Task Force on Women Faculty

1
Task Force on Women Faculty

• Report for the Advisory Committee on Faculty
  Well-Being
• August 28, 2008

2
Task Force Charge

• Develop proposals for actions that NCSU can
  implement to increase the number of women faculty
  in areas where they are under-represented and to
  ensure a climate and working environment that is
  attractive and welcoming to female candidates and
  current faculty.

3
Some Numbers (2006)

• Women
• 14 of department heads (200815/66 23)
• 18 of tenured faculty
• 38 of not-yet-tenured faculty
• 51 of non-tenure track faculty
• African American, Native American, Hispanic Women
• 2 of tenured faculty (30 women)
• 7 of not-yet-tenured faculty (21 women)

4
Numbers Vary Widely Among Colleges

• Women most under-represented in
• CALS
• Natural Resources
• Engineering (pipeline is big issue)
• Management
• Veterinary Medicine
• Design
• More female asst professors than share of US
  Doctorates in
• PAMS (pipeline issue), Textiles

5
Non-Tenure Track Faculty

• 55 of female faculty were non-tenure track
• 26 of male faculty were non-tenure track
• Includes many job titles
• Average over 5 years at an institution
• Almost 2/3 are full-time employees
• Full-time get benefits, participate in governance
• Part-time do not
• Teaching track multiyear contracts, salaries
  and benefits similar to tenure track

6
Retention of Assistant Professors

• Women at 31 higher risk of leaving before tenure
  than men
• High risk in first three years and year 7
• Tenure success rates similar for women and men
  for those who are considered

7
Insights from Faculty Surveys

• Best predictor of interest in leaving NC State is
  level of satisfaction in the department
• Women, African American, and Hispanic faculty
  more likely to have considered leaving than
  others
• Jobs for spouses and partners were listed as
  contributing factors by faculty who left
• Spousal/partner hiring cited by men and women
  junior faculty as important but ineffective at
  NCSU

8
Work and Personal/Family Life

• About 1/3 of women TT/T faculty dont think their
  department environment enables work/life balance
• Almost half of women TT/T faculty have difficulty
  managing work-related demands
• Odds of high stress are 9 times higher for those
  who say family leave time is important
• Odds of high stress are inversely related to
  perceived level of department support for
  work/life balance
• Odds of high stress increase with number of hours
  worked per week

9
Child Care and Family Policies

• Parental leave, family leave, tenure clock
  flexibility, child care on or near campus seen as
  very important by both men and women
• Childcare viewed as important to success but
  ineffective at NC State

10
Major Drivers of Change

• Increase number of women in academic leadership
  positions
• Educate current leadership in developing and
  supporting diverse faculty
• Identify and eliminate barriers and create
  policies and practices that support gender
  diversity

11
Recommendations Provost

• Set university goal to increase female and
  minority tenured faculty 10 per year
• Create top-off fund to allow departments to
  recruit at assoc rather than asst professor level
• Assess and modify spousal hiring program to
  improve effectiveness
• Emphasize and reward achievement of diversity
  goals by deans, department heads
• Create endowed professorships involving mentoring
  faculty in position description
• Create task force on increasing STEM pipeline

12
Recommendations ADVANCE

• Leadership training series for faculty women
  focusing on academic leadership
• Annual leadership retreat for women and minority
  faculty
• Department heads workshop series on enhancing
  department climate
• Annual retreat for dept heads, deans on building
  inclusive climate, promoting faculty success
• Faculty council (senior faculty) studying
  unrecognized bias, applying insights to their
  colleges

13
Recommendations Non-Tenure Track Faculty

• Use teaching or research professor ranks
  w/comparable salary as TT positions
• Examine feasibility of converting long-term
  lecturers to TT or teaching track positions
• College plans determining appropriate balance
  between NTT and TT positions
• Minimum of 1-year contract for NTT faculty

14
Recommendations Other Units

• Track progress and report annually
• Create fund to support modified duties when
  flexibility is needed
• Lactation rooms and non-gendered bathrooms in new
  and renovated buildings
• Study possibility of shared faculty positions
• Expand faculty recruiting materials and training
• Child care center

15
Recommendations Implemented

• Automatic tenure clock extension for family
  medical circumstances
• Create job search service for spouses/partners of
  new and prospective faculty
• Brochure about work/life policies, programs
• HR website on work/life resources
• Child care center on Dix campus
• Forum for search committee chairs Oct 14, 2008