An evidence-based faculty recruitment workshop influences departmental hiring practice perceptions among university faculty

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-11-2018-0215
• Published date: 11 March 2019
• Pages: 188-210
• Date: 11 March 2019
• Author: Denise Sekaquaptewa,Koji Takahashi,Janet Malley,Keith Herzog,Sara Bliss
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

An evidence-based faculty

recruitment workshop influences

departmental hiring

practice perceptions among

university faculty

Denise Sekaquaptewa and Koji Takahashi

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Janet Malley

ADVANCE Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Keith Herzog

NUCATS Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and

Sara Bliss

ADVANCE Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Abstract

Purpose –Many university programs seek to promote faculty diversity by reducing biases in hiring

processes. The purpose of this paper is to conduct two studies to test the individual- and department-level

impact of a faculty recruitment workshop (FRW) on faculty attitudes toward evidence-based, equitable

hiring practices.

Design/methodology/approach –Study 1 included 1,188 faculty who had or had not attended an FRW.

Respondents were surveyed about their attitudes and their intentions to use specific equitable search

practices. The authors assessed the proportion of faculty in each department to test for the impact of

department-level workshop attendance on individual faculty attitudes. Study 2 employed a similar design

(with 468 faculty) and tested whether effects of workshop attendance are explained by changes in beliefs

about social science research.

Findings –Faculty had more favorable attitudes toward equitable search strategies if they had attended a

workshop or if they were in a department where more of their colleagues had. Workshop attendance

also increased intentions to act on two of three recommendations measured, and led to greater belief in

evidence-based descriptions of gender biases. Some evidence suggested that these beliefs mediated the

influence of the FRW on attitudes.

Research limitations/implications –Because faculty were not randomly assigned to attend the

workshop, no strong claims about causality are made.

Practical implications –The present studies demonstrate that an evidence-based recruitment workshop

can lead faculty to adopt more favorable attitudes toward strategies that promote gender diversity in hiring.

Originality/value –These studies provide evidence of the role of belief in social science research evidence in

explaining the effectiveness of a program designed to increase faculty diversity.

Keywords Organizational culture, Women, Recruitment, Psychology

Paper type Research paper

Diversity in group settings has been found to be related to improved performance and

decision-making, innovation and creativity (Ely and Thomas, 2011; Page, 2007, 2017),

suggesting that in the university context, greater faculty diversity can enhance institutional

excellence in teaching and scholarship and benefit an increasingly heterogeneous student

body (Stewart and Valian, 2018). Therefore, many colleges and universities have developed

initiatives, including training workshops for faculty search committees, to increase the

representation of women and underrepresented racial-ethnic minority (URM) faculty.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 38 No. 2, 2019

pp. 188-210

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-11-2018-0215

Received 16 November 2018

Revised 16 November 2018

Accepted 7 December 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

188

EDI

38,2

Although hiring trends are typically tracked and training workshops evaluated by

attendees, there is less understanding of the psychological factors that lead to the attitude

and behavior change among attendees that could ultimately increase faculty diversity.

Greater understanding of these factors would help inform the development of effective

faculty diversity initiatives. In this paper, we examine the role of education about social

science findings and principles in shaping specific attitudes and behavioral intentions

among faculty search committee members, which highlights the importance of basing

faculty search training workshops on compelling scientific evidence.

Initiatives to increase faculty diversity and their evaluation

Many higher education institutions have focused on increasing fac ulty diversity,

particularly in disciplines where there are substantially fewer women and/or faculty of

color. The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) ADVANCE Program is offered to “increase

the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers,

thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse scientific and engineering

workforce”(ADVANCE at a Glance, 2018). In particular, the ADVANCE Institutional

Transformation grant program supports initiatives designed to increase the representation

of women faculty in STEM fields through efforts to escalate their hiring, promotion and

retention. To date, more than $270m has been invested by the NSF to support ADVANCE

projects at more than 100 institutions in 41 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico

(ADVANCE at a Glance, 2018).

At odds with the expanse of the ADVANCE program is evidence suggesting that

programs to increasediversity may fail outright or fail to be sustained. Much of this research

focuses on “diversity training”or bias reduction workshops in corporations and businesses.

Several factors have been identified that lead such programs to fail. For example, the use of

top-down effortsto control behavior that reduce feelings of autonomy in decision-makers can

result in backlash against diversity initiatives (Dobbin and Kalev,2016). In addition, singular

reliance on seemingly objectivebases for decision-making such asjob qualification tests often

fail, because they can be misused by managers unaware of their own biases such that they

discount the performance of women and people of color(Rivera, 2012). Use of these strategies

has resultedin negative gains in diversity(Dobbin and Kalev, 2016).Fortunately, this research

has also revealed factors that lead to greater success; forexample, increasing engagement of

an organization’s constituents in diversity matters can leadthem to feel personally investedin

these issues. Other positive factors include promoting intergroup contact, which improves

perceptions of the competence of women and people of color, and increasing social

accountabilityby using diversity taskforces and diversity managersthat ask questions about

employment decisions. Use of these strategies has also been shown to increase diversity and

reduce bias (Dobbin et al., 2015; Kalev et al., 2006).

Because faculty search training programs may not always follow these

recommendations, evaluation of their effectiveness is critical. Therefore, ADVANCE

initiatives and programs are evaluated not only to solicit suggestions for improvement, but

also to test whether they are effective in achieving a more diverse faculty. The effectiveness

of these programs can be assessed in several ways. Most obviously, one may evaluate

changes in the numbers of white female and URM faculty hired as a result of the training.

One study tested this following a three-step intervention on members of faculty search

committees in STEM at a large public university in the USA. Faculty search committee

members who were randomly assigned to the intervention group heard a short presentation

of social science research on gender bias, received a “faculty search toolkit,”and their job

finalists were provided with a “family advocate”to discuss dual career issues and family

friendly policies during their interview visit. Those assigned to the control group simply

engaged in the university’s standard human resources training for search committees.

189

Evidence-

based faculty

recruitment

workshop