panel on advancing women of color in academia:...

Valerie E. Taylor, Alice M. Agogino, Edward Lazowska, and Lydia Villa-Komaroff

ASEE 122nd Annual Conference & Exposition

Washington Convention Center Seattle, WA

June 16, 2015

Panel on Advancing Women of Color in Academia: Seeking Solutions

SEEKING SOLUTIONS Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia

Summary of a Conference

BACKGROUND •  “Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by

Advancing Women of Color” held June 7 & 8, 2012 •  Support from the National Science Foundation’s

ADVANCE Program •  Summary published in 2013 and the overview in 2014 •  Summary, Overview with highlights of presentations

and data, as well as a set of slides available at:

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/cwsem/minoritywomen/index.htm

The views expressed are those of individual conference participants and do not necessarily represent the views of all conference participants, the planning committee, the National Research Council, or the sponsor.

CAREER PATHWAYS OF WOMEN OF COLOR DONNA GINTHER AND SHULAMIT KAHN

Analyzed national data to identify the representation of women of color along educational and career pathways in STEM fields. •  Women of color are less likely than white women to

•  Graduate from college •  Obtain a PhD in science and engineering •  Obtain a tenure-track job in a non-minority-serving institution

•  Women of color are more likely than white women to •  Be employed in a non-tenure-track position •  Be employed at a minority-serving institution

Taken from Seeking Solutions: Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia. Summary of a Conference. National Academies Press, 2013.

WHERE ARE WOMEN OF COLOR LOST

•  WoC graduate from high school at about the same rate as white women (~14% in 2010)

•  WoC start college at rates similar to their high school graduation rate

•  But 40% of WoC leave college before graduation

•  A similar % of WoC who complete college graduate in STEM fields as do their white peers (19% vs 21%)

•  BUT only 6.8% (vs 18.6% for white women) go on to achieve a PhD


WHERE ARE WOMEN OF COLOR SYLVIA HURTADO, Director, Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), UCLA

• Data from HERI’s national faculty survey represent 11,039 STEM faculty, including 272 women of color, at 673 four-year colleges and universities

• WoC disproportionately occupy positions with the least power and authority

.


WORK-LIFE BALANCE AND SOURCES OF STRESS SYLVIA HURTADO

SOURCES OF STRESS •  Lack of personal time (86.4%) •  Self-imposed high expectations (82.4%) •  Managing household duties (79.0%) •  Working with underprepared students (69.9%) •  Institutional budget cuts (66.0%) •  Personal finances (65.8%) •  Research or publishing demands (61.8%)


BIASES FACED BY WOMEN OF COLOR JOAN WILLIAMS, Center for Work-Life Law at the College of Law, UC Hastings

•  Some biases that all women face:

•  A discrepancy in explanations for success: women’s successes tend to be attributed to transient or external causes (e.g., luck), whereas men’s successes are attributed to skill.

Attribution bias

•  Women’s mistakes are taken more seriously and remembered longer than those made by men and rules are applied rigorously to women and leniently to men.

Recall and leniency biases

•  Exceptionally highly achieving women receive higher evaluations than exceptionally highly achieving men, while women who performance is “excellent” receive much lower evaluations than men performing similarly.

Polarized evaluations


BIASES FACED BY WOMEN OF COLOR Preliminary findings: experiences of people affected by gender and racial biases simultaneously

• African American women are judged more harshly than are white women or of African American men when they make mistakes

• African American women are expected to fail, but when they do not, the reason is assumed to be charity rather than merit.

• Hispanics appear to be subject to assumptions of even lower competence than African American women

• Hispanic women are also assumed to be new immigrants, with the associated negative class and competence biases


BIASES FACED BY WOMEN OF COLOR Preliminary findings (cont)

• Asian American women tend to be viewed as either technically competent but lacking in leadership abilities, or as passive and therefore less competent.

• Williams also described another form of bias—the “maternal wall,” or gender bias triggered by motherhood.

• This is an order of magnitude stronger than any other form of bias

• Motherhood provokes very strong negative assumptions about an individual’s competence and commitment.

.


PRACTICES OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES TO INCREASE WOC *

1.  Establishment of boards and committees (including diversity office) within its governance structure to focus on issues of women of color and address their challenges

2.  Creation of professional development programs (including mentoring programs)

3.  Creation of programs and awards that support women of color by providing travel funds, scholarships, research grants

4.  Promotion, endorsement, and conduct of surveys and studies to improve the collection and evaluation of data on women of color

5.  Inclusion of “diversity” in the professional societies’ mission, core values and strategies

6.  Programs to help improve institutional climate in academia, to initiate, or to sponsor diversity events


* By frequency mentioned

7.  Development of partnerships among professional societies, with federal agencies, universities and other entities

8.  Engagement of students in the pipeline and increase in recruitment and retention activities

9.  Recognition of women of color’s achievements and accomplishments; and encouragement of nominations of women of color for awards/memberships

10.  Integration of training and networking opportunities into the societies’ meetings

11.  Engagement of women of color in leadership positions 12.  Federal programs to increase recruitment and retention of women and

minority groups in the workforce 13.  Dissemination of effective practices and successful program experiences


PRACTICES OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES TO INCREASE WOC

CLOSING REMARKS SHIRLEY MALCOM, AAAS •  There is a need for data disaggregated by race, sex, discipline, citizenship, and other traits,

because we cannot change what we do not understand.

•  Mentors, sponsors, and coaches are critical. Today, young women of color do not have to become something they have never seen. Senior women have a responsibility to make the path visible and easier for junior scholars.

•  We encourage publications by encouraging publishing with others as well as building

broader partnerships.

•  Scholars must make and nurture professional connections. Women of color must regularly attend the major conferences in their fields and expand their professional networks.

•  Women of color in tenure-track positions must make sure that they understand the policies and procedures that will guide their advancement in the academic community. They must ask department chairs about the requirements for moving up and taking leadership roles.

•  Institutions need to ensure that the selection of faculty is more equitable throughout the

recruitment and advancement processes.


CLOSING REMARKS SHIRLEY MALCOM, AAAS

Additional issues that need attention: •  The importance of career transition points in the education and careers of

talented women of color.

•  The need for transparent institutional policies—for example, in hiring and promotion.

•  The need to raise awareness of unconscious biases.

•  The twin needs to (1) obtain focused, additional data (qualitative as well as quantitative), and (2) move ahead to solutions knowing what we know.

•  The need for federal agencies to fund more research on gender and/or race targeting select populations.

•  Overall, the need for a “toolkit” that can be customized to each institutional and personal context.

I

Alice M. Agogino Data from UC Berkeley

SEEKING SOLUTIONS Maximizing American Talent by Advancing Women of Color in Academia

UCB Campus, Diversity Pipeline*, AY2014-15

5606 1628 919 405 47225

5619 61 49 96

65 132 342

8240 828

286

331 6954

1846 19 21 20

18 14 73

3113

546 197

155 10718

1061 14 15 21

11 5 52

1291

982 285

34 1460 2002 697

31 2274 398

191 116

7487

1472 18 12 24

26 25

87

7355 1062 283

148

5779

3055 31 26

28

38

44

136

5662 1917 1169 355

49599 9626 123 99 138 189

402 828

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

UC

B B

ach.

UC

B M

ast.

UC

B PhD

s

UC

B Prof.

Degr.

US PhD

Pool

UC

B Fac.

Appl.

New

UC

B

Fac. Hires

UC

B A

ssist.

UC

B A

ssoc.

UC

B Full <6

UC

B Full 6+

All U

CB

Faculty

White Women Asian Women URM** Women Int. Women Int. Men URM** Men Asian Men White Men

Sources: UCB Degree File, 2009-10--2013-14; Survey of Earned Doctorates (US, PR, 2008-2012); UCB APRecruit, AY 2012-12—2014-15; Faculty Personnel Records, AY2010-11—Spring 2014-15. Faculty data as of 4/30/2015.

*All data (degrees, pool, & faculty #) are cut to campus level. Unknown gender/race/ethn. are excluded from pool analysis. Includes multiple appointments and part-time faculty. **URM=African American, Native American, & Hispanic.

UCB Faculty College of Engineering*, AY1995-96--2014-15

12

12

11

12

11

12

16

17

18

19

21

21

22

23

23

23

25

26

26

25 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 8 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 13 13 13 13 12 13 12 31 29 29 29 31 33 35 36 36 40 42 43 44 48 46 45 46 46 48 46

147

147

149

153

157

164

163

169

161

161

155

148

149

150

154

146

143

143

148

147

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

White Women Asian Women URM** Women URM** Men Asian Men White Men

Sources: UCB Faculty Personnel Records, AY1995-96--2014-15. Faculty headcount data as of 4/30/2015.

*Includes multiple appointment & part-time faculty. **URM=African American, Native American, & Hispanic.

UCB College of Engineering, Diversity Pipeline*, AY2014-15

205 168 91 2346 254 3 3 5 5 12 25

560 129 33

919 133 1

1 2

2 4 9

70 43 15

474 17 2

1 1

1 3 95

187 67

376

534 340

228

66 38

1011 98 1

2

6 4 12

2121

293 112

2043 574

6 4

7

15 20 46

997 416 249

8313 850

18 14

12

48 73 147

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

UC

B B

ach.

UC

B M

ast.

UC

B PhD

s

US PhD

Pool

UC

B Fac.

Appl.

New

UC

B

Fac. Hires

UC

B A

ssist.

UC

B A

ssoc.

UC

B Full <6

UC

B Full 6+

All U

CB

Faculty

White Women Asian Women URM** Women Int. Women Int. Men URM** Men Asian Men White Men

Sources: UCB Degree File, 2009-10--2013-14; Survey of Earned Doctorates (US, PR, 2008-2012); UCB APRecruit, AY 2012-12—2014-15; Faculty Personnel Records, AY2010-11—Spring 2014-15. Faculty data as of 4/30/2015.

*All data (degrees, pool, & faculty #) are cut to decanal level. Unknown gender/race/ethn. are excluded from pool analysis. Includes multiple appointments and part-time faculty. **URM=African American, Native American, & Hispanic.

Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine, National Academies

•  Sara J. Frueh, Rapporteur; Committee on Career Outcomes of Female Engineering Bachelor s Degree Recipients

•  Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine; Policy and Global Affairs

•  National Research Council; National Academy of Engineering

Catherine Didion, Study Director Donna K. Ginther, Consultant Shulamit Kahn, Consultant, Wei Jing, Research Associate Sara Frueh, Communications Writer

PROJECT STAFF

Other Resources

Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York, 2011 Steele, Claude M. Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. WW Norton & Company, New York, 2010 (Issues of Our Times, series editor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.) Banaji, Mahzarin R. and Greenwald, Anthony G. Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. Delecorte Press, New York, 2013 Sandberg, Sheryl. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2013

Thank You!

Full Report: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18556/seeking-solutions-maximizing-american-talent-by-advancing-women-of-color Overview: http://naswebcontent.nas.edu/cs/groups/pgasite/documents/webpage/z2ff/mdg3/~edisp/pga_087842.pdf

To access or download the report online

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