Retaining and Advancing Women Faculty NDSU ADVANCE FORWARD Donald Schwert Center for Science and Math Education North Dakota State University Canan Bilen-Green

Retaining and Advancing Women Faculty

NDSU ADVANCE FORWARD

Donald SchwertCenter for Science and Math Education

North Dakota State University

Canan Bilen-Green

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering






Canan Bilen-Green



3

Outline

• NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Program

• NDSU Advance FORWARD

• Goals and Major Project Components

• Retention and Advancement of Women Faculty

4

NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Program

• Funding for comprehensive and sustainable institutional transformation to increase participation of women faculty

• 49 ADVANCE Institutions– 2001; 9 – 2003; 10– 2006; 13– 2008; 9 (including NDSU)– 2010; 8 more funded in 2010

5

Genesis of the Project

*AAUP Report, Curtis and West, 2006N = 1445 universities; data from US Ed Dept and AAUP

% Tenure-line % Tenured % Full Professor

Women Men Women Men Women Men

*Average 45 55 31 69 24 76

*Associate

53 47 47 53 47 53

*Bachelor’s

47 53 36 64 29 71

*Master’s 47 53 35 65 28 72

*Doctoral 41 59 26 74 19 81

NDSU 2006

36 64 10 90 7 93

6

Genesis of the Project

A relatively narrow and quite leaky pipeline –

So what?

7

Genesis of the ProjectUniversities seeking to tap top

talent pools NEED to pay attention

to the progress of this large

segment of the labor force in order to enhance

institutional performance.

8

Percentage of NDSU Women Tenure-Line Faculty by Rank

92-93 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-070%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

24%

36%39% 40% 41% 42%

12%11% 11%

15% 16%19%

5% 5% 6% 6% 8% 7%

%Assistant %Associate %Full

Before FORWARD

Early FORWARD

9

NDSU Climate and Women Faculty

• Several work-life surveys revealed that women faculty

– Reported higher stress levels than male faculty

– Struggled with work/life balance more than male faculty

– Scored lower on work environment than male faculty

– Rated climate lower than male faculty

– Spent significantly more time on their teaching and service than male faculty

• No significant differences between STEM and non-STEM faculty

10

North Dakota State University’s Advance FORWARD Project

• Campus climate

• Faculty recruitment

• Faculty retention and advancement

• Leadership opportunities

11

Major Project Components

NDSU Advance FORWARD

Executive Director and Project Staff

Internal Advisory Board External Advisory Board

Steering Committee

ResearchCampus Climate Advancement/Leadership

v Unstructured spaces v Interventions into climate v Programs to recruit, retain,

and advance v Role of critical mass in

climatev Gender and productivityv Mentoring and reverse

mentoringv Women in leadership

EvaluationInternal & External

v Faculty recruiterv Advocates and Allies Programv Gender/equity awareness

education/training for§ Academic administrators§ Faculty

v Grant programs§ Climate/gender equity

research§ Department climate initiative

v Cohort mentoring program for junior faculty

v Mid-career mentoring program

v Professional development grant programs § Course Release § Leap § Leadership Development § Mentor Relationship

Travel

Dissemination Activities

FORWARD Team

NDSU Administration

External to NDSU FORWARD Administration

Key:

Implementation Group

Academic Deans and Department Chairs/Heads

Commission on the Status of Women Faculty

Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs

12

Evaluation

• NSF 12 Indicator data collection

• Faculty work-life survey and academic administrator survey

• Evaluation of workshops and lectures, mentoring and grant programs

• Resigned faculty interviews

• Interviews with women who are full professors

• Focus groups with associate professors

13

FORWARD Advocates & Allies

• FORWARD Advocates & Allies is a group of male faculty interested in supporting women faculty members in departments, colleges, and the university. Advocates and Allies are active proponents of gender diversity and equality in their units.

• Men trained to date: 65

14

Junior Faculty Mentoring Program

• New faculty cohort mentoring program and mentor training

– Same gender mentoring groups are composed of 4-5 new faculty and 2 senior faculty (expanded to include male and non-STEM faculty)

– Groups meet monthly from first-year through third-year review process

– Planned activities offered once per semester (e.g., scholarly writing, teaching assessment)

– Two annual workshops with outside experts

15

Junior Faculty Mentoring Speakers

Gender & the Evaluation of Teaching: What We Can't Count Can Hurt Us- pedagogical lunch, workshop for PTE committee members

Joey Sprague

Rising Above Cognitive Errors: Tips for Promotion, Tenure and Evaluation, Good and Bad Practices related to job searches and review processes- pedagogical lunch, workshops for chairs, deans, female faculty, PTE committees

JoAnn Moody

Networking workshop for female faculty

Bonnie Coffey

How to Feel as Bright as Everyone Thinks You Are: Why Smart Women (and Men) Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and What to Do About It- pedagogical lunch

Valerie Young

16

Junior Faculty Mentoring Program:Evaluation

• Mentees agree that the mentoring program has increased their sense of connection across campus and in the community, and are satisfied with the mentoring experience

• Women are less likely than men to agree that the mentoring program increased their comfort level with the promotion and tenure process at NDSU

• Female faculty mentees preferred female mentors but male faculty mentees preferred mixed groups

• All groups mutually found the experience valuable

• Time and scheduling were reported to be the greatest challenges

17

Mid-career Mentoring Program

• Funds to create peer, mid-career mentoring teams, which may be interdisciplinary

• Teams meet informally once a month and include at least two women but can be mixed gender

• Includes twice-yearly formal meetings with academic administrators

• Funding to teams to assist in purchasing items needed to meet the mentoring goals of the group

18

Promotion to Professor Panels

• Promotion to Professor Panel Series

− Recently Promoted Professors, Department Chairs, PTE

Committee Members

• Panels are informing faculty about how/when to apply for professorship

– Participants somewhat agreed that their understanding of

the process and criteria for promotion to full professor

improved (81.2%)

– Participants somewhat agreed that they acquired new skills

and/or information about determining when they are ready

to apply for promotion to full professor (73.5%)

19

Grant Programs

• Promote the advancement of tenure-line women faculty

• Major grants involve external reviews; internal committees

• Offer information sessions

• Mentor travel relationship, course release, leap research, lab renovation, and leadership development

20

Travel, Course Release, Climate/Gender, Leadership, and Leap Awards 2008-2010

• As of summer 2010, those awards have translated into

– 19 articles under review,

– 6 articles accepted for publication,

– 22 grants submitted and under review, and

– 6 grants funded.

68 faculty received FORWARD awards totaling of

$633,114

21

Grant Programs: Evaluation

• Grant/award recipients we surveyed agreed to some extend that their participation have had a positive impact on their

– decision to remain at NDSU (85.4%),

– tenure and/or promotion process (87.8%),

– career advancement (80.5%), and

– experience of the NDSU campus climate (78.0%).

22

92-93 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

24%

36%39% 40% 41% 42% 42% 44% 44% 42%

12%11% 11%

15% 16%19% 20%

23%

31% 29%

5% 5% 6% 6% 8% 7% 7% 7% 7%

%Assistant %Associate %Full

Before FORWARD

Early FORWARD

NDSU Advance FORWARD

Percentage of NDSU Women Tenure-Line Faculty by Rank

10%

23

Percentage of NDSU Tenure-Line STEM Faculty by Gender

06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-110%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

14% 16%20% 21% 21%

86% 84%80% 79% 79%

%Women %Men

Early FORWARD

24

New Faculty Orientation: Enhancing Department Climate Session

• Offered in 2008, 2009, and 2010

• Participants generate ideas on

– barriers to promoting a positive department climate

– helpful aspects to promoting a positive department climate

• Participants somewhat agreed that

– their knowledge of how to promote a positive climate at

NDSU increased (100%)

– they have acquired new skills, information, or

understanding about gender and climate at NDSU (100%)

25

Impact on Climate

• Grant/award recipients:

– agreed to some extent that their participation in the FORWARD award/grant

program(s) enhanced their experience of the NDSU campus climate

(78.0%)

• Mentees somewhat agreed that being in the cohort mentoring program has:

– increased their sense of connection with other faculty (100%)

– decreased their sense of isolation on the NDSU campus (71%)

• Mentors somewhat agreed that being in the cohort mentoring program

– has increased their sense of connection with other faculty on campus (75.1%)

– felt that they were mentored during the cohort mentoring process (50.0%)

– had a positive impact on their own experience of the climate at NDSU (56.3%)

26

Retention Progress

• Grant/award recipients agreed to some extend that their participation in the award/grant program(s) had a positive impact on their decision to remain at NDSU (85.4% )

• Retain/promote women assistant professors – 2008-09: 8 women associate professors (8 of 20

promotions)– 2009-10: 5 women associate professors (5 of 17

promotions)– 2010-11: 8 women associate professors (8 of 18

promotions)

• 2010 COACHE survey: NDSU is one of top four institutions in clarity of expectations for tenure

27

Promote/Advance Progress

• Promote/advance women associate professors

– 2008-09: 1 woman professor (1 of 13 promotions)

– 2009-10: 6 women professors (6 of 12 promotions)

– 2010-11: 3 women professors (3 of 12 promotions)

• Work-life survey revealed no significant difference

between male/female faculty

– perceptions of research time

– regarding perceptions of ability to collaborate

• Mentees agreed that being in the mentoring program

increased their comfort level with the promotion/tenure

process (74.2%)

28

Policy Related Work

• Spouse/Partner Hire

• Policy 103 – formal search for all positions

• Department equity award

• Faculty Service Award

• Childbearing leave

• Modified duties

• Tracking compliance with policies

• Student Evaluation of Teaching

29

Impacts

• Increased the number of women full professors

• Increased the number of advanced women associate professors to consider promotion

• Enhanced research productivity

• Initiated revision of current policies and new policies

• Stimulated conversations about climate

• Increased the number of women in leadership roles

• Increased the number of women faculty

• Fostered greater interest in engaging in issues

30

Conclusion

• Universities seeking to tap top talent pools need to pay attention to the progress of women faculty in order to enhance institutional performance.

• Through ADVANCE IT framework, changes in policy, attitude, and outlook have begun to take place.

• NSF ADVANCE guidelines are a good resource for other institutions interested in IT.

31

Thank You…

32

Additional Slides

33

Mentor Relationship Travel Grant

• Provide funds to offset costs of meeting with mentors from outside NDSU to build long-term professional mentoring relationships

– Travel costs associated with meeting a mentor

– Travel costs associated with bringing a mentor to NDSU

34

Course Release Grants

• Provides funds for one-semester release from teaching responsibilities

• Open to tenure-line women faculty in STEM disciplines

• Budget cap: Cost of teaching replacement

• Awardees are expected to submit manuscripts (peer reviewed)

35

Leap Research Grants

• Provides research grants to seed successful grant proposals

• Open to tenure-track and tenured women faculty in STEM disciplines

• Proposals reviewed by external researchers; internal committee

• Awardees are expected to submit proposals, manuscripts

36

Barriers to Women’s Advancement

in the Academic Ranks• “the chilly climate”

― committee assignments

― support roles

• empirical evidence of gender bias

― overrating of men; under-rating of women

• “the gendered organization”

― work policies evolved from life experience of traditional male bread-winner, but now . . .

37

• coincidence of biological and tenure clocks

― the “glass floor”; the “second shift”; the “invisible job”; the “hidden curriculum”; and a “catch 22”

• a variety of remedies

− Mentoring

− Policy

• critical mass

― 35-40% women needed to overcome perceived tokenism and extra scrutiny

Barriers to Women’s Advancement

in the Academic Ranks





Canan Bilen-Green







Canan Bilen-Green







Canan Bilen-Green



Documents

Retaining and Advancing Women Faculty NDSU ADVANCE FORWARD Donald Schwert Center for Science and Math Education North Dakota State University Canan Bilen-Green