the university and community should be discussed.

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Unique Challenges in Recruiting LGBT Candidates (to Univ. Michigan)

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.  •There is no statewide relationship recognition for same-sex couples.•The State of Michigan permits single LGBT individuals to petition to adopt but prohibits joint adoption.

UM 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.

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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.

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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 the university has to offer.

Univ. of Michigan ADVANCE Programhttp://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/home(734) 647-9359advanceprogram@umich.edu