How to recruit a GSO faculty
that looks like America
Some research-based strategies
Supported by URI’s ADVANCE-IT NSF Grant Award# SBE 0245039
ADVANCE Resource Center
www.uri.edu/advance
[email protected]
Phone: (401) 874-9422
Fax: (401) 874-5780
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“Recruiting a diverse faculty is not a discrete
event, it’s an ongoing departmental activity.”
 Before


During
After
…a successful search
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STEM Faculty at URI
URI STEM Faculty Composition as of Spring 2006
(Rank x Gender x Racial Group, n = 290)
250
200
No Full
Professors!
150
Full Prof.
Associate
100
Assistant
50
0
White Female
Minority Female
White Male
Minority Male
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Do pre-search activities matter
in creating a fair & equitable
search?
mnmbmbm
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Search Committee: Composition
 Diversify search committee by: Gender, race/
ethnicity, social skills, behaviors, expertise…
 Why?
 To avoid similarity effects (Goldberg, 2005)
• White recruiters were more likely to favorably assess
and make job offers to White applicants
 To avoid workforce homogeneity and
employment discrimination (Petersen & Dietz, 2005)
• Research participants instructed to maintain workforce
homogeneity chose fewer applicants who were unlike
them than those participants who did not receive such
advice.
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Search Committee: Actions
 Set goals
– Focus on equity in conducting the search
– Discuss candidate selection criteria and position
description
– Brainstorm “search” practices to identify
underrepresented candidates
– Conduct an active search
– Learn the rationale, context, implementation, and
effects of Affirmative Action policies
– Don’t put junior or underrepresented faculty in an
untenable position on the search committee
– Devise a retention plan NOW
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Understand Departmental History


What worked in the past
What helped underrepresented
candidates stay, or not
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Position Definition: Dos & Don’ts for
Not Limiting Applicant Pool




Do
Write broad hiring goals
Write 2 position
descriptions – minimal vs.
desirable
Use “preferred” vs
“required” & “should”
instead of “must
Strategize support of your
new hire – cluster hiring,
collaborative networks,
and facilities
x
x
x
Don’t
Write a narrow
position description
Narrowly focus on
subfields
Demand what is
desirable beyond
minimal needs
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Advertising & Language for
Position Descriptions
Organizations which include detailed EEO
statements (see pg. 43 of handbook) – expressing
not only institutional commitment to
diversity, but also its reasons for doing so
– are rated as more attractive by
underrepresented candidates (McNab & Johnston,
2002) while leaving majority candidates
unaffected (Avery, 2003; Brown et al., 2002).
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Advertising Dos





Use proactive language (see pgs. 10 & 43 of handbook)
Use a wide array of marketing venues (such as
personal contacts, newspapers, journals, websites, listservs, &
minority caucuses in professional organizations)
Develop an information packet for interviewees
containing information (such as course-loads, research
facilities, funding information, URI & GSO strategic plans, & worklife information)
Sell the department and university to the
candidate, rather than the other way around
(Williamson, Lepak, & King, 2003)
Check departmental website
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 During the
search
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Recruiting Actively
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identify national pools of qualified candidates.
Contact individuals or institutions that are
especially successful at producing
underrepresented candidates.
Enlist colleagues to find & contact potential
candidates
Contact relevant professional organizations for
rosters of underrepresented PhD recipients
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Some helpful reminders
1.
Develop a diversity reputation: With a good
reputation, you can attract lots of
underrepresented candidates with little work
(Cox & Blake, 1991; Greening & Turban, 2000).
2.
3.
Understand tokenism: Tokens, no matter who
they are, have a reduced chance of being
hired (van Ommeren, et al., 2005).
All candidates are attracted by similar factors:
Job, institution, diversity, & recruiter factors
(Thomas & Wise, 1999).
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Broadening the Pool
Do

Avoid biases & stereotypes
(see pg. 49 in handbook)
• Gender Schema ()
• Fundamental Attribution
Error



x
x
Don’t
Inadvertently omit
candidates
Rely on a single
aggregate ranking list
(see p. 46 in handbook)
Consider a wide range of
career paths & institutions
Avoid tokenism
Make personal contacts
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Creating the Short List

Use multiple criteria to select interviewees
(see pg. 46 in handbook)



Create several short lists – rank for each
major criterion
Maintain confidentiality consistently
Evaluate yourself & the search process:
Try to include more than one
underrepresented candidate in your
medium & short lists
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The Campus Visit





Do
Give equal time to all
candidates
Interact with the candidate
in multiple ways
Use a common set of
questions & activities
Solicit input from all
colleagues
Remain aware of
unexamined biases
•
•
x
x
Don’t
Ask illegal or offensive
questions (see pg. 56 of
handbook)
Vary your level of
enthusiasm with
different candidates
Stereotype threat
Confirmation bias
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The Campus Visit (cont’d.)




Do
Familiarize yourself &
campus community with
the candidates’ work
Provide policy- & diversityrelated info to all
candidates
Connect the interviewee
with similar others not on
the search committee
Provide the candidate
opportunity to ask sensitive
questions
x
x
x
Don’t
Evaluate a candidate
based on their
demographics
Leave candidates
alone with potentially
hostile faculty
Make assumptions
based on your
preconceptions
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Negotiating Contracts:
You control the tone
 Honesty & transparency pay off (Allred, Mallozzi, Matsui, & Raia,


1997)
Appoint an advocate
Provide
• information about all negotiable items
• information about mentoring & dual-career policies
• a timeline (preferably within the offer letter) for providing all
negotiated items
 Put all negotiated items in the offer letter
 Help identify high-quality available office & lab space
 Identify responsible administrative contact person
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Final Selection
List strengths & weaknesses of each
candidate
 Include comments from a broad range of
people
 Dean & Provost make the final selection

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

The search does not end with the
offer letter; strategize the retention of
your new hire.
A successful transition is the first
crucial factor in retaining your new
hire.
ADVANCE can help!
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How ADVANCE Can Help



Serve as a resource for the search committee
Arrange lunch meeting with candidates
Provide information in a casual setting





Work-life balance
Dual-career opportunities
Mentoring programs at URI
Campus climate
Serve as a post-hire resource for junior faculty
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