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UC Davis ADVANCE Roundtable “Building and Sustaining a Diverse Faculty: Implications for Faculty Advancement and Reward Systems”
Davis, CA

UC Davis ADVANCE Roundtable “Building and Sustaining a Diverse Faculty: Implications for Faculty Advancement and Reward Systems”UC Davis ADVANCE Roundtable “Building and Sustaining a Diverse Faculty: Implications for Faculty Advancement and Reward Systems”

 

 

 

A one-day system-wide Roundtable was sponsored by the NSF-funded UC Davis ADVANCE program, on April 10, 2015. It convened UC faculty and academic administrators from UC campuses to examine the issue of faculty advancement and reward systems and the impact these systems have on building and sustaining a diverse faculty. The Roundtable aimed to (1) Evaluate the impact of practices and policies that aim to assure equity in faculty advancement and reward systems with the goal of defining best practices; (2) Discuss the continuing barriers to equity and their effect on career choice particularly for URM STEM researchers; (3) Assess the impact of our current reward metrics and systems on attaining and sustaining a diverse faculty.

Event highlights included:

  • A keynote address, “Equity-Minded Reform in Academic Reward Systems: Supporting Diverse Faculty and Diverse Forms of Scholarship” by KerryAnn O’Meara, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Affiliate Faculty in Women’s Studies, Co-PI and Co-Director, UMD ADVANCE Program, University of Maryland.
  • A group presentation introduced findings from a UC Davis ADVANCE interview study, using empirical and qualitative research, that identifies the personal and institutional factors influencing the career paths of University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) Latina Scholars. Interview themes that became apparent among PPFP Latina Scholars included mentoring, structural and programmatic support, role of family, work-life balance, resilience, positionality.
  • A presentation of Case Western Reserve University’s achievement of equity through leadership development of women and men faculty. The presentation explored systematic, multi-level and widespread leadership development programs and assessment of their impact. 
  • A presentation that examined the role of Community Engaged Research (CEnR) in equity of faculty advancement and reward systems, and discussion of findings from a UC-wide study of campus and system infrastructure to support CEnR. For papers mentioned in this presentation, please see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3832061/ and https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/sites/netter_internal/files/Realizing_STEM_Equity_Through_Higher_Education_Community_Engagement_Final_Report_2015.pdf
  • A presentation and discussion of documented bias in federal grant awards, bias caused in part by implicit bias, metrics of quality that display implicit bias, reliance of grants as a proxy metric of excellence and how this compounds implicit bias effects, and the impact on potential junior faculty and URM faculty.
  • ​An open discussion of ways to enhance diversity and the need for modification of the merit and promotion system led to defining key areas for change and to suggestions for the next steps to move forward. The UCD ADVANCE Policy and Practices Review Initiative was charged with integrating all of the ideas generated into an action plan for going forward. This plan is to be shared systemwide, particularly with UCAP and the campus Vice Provosts for Academic Affairs.

**The official roundtable report has been published! Check it out HERE!