Future Faculty Hiring Initiative

Tanya Golash-BozaAssociate Professor of Sociology

UC Merced@tanyaboza

Why is diversity at UC Merced important?

UC Diversity Statement

Diversity is a defining feature of the University of California and we embrace it as a source of strength. Our differences — of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic status, abilities, experience and more — enhance our ability to achieve the university’s core missions of public service, teaching and research. We welcome faculty, staff and students from all backgrounds and want everyone at UC to feel respected and valued.

Diversity leads to more…• Creativity• Innovation• Problem-solving• Advances in knowledge

What are your goals?

• What are some ways that diversity makes your program better or unique?

• How do you think diversity could make a positive contribution to your department?

• When it comes to diversity, what are your program’s goals?

Women faculty at UC Merced

Lecturers Asst Profs Assoc Profs Full Profs0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

UC Merced Fall 2015 Students

Undergraduate Graduate

African Amer-ican5%

Asian24%

Hispanic48%

White13%

Other10%

African American3%

Asian33%

Hispanic12%

White43%

Other9%

Professor Associate Assistant Lecturers0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Percentage of faculty who are under-represented minorities at UCM

Latino/a faculty at UC Merced?Latino/as at UC Merced• 11.7% of lecturers• 12.2% of Assistant Profs• 8.9% of Associate Profs• 8.9% of Full Profs

– 48.5% of Undergraduate students at UC Merced are Latino/a

UC Berkeley• 5.5% of faculty are Latino/a,

compared to 17% of students.

Black Faculty at UC Merced?

• 4 lecturers• 3 Assistant Professors• 2 Associate Professors• 0 Full Professors

373 teaching faculty

Does faculty diversity matter?

• To UC Merced?• To your department?• To your students? • To you?

• Now, let’s discuss what prevents us from hiring faculty who are representative of our student body.

Implicit Bias

• “We all like to think that we are objective scholars who judge people solely on their credentials and achievements, but copious research shows that every one of us has a lifetime of experience and cultural history that shapes the review process.” (Fine & Handelsman, 2006).

Are tall people more qualified?

• In the U.S. population, about 14.5 % of men are six feet tall or more. Among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that number is 58 %.

Are Emily and Brendan more employable than Lakisha and Jamal?

Are men more professional?

• A study of over 300 recommendation letters for medical faculty hired by a large U.S. medical school found that letters for female applicants differed systematically from those for males. Letters written for women were shorter, raised more doubts, portrayed women as students and teachers while portraying men as researchers and professionals (Trix & Psneka, 2003).

Implicit bias

• We all make judgments of others based on irrelevant criteria such as race, ethnicity, accent, gender, and sexual orientation – even when we try not to do this.

How does implicit bias work in the academy?

• https://vimeo.com/160807787

How might implicit bias affect your hiring practices – screening, interviewing?

Institutional bias

• In 1978 Barbara Christian becomes the first Black woman to be granted tenure at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Berkeley was founded in 1868

2% of all full professors at very-high-activity research universities are black.

This is not (just) a crisis of supply

• There was a 43% increase in the number of black PhDs between 2000 and 2010, yet only a 1.3% increase in black faculty appointments at traditionally white institutions during that time.

• UC System: In 1995, 9.9% of hires were under-represented minorities. In 2004, 9.4% of hires were. In 2013, this declined to 9.0%.

If we do nothing, UC Merced faculty will become LESS diverse

• A study of 689 searches at 3 large elite public universities revealed that 47% of under-represented faculty hires & 86% of hires of blacks had one of these features:– Job focused on diversity (i.e. AfAm Lit)– Target of opportunity– Racially diverse search committee

• Of these 689 Searches, the 511 that paid no attention to diversity only led to 3 hires of African Americans and 0 hires of Native Americans.

What does work?

• Appoint a search committee that represents a diverse cross section of the faculty

• Broaden your search pools: Most fields have listservs, groups, and other resources that can help you identify or reach qualified underrepresented candidates

• Agree on evaluation criteria prior to reviewing candidate

• UC Merced is developing a Faculty Equity Advisor program, and FEAs help you conduct your searches

What are we going to do about this?

• Faculty Equity Advisors– Help constitute Search Committees– Explain best practices to Search Committees– Advise on broader PhD pool availability– Help evaluate Contribution to Diversity

Statements– Ensure that candidate pools match broader PhD

pool

What are we going to do about this?

• Administrative support– Additional funds to advertise in spaces where we

are likely to find candidates who can make contributions to diversity.

– Additional funds to bring candidates to campus if the short list is diverse.

– Target of excellence hiring initiatives.• UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

What are your ideas for moving

forward?