Cost Benefits

ADVANCE Auburn:SEM Transformation

Through “Small Wins”

National Science Foundation - PAID

Program ParticipantsDr. Donna L. Sollie, PI

Dr. Overtoun Jenda, Co-PIDr. Marie Wooten, Co-PIDr. Dan Svyantek, Co-PIDr. Alice Smith, Co-PI

Dr. Toni Alexander, Faculty AssociateMs. Daydrie Hague, Faculty Associate

Regina Halpin, ConsultantRobin Taylor, Consultant

Bonnie Wilson, ConsultantKristin Cullen, Graduate Student AssistantKatie Gunther, Graduate Student Assistant

Rachel Birmingham, Graduate Student AssistantVictoria Brown, Graduate Student Assistant

Ozge Sumer, Graduate Student Assistant

Gender Inequities

Academia particularly S&E disciplines remain inhospitable to

the representation and advancement and inclusion of women (Bilimoria et al., 2008).

Gender Inequities

Systematic, historical and widespread inequities persist at

every stage of the academic pipeline: hiring, tenure, promotion

and leadership.

National Academies’ Report: Beyond Bias and Barriers

What needs to change?

Transform structures and culture

Work practices

Character of the workplace

Social Schemas: bias

Benefit of Change

Create a workplace that is supportive and motivating for all

its employees, not just women and other minority groups.

NSF ADVANCE IT

“fund innovative programs to result transforming practices, policies, climate and culture”

National Science Foundation, 2005

“Small Wins Approach”

Transforming a workplace through a series of small positive changes used to improve the working environment for those who are disproportionately

affected by unsupportive and inconsiderate practices in the

workplace.

Meyerson et al., 2000

AU - PAID

To determine the Cost Benefits of the NSF ADVANCE Programs.

To develop a framework for understanding how organizations can enable gender equity through use of

small wins.

Purpose Seek in depth information from ADVANCE institutions

concerning their conception, implementation, effectiveness, longevity, time and personnel investment, and short-term and long-term costs.

Identify initiatives that have proven to be cost effective and beneficial, and determine the costs/benefits ratio of “small wins” practices.

Capture and disseminate information on “small wins” best practices so that others in the Advance Community can benefit from our collective knowledge.

Assessment

“What was done”

Check web sites

NSF-mandated annual reports

Publications

Survey of Initiatives Mentoring programs were the most common initiative,

followed by family-friendly policies such as family leave beyond FMLA.

Many institutions also had initiatives to promote leadership opportunities and professional development (leadership training, tenure and promotion workshops, etc.).

Very few institutions have programs to facilitate women’s participation in key academic committees.

Very few have theater programs to foster communication.

Grouping of Initiatives

Recruitment and hiringSearch committee training

Dual hiringMentoring

Research funding and resourcesFamily friendly policies

Professional Development for WomenLeadership Opportunities

Method

Survey created to rank perceived costs/benefits of identified initiatives.

E-mail sent to program PI, describing the goal of the survey, and inviting

participation.

Non-response follow up after two weeks.

Programs Surveyed

Total of 73 Advance IT and PAID Programs Contacted

A total of 36 institutions responded14 PAID and 22 IT

49.3% response rate

Institutions that Responded Cal Poly Pomona DePauw University Furman University Grand Valley State University Hunter College Gender Equity Project Idaho State University Marshall University Michigan Technological University New Mexico State University New Mexico State University North Dakota State University Ohio State University Oklahoma State University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rutgers University University of Alabama University of California - Irvine

University of Colorado-Boulder University of Delaware University of Miami University of Missouri - Columbia University of Montana University of Nebraska-Lincoln University of Nevada Desert Research

Institute University of North Carolina-Charlotte University of Oklahoma - Norman Campus University of Puerto Rico-Humacao University of Rhode Island University of Texas-El Paso University of Washington University of Wisconsin-Madison Utah State University Vassar College Virginia Tech Washington State University Wayne State University

Survey Scoring

29 itemsRate perceived costs and benefits of various initiativesOpen-ended responses included as well

Initiative

Perceived COST Perceived BENEFIT

Very Low Cost

Low Cost

Moderate Cost

High Cost

Very High Cost

Very Little Benefit

Low Benefit

Moderate Benefit

High Benefit

Very High Benefit

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

X +/- SD X +/- SD

Results : High Benefit / Low CostInitiative Cost Benefit C/B

  Mean Mean Ratio

Facilitating women’s participation in key academic committees 1.67 3.77 2.26Publicizing family friendly policies 1.81 3.91 2.15Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty understand the promotion and tenure process 2.06 3.94 1.91

Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty understand the culture of their department 2.08 3.92 1.89

Informational lecture series/distinguished lectureships by senior women from the university 1.79 3.32 1.86

Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty understand the culture of their university 2.13 3.81 1.79

Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty balance work and personal life 2.16 3.81 1.76

Grant writing/publication workshops which provide sample materials 2.24 3.89 1.74

Facilitating the use of family-friendly policies 2.5 4.33 1.73

Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty understand teaching in this field 2.08 3.6 1.73

Mentoring programs to help women and minority faculty understand research in this field 2.12 3.58 1.69

Training for search committees on best practices in hiring women and minority faculty 2.42 4.07 1.68

Training to promotion/tenure committees on potential biases in evaluating women and minority faculty 2.33 3.86 1.66

Training for search committees on potential biases in hiring women and minority faculty 2.49 3.88 1.56

Formalization of exit interviews for departing faculty 2.46 3.82 1.55Advisory councils on women and minorities 2.19 3.36 1.53Training to help male faculty relate to, lead and/or mentor female faculty 2.37 3.58 1.51

Results : ContinuedInitiative

Cost Benefit C/BGender-awareness training for students Mean Mean Ratio

Searchable research interest database 2.55 3.35 1.31

Informational lecture series/distinguished lectureships by senior women from the field 3.3 4.31 1.31

Funding for research and career advancement for pre-tenured women and minority faculty 2.87 3.55 1.24

Dual career hiring policies/practices at the departmental level 3.08 3.48 1.13

Funding for departmental transformation projects 3.63 4.1 1.13

Theater techniques to foster communication 3.53 3.77 1.07Parental leave policies beyond FMLA 3.36 3.56 1.06

Funding for restarting research after a hiatus 3.58 3.79 1.06

Dual career hiring policies/practices at the university level 3.38 3.48 1.03

Funding available for targeted recruitment of women and minority faculty 3.76 3.85 1.02

Funded professorships, funding for research and career advancement for tenured women and minority faculty 4.04 3.72 0.92

Results Facilitating women’s participation in key academic committees has

the greatest benefit, relative to cost.

Publicizing family friendly policies is also highly beneficial for faculty.

Mentoring programs are also relatively cost effective and highly beneficial, the most benefit comes from programs that focus on the following:

The promotion and tenure process The culture of department (only slightly less effective/more

costly )

Results Lecture series by senior women from the university have a very low

cost relative to perceived benefits.

Mentoring programs that focus on the culture of the university and work-family balance are equally beneficial (although work-life balance is slightly more costly).

Also considered highly beneficial relative to cost were: Implementing grant writing/publication workshops. Facilitating the use of family-friendly policies. providing mentoring programs that focus on understanding

teaching.

Comments from Participants

Change takes time.

Critical mass makes a differences.

Women in senior positions changes everything.

The High Cost of Time

While many effective programs are low-cost in terms of operational expenses, they require much time and dedication.Course buy-outs for grant PIFull-time administrative staffCourse buy-outs for other faculty members

outside the grant

Interventions and Change Criteria

High Effect

Low Cost Quick

Types of Interventions

Mentoring

Family Friendly Policies

Training

Work-Life Policies

Mentoring

Promotion and tenure process

Teaching in discipline

Research in discipline

Balancing work and personal life

Mentoring—Best Practices

External mentor program for pre-tenure faculty

Group mentoringGroup mentoring for women interested in

leadershipInformal mentoring through networks

developed on seed grants

Family Friendly Policies

Parental leave

Dual-partner hiring

Publicizing family-friendly policies

Training Interventions

Facilitating women’s participation in key

academic committees

Grant-writing and publication workshops which provide sample materials

Committee trainingHiringPromotion/tenure

Work-Life Policies

Websites to access policies Modified duties policies which benefits both men and

women Array of new work-life policies New child care facility Spousal-partner employment or accommodation Campus wide Quality of Work-Life Council

Recommendations:

Support for a transformation team including senior faculty leaders and administrators, focused on comprehensively tackling the issues of women’s under-representation.

Combination of top-down and grassroots change efforts to remove barriers constraining women and to improve the academic climate.

Recommendations:

Broader dissemination of information on available gender equity resources, using multiple communication channels.

Institutionalized data collection and reporting techniques across Advance institutions.

Bilimoria et al., 2008

Challenges and Next Steps:

“An organizational transformation project is an incubator for generating ideas and initiatives and testing them for their feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.”

“Future empirical research should attempt to identify the specific circumstances and structures needed for effective gender equity solutions within a comprehensive change project.”

References Bilimoria, D., Joy, S. & Liang, X. (2008). Breaking barriers and

creating inclusiveness, lessons of organizational transformation to advance women faculty in academic science and engineering, Human Resource Management 47:423-441.

Heylin, M. (2005). Salaries and jobs: Chemists with jobs post solid pay gains, but prognosis for chemical job market remains murky, Chemical & Engineering News 83: 41-44.

Meyerson, D.E. & Fletcher, J.K. (2000). A modest manifesto for shattering the glass ceiling, Harvard Business Review 78: 127-135.

Acknowledgements

Christine CurtisProfessor Chemical Engineering

Alice HoganNational Science Foundation