Astronomy
Department chairs play an important role in setting policies, in hiring and evaluating faculty, and in influencing the climate within astronomy and physics departments. They can have a major impact on the recruitment, retention, advancement and success of women faculty and students. Most chairs receive no training for their work and many are only dimly aware of best practices for diversity and inclusion and they receive no coaching or leadership mentoring. Fortunately, this is beginning to change.
When I became a department head (a longer-term, more powerful version of the chair), I undertook some leadership training, audited a couple of management classes, and did extensive reading. I created a personal and professional 5-year plan and took an intensive course in mediation. I read "Why So Slow" by Virginia Valian alongside "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. I listened to faculty, staff, and students. My best education came from meeting with women graduate students.
In matters of diversity and inclusion, there are now some excellent training resources available. The standard of excellence is set by the University of Michigan ADVANCE program. Their STRIDE materials are well known and were highlighted by the CSWA in their sessions at the May 2010 session on unconscious bias. However, they also have a set of useful summaries for academic leaders at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/for_deans_and_chairs_leadership. They and now several other ADVANCE projects provide leadership training and coaching, e.g. the ACES project at Case Western and the Increasing Women in Neuroscience (IWiN) project. I participated in a department chairs workshop organized by IWiN and believe it would be informative and useful for any chair.
Most chairs want to do a good job but are not provided the tools needed to fully develop their talents for leadership and their effectiveness in promoting diversity and inclusion. This represents a lost opportunity. Institutions that invest in their leadership see improvements in the climate within and success of their departments. My own university offers no university-wide training for academic leaders and I am considering to encourage it. Does yours?
- Fix The System, Fix The People
Which system, which people? These questions were discussed two weeks ago at a very interesting session ADVANCE Grants: Increasing the Participation of Women in Physics at the summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. The NSF ADVANCE...
- Hacking A Respectful And Caring Community In Your Department
Astronomy graduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign requested a departmental colloquium on diversity and inclusion, which I gave two weeks ago. Kudos to the department for agreeing to this and for advertising it widely,...
- Does Organizational Culture Matter?
Yes! The reactions to an infamous letter to graduate students from the Academic Program Committee of a major astronomy department make the point clearly enough. So does the damaging effect of continued sexism in physics. I thought we had made more progress...
- Improving Faculty Searches
A faculty search is one of the most important processes overseen by a department chair. I've been involved with faculty searches, either as search committee member or chair, or as division head or department head, for 20 years. Over these years in...
- Nsf Advance
The NSF ADVANCE program funds a wide variety of initiatives at institutions to increase the representation of women in STEM. I have heard of and even participated in a number of ADVANCE programs: FORWARD to Professorship career development workshops at...
Astronomy
Preparing Department Chairs to Advance Gender Equity
Department chairs play an important role in setting policies, in hiring and evaluating faculty, and in influencing the climate within astronomy and physics departments. They can have a major impact on the recruitment, retention, advancement and success of women faculty and students. Most chairs receive no training for their work and many are only dimly aware of best practices for diversity and inclusion and they receive no coaching or leadership mentoring. Fortunately, this is beginning to change.
When I became a department head (a longer-term, more powerful version of the chair), I undertook some leadership training, audited a couple of management classes, and did extensive reading. I created a personal and professional 5-year plan and took an intensive course in mediation. I read "Why So Slow" by Virginia Valian alongside "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. I listened to faculty, staff, and students. My best education came from meeting with women graduate students.
In matters of diversity and inclusion, there are now some excellent training resources available. The standard of excellence is set by the University of Michigan ADVANCE program. Their STRIDE materials are well known and were highlighted by the CSWA in their sessions at the May 2010 session on unconscious bias. However, they also have a set of useful summaries for academic leaders at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/advance/for_deans_and_chairs_leadership. They and now several other ADVANCE projects provide leadership training and coaching, e.g. the ACES project at Case Western and the Increasing Women in Neuroscience (IWiN) project. I participated in a department chairs workshop organized by IWiN and believe it would be informative and useful for any chair.
Most chairs want to do a good job but are not provided the tools needed to fully develop their talents for leadership and their effectiveness in promoting diversity and inclusion. This represents a lost opportunity. Institutions that invest in their leadership see improvements in the climate within and success of their departments. My own university offers no university-wide training for academic leaders and I am considering to encourage it. Does yours?
- Fix The System, Fix The People
Which system, which people? These questions were discussed two weeks ago at a very interesting session ADVANCE Grants: Increasing the Participation of Women in Physics at the summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. The NSF ADVANCE...
- Hacking A Respectful And Caring Community In Your Department
Astronomy graduate students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign requested a departmental colloquium on diversity and inclusion, which I gave two weeks ago. Kudos to the department for agreeing to this and for advertising it widely,...
- Does Organizational Culture Matter?
Yes! The reactions to an infamous letter to graduate students from the Academic Program Committee of a major astronomy department make the point clearly enough. So does the damaging effect of continued sexism in physics. I thought we had made more progress...
- Improving Faculty Searches
A faculty search is one of the most important processes overseen by a department chair. I've been involved with faculty searches, either as search committee member or chair, or as division head or department head, for 20 years. Over these years in...
- Nsf Advance
The NSF ADVANCE program funds a wide variety of initiatives at institutions to increase the representation of women in STEM. I have heard of and even participated in a number of ADVANCE programs: FORWARD to Professorship career development workshops at...