Leadership Initiative for Women Faculty

Breakout Group 1: Facilitators and Barriers to Leadership Advancement for Women

Facilitators

  • Access to effective mentorship relationships
    • Many women benefit from multiple mentorship relationships to address different aspects of their careers and lives
    • Successful women often cite mentorship as one of the key drivers of their advancement
  • Access to sponsorship
  • Access to one or more individuals who “watch out for” and encourage women faculty (“You can do this”)
  • Support from others, including peers, allies, champions, family, etc.
  • Seed planting
  • Adequate time, resources, and space to focus on leadership skill development
  • Buyout time

Barriers

  • Responsibility without resources
  • Unequal service requests/service overload
  • Failure to say no/discomfort in saying no
  • Failure to address issues or concerns that women voice
  • Consistent interruptions of women during meetings
  • Attribution of ideas brought up by women to others (i.e. men)
  • Conflict due to incongruity between gender stereotypes of women and cultural stereotypes of leaders

Breakout Group 2: Opening Leadership Pipelines for Women

  • Involve senior leadership
    • Share a vision and/or statement on women in leadership from the highest levels (president, chancellors)
    • Establish and/or cultivate a culture that supports and empowers women leaders
    • Encourage, host, and/or sponsor candid conversations about women and underrepresented individuals in leadership
    • Engage in dialogue about uncomfortable issues, particularly related to underrepresented groups in leadership positions
    • Listen
    • Recognize that cultural change begins at the top
  • Use organizational change methods to create real change
    • Align reward structures to encourage women to aspire to leadership
    • Revisit/revise promotion and tenure guidelines and requirements to recognize the value of service and other activities outside of research and teaching
    • Create effective compensation infrastructure for leaders at all levels, not just in senior administrative roles
    • Create new pathways to leadership
    • Design policies and initiatives that address delegitimization of research methods more commonly used by women and underrepresented faculty (i.e. qualitative, action research, public engagement, etc.)
    • Expand opportunities to buy out time to allow women faculty to focus on leadership development
  • Enhance training for potential women leaders
    • Create a clearinghouse of programs available to faculty interested in leadership or administrative roles
    • Expand effective leadership development programs, such as UIC’s Faculty-Administrator Leadership Program (FALP), UIUC’s Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Leadership Program, or the system’s President’s Executive Leadership Program (PELP)
    • Implement zero tolerance for obstructive behavior that holds women leaders back
    • Create Bridge to Leadership programs and initiatives targeted toward women
  • Provide training for current leaders to foster the skills needed to identify and encourage women leaders
    • Both women and men may benefit from training on effectively mentoring and sponsoring potential women leaders
    • Require training for search committees to encourage consideration of women and underrepresented applicants
  • Hire and promote more women
    • Offer competitive packages for women that are comparable to those offered to men
    • Provide “trial runs” in administrative roles that enable women to experience them with limited commitment
    • Institute apprenticeship opportunities for women and underrepresented groups
    • Survey women faculty to identify those who are interested in taking on leadership roles
    • Post leadership roles internally vs. seeking external applicants
  • Advocate for women
    • Foster interventions that encourage women to aspire to leadership roles
    • Women need opportunities to become “insiders”
    • Address child care needs of women faculty, including child care needs, flex time, conscious scheduling, etc.
    • Institute a Women’s Mentor and Advocacy Award program
    • Reinstate chancellor advisory groups on women
  • Create a community for women in leadership
    • Create a group for women leaders to convene and discuss issues
    • Hold more forums and/or seminars where women can share their stories and discuss issues related to leadership and advancement, such as the Leadership Initiative for Women Faculty
    • Communicate opportunities for women faculty to make an impact outside of taking on administrative roles
    • Provide networking opportunities for women
    • Encourage women to develop ad hoc groups external to the university for community building

Other Notes

  • Many felt like this is another example of having another conversation about women in leadership, but expressed concern that nothing would be done as a result
  • Social determinants of leadership (SDoL)
  • Establish and communicate the vision for women in leadership across the University of Illinois System
    • University and system senior leadership develop and widely communicate a statement on women in leadership at all levels, including the most senior levels
    • Consider adding the statement to the system guiding principles
    • Each university creates (or reconvenes) an advisory committee of women leaders to work with senior leadership in shaping policies and procedures that empower women to advance as leaders, including participation in discussions to revise promotion and tenure guidelines and requirements to recognize the value of service and other activities outside of teaching and research
  • University and system leadership provide funding to support leadership advancement opportunities for women
    • Expand opportunities for women in internal leadership development programs, including consideration of women-only cohorts
    • Support more opportunities for women to participate in external leadership development programs and training
    • The system creates and supports a community for women in leadership across the three universities, including funding for forums and seminars where women can convene, discuss issues, share stories, and make recommendations to university and system leaders to open pipelines to leadership for women
    • The system and universities require members of search committees and those in positions that involve making hiring and promotion decisions to attend training on implicit bias and related concepts prior to participating on a search or making hiring or promotion decisions
  • The system recognizes leaders who support advancement for women
    • Establish an award program recognizing those who excel at mentoring, sponsoring, and/or advocating for current and aspiring women leaders
    • Identify individuals in leadership roles who do not actively support advancement of women and take action, such as requiring them to attend training, noting it in performance reviews, taking disciplinary action, or similar measures
  • Identify opportunities to improve inclusion efforts targeted toward transgender individuals
    • Provide opportunities for transgender individuals to voice their specific needs
    • Provide programming that meets the specific needs of transgender individuals
    • Educate the system community about the experiences of transgender individuals and how community members can create an inclusive environment in their units
  • Establish a more extensive advisory group to assist in planning future iterations of the Leadership Initiative for Women Faculty, including speaker selection

University and System Programs & Resources

External Leadership Resources for Women Faculty

Books & Articles

Crawford, K. & Windsor, L. (2021). The PhD parenthood trap: Caught between work and family in academia. Georgetown University Press.

Eagly, A. & Carli, L. (2007). Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Harvard Business Review Press.

Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead. Knopf.

Seltzer, R. (2015). The coach’s guide for women professors who want a successful career and a well-balanced life. Stylus Publishing.

Sparkman-Key, N. (2021). How to ‘boss up’ as a Black woman in academe. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 6 October 2021. https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-boss-up-as-a-black-woman-in-academe?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_3016167_nl_Academe-Today_date_20211013&cid=at&source=&sourceid=&cid2=gen_login_refresh

The Chronicle of Higher Education & Kelly Education. (2021) Key takeaways: Supporting women academic during COVID.https://connect.chronicle.com/rs/931-EKA-218/images/SupportingWomenAcademics_Kelly%20Education%20Key%20Takeaways.pdf?mkt_tok=OTMxLUVLQS0yMTgAAAF_UELGPSVugQVL1ldzNdLyFYSIqu_Rcqansh40q5iKmEIRuwegJbsbGjDnvT7w-IZyMaTZHNJdkT_4EzvhvvsP4ct-fVo12NJdzX2bWvBpyZKU

DOCUMENTED DIFFERENCES IN RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND SERVICE

In Research and Presentations

In Teaching

In Service

This information was adapted from O’Meara, Culpepper, Misra, & Jaeger (2021). Equity-minded faculty workloads: What we can and should do now. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

RESOURCES

IMPLICIT BIAS Video Series (UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)

ARTICLES

Follow the link to Box to access a copy of the articles below as well as other cited in the workshop. For information and articles on research, teaching and service among women and people of color, see the Fact Sheet.

Bias in Letters

  • Gender and racial bias in radiology residency letters of recommendation by Grimm, Redmond, Campbell, & Rosette, 2020
  • A linguistic comparison of letters of recommendation for male and female Chemistry and Biochemistry job applicants by Schmader, Whitehead, & Wysocki, 2007
  • Exploring the color of glass: letters of recommendation for female and male medical faculty by Trix & Psenka, 2003
  • Race and gender bias in Internal medicine program director letters of recommendation by Zhang, Blissett, Anderson, O’Sullivan, & Qasim, 2021

Burdens, Devaluation, and Other Obstacles for Women and People of Color

  • Underrepresented faculty play a disproportionate role in advancing diversity and inclusion by Jimenez, Laverty, Bombaci, Wilkins, Bennett, & Pejchar, 2019
  • Sink or swim: Navigating the perilous waters of promotion and tenure: What’s diversity got to do with It? by Knight, 2010
  • Temporal distance and discrimination: An audit study in academia by Milkman, Akinola, & Chugh, 2012
  • Promotion beyond tenure: Unpacking racism and sexism in the experiences of Black womyn professors by Croom, 2017
  • Epistemic exclusion: Scholar(ly) devaluation that marginalizes faculty of color by Settles, Jones, Buchanan, & Dotson, 2020
  • Psychological heuristics and faculty of color: Racial battle fatigue and tenure/promotion by Witherspoon Arnold, Crawford, & Khalifa, 2016
  • “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”: Ten critical lessons for black and other health equity researchers of color by Lisa Bowleg
  • Perceptions of stereotypes applied to women who publicly communicate their STEM work by McKinnon and O’Connell, 2020
  • The Matilda effect in science communication: An experiment on gender bias in publication quality perceptions and collaboration interest by Knobloch-Westerwick, Glynn, & Huge, 2013

Defining Success and Excellence

  • Masculine Defaults: Identifying and Mitigating Hidden Cultural Biases by Cheryan & Markus, 2020
  • When Fit Is Fundamental: Performance Evaluations and Promotions of Upper-Level Female and Male Managers by Lyness & Heilman, 2006
  • Gender stereotypes and workplace bias by Heilman, 2012

Ignoring Race and Ethnicity

  • Racial color blindness: Emergence, practice, and implications by Apfelbaum , Norton, & Summers, 2012
  • The impact of multiculturalism versus color-blindness on racial bias by Richeson & Nussbaum, 2004

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES for a Deeper Dive

Personal Experience

  • I'm a Black woman who's met all the standards for promotion. I'm not waiting to reward myself by Mitchel at https://time.com/5958844/black-woman-self-care/
  • Nikole Hanna-Jones’ statement on decision to decline tenure offer at University of North Carolina and to accept Knight Chair appointment at Howard University at https://www.naacpldf.org/wpcontent/uploads/NHJ-Statement-CBS-7.6.21-FINAL-8-am.pdf

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

  • Project Implicit - https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
  • The Bias Beneath: Two Decades of Measuring Implicit Associations by Scott Sleek, 2018
    https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-bias-beneath-two-decades-of-measuringimplicit-associations

Implicit Bias and Racial Disparities

  • Implicit Bias Module Series - http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/implicit-bias-training/

Leadership Competence and Gender Bias

  • Why do so many incompetent men become leaders: TED Talk by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, 2019
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeAEFEXvcBgIMPLICIT BIAS Video Series (UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)

BUILDING PATHWAYS FOR EMERGING LEADERS    

Book Resource List

Academic Leadership (2nd ed.) - 2007
Leaming, D.R.
Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing (advertised in Jossey Bass catalog)
https://www.wiley.com/en-us

Chairing an Academic Department (2nd ed.) - 2004
Gmelch, Walter H. and Miskin, Val D.
Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing
http://www.atwoodpublishing.com/

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when Stakes are High - 2012
Patterson, Kerry; Grenny, Joseph; McMillan, Ron; & Switzler Al
McGraw Hill
https://go.illinois.edu/CrucialConversations

Dare to Lead - 2018
Brown, Brené
Random House: Division of Penguin Random House LLC
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/

Dealing With Dysfunction: A Book for University Leaders - 2017
Castallo, Richard T.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
https://rowman.com/

Faculty Development: A Resource Collection for Academic Leaders - 2018
Multiple Sources
Madison, WI: Magna Publications
https://www.magnapubs.com/

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership - 2011
Harvard Business Review, Drucker, Peter F., Goleman, Daniel, George, William W.
Harvard Business Review
https://go.illinois.edu/HBR10MustReads

Managing People: A Guide for Department Chairs and Deans - 2003
Leaming, D.R.
Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing (advertised in Jossey Bass catalog)
https://www.wiley.com/en-us

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking - 2012
Cain, Susan
Crown Publishing
https://go.illinois.edu/QuietThe PowerofIntroverts

Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia - 2012
Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. Gonzalez and Angela P. Harris (Editors)
University of Colorado and Utah State University Press
https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press

Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia - 2020
Yolanda Flores Niemann, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, & Carmen G. Gonzalez (Editors)
University of Colorado and Utah State University Press
https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press/item/3794-presumed-incompetent-ii

Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia - 2012
Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. Gonzalez and Angela P. Harris (Editors)
University of Colorado and Utah State University Press
https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press

Presumed Incompetent II: Race, Class, Power, and Resistance of Women in Academia - 2020
Yolanda Flores Niemann, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, & Carmen G. Gonzalez (Editors).
University of Colorado and Utah State University Press
https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press/item/3794-presumed-incompetent-ii