Tenure track and equality in the academia Equality goes accessible symposium Aalto University Doctoral student Maria Pietilä, University of Helsinki maria.pietila@helsinki.fi Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 1
Specificities of the tenure track career system University s internal career path based on competitive selection process, promotions and a final tenure decision Organisational commitment to the selected person vs. project-based, short-term approach to recruitment Typical academic career model in the US, many applications in European universities All research universities in Finland claim to use the tenure track system (ÅA just starting) Majority of academic staff in Finnish universities outside the tenure track Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 2
Reflections and food for thought Interviews in 2013 2014 with academic and administrative leaders in two Finnish universities, national stakeholders (labour unions, employers association, Ministry of Education and Culture, Academy of Finland) about the tenure track career systems in Finnish universities International studies Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 3
Dimensions of equality in tenure track Age and phase of career some universities have restrictions concerning the accepted time since the completion of doctoral degree + evaluation criteria that focus on the future prospect of applicants Balance between research- and teaching qualifications (emphasis on research production). May generate a reputational gap between research- and teaching-intensive positions Tenure-track staff as the elite vs. contract researchers/parttime staff Academic disciplines different lifecycles of productivity and creativity Ethnicity and race experiences of alienation, isolation for groups working on the margins Gender female academics leaking out of the science pipeline Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 4
Female under-representation in the highest academic positions the case of Finland (Vipunen database) Person-years Men (%) Women (%) Altogether (amount) I stage (doctoral students) II stage (e.g., post-docs, university teachers) III stage (e.g., senior research fellows, university lecturers) IV stage (e.g., professors) Part-time teachers / career stage not registered 54.1 45.9 7,088.0 53.3 46.7 3,713.1 52.8 47.2 3,455.1 73.6 26.4 2,635.1 55.0 45.0 1,202.3 Altogether 56.6 43.4 18,093.6 Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 5
Female under-representation in the highest academic positions the case of the University of Helsinki Person-years Men (%) Women (%) Altogether (amount) I stage (doctoral students) II stage (e.g., postdocs, university teachers) III stage (e.g., senior research fellows, university lecturers) IV stage (e.g., professors) Part-time teachers / career stage not registered 43.9 56.1 1,536.8 48.2 51.8 806.4 47.6 52.4 1,079.6 72.2 27.8 575.8 51.4 48.6 187.7 Altogether 49.9 50.1 4,186.3 Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 6
What causes the gender gap in the academic hierarchy? unequal treatment at work of men and women, direct/systemic and indirect discrimination (Bagilhole & Goode 2001, Brink & Benschop 2011) e.g., merit standards not gender neutral, unequal access to mentoring and social networks e.g., gendered notions of academic excellence work-family conflict (Probert 2005, Mason et al. 2011, Nikunen 2012) personal costs of succeeding in academic career family formation negatively affects women s academic careers, but not men s Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 7
Tenure track as a gender-neutral system Tenure track as a merit-based, gender-neutral career system (based on ideals of objectivity and impartiality) quality of research and teaching, success in obtaining research funding, experience in management and administration (cf. Brink & Benschop 2011, Nikunen 2012) In practice, wide variation how much weight is given to external reviews, departmental committee s assessments, the views of tenure track committees, etc. in the case universities Academic excellence not the sole criterium Evaluations as holistic processes : less transparent decisionmaking factors include national needs for certain research and teaching competence, scarcity of candidates, current composition of staff, needs and strategic visions of departments Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 8
Tenure track as a gender-neutral system Social networks of the candidates (e.g., influence of research groups on one s contributions), abstract notions of future potential Possibilities for discretion at departments and faculties emphasised in the interviews. Speaks against the conception of academic recruitment as a solely objective, merit-based system Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 9
Tenure track and gender equality According to previous studies, individual qualities, such as a candidate s likeability, matter in academic recruitments (Brink & Benschop 2011) E.g., male professors identify more strongly with younger men than with younger women E.g., some female candidates assessed as too nice and not aggressive enough to succeed in the competitive academia Gendered support networks affecting who gets recommended (Brink & Benschop 2011; Bagilhole & Goode 2001) Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 10
Tenure track and gender equality Academic staff have differing obligations outside work (Nikunen 2012) Tenure track: simultaneity of the most decisive years for academic career with most work pressure and family formation -> effects of family-related leaves on research productivity I think tenure track favours young men. [ ] It is not a good thing if we recruit all the full professors in this way, or a big portion of them. It would mean that there would still be more men as professors than women. Traditional, gendered family responsibilities Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 11
What might help? What can university employers do? create transparent criteria for the recruitment, promotion and tenure processes that all applicants can familiarise with and stick to these criteria have gender-balanced recruitment/promotion/tenure committees, train committee members of gender awareness practices advertise all positions openly invite female professors to male-dominated fields take into account possible family leaves when assessing individual performance be as clear as possible about the expectations during the tenure track limit the administrative responsibilities of tenure-track staff to avoid work overload stop the tenure clock for the care of a child/children offer a possibility to part-time tenure track contracts (with modified expectations) organise department meetings etc. before 4 pm Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 12
What might help? academic staff: encourage and support both female and male students during their studies colleagues, supervisors: encourage and support both female and male academics in their career (e.g., mentoring, joint publications with senior staff), give advice how to combine work and private time Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 13
Also important How do external funders and external reviewers assess individual performance and take into account non-performing periods? How is workload (esp. research, teaching, administration) divided among staff? How do partners divide their caring responsibilities? What kind of support networks do academics with young children have? Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 14
Thank you! All comments and ideas welcome! maria.pietila@helsinki.fi Maria Pietilä www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto January 8, 2015 15