The Tick Tock of the Tenure Clock Vanessa A. Jean & Mindy E. Bergman Jean, V. A., & Bergman, M. E. (2014, May). The Eck tock of the tenure clock. In K. O Brien & J. R. Shapiro (Chairs), Advancing Women in the STEM workplace: Barriers and strategies. Symposium paper presented at the 29 th annual meeeng of the Society for Industrial and OrganizaEonal Psychology, Honolulu, HI.
Flexible Tenure Clock Policies IniEally designed to benefit women and their work- life balance (Manchester, Leslie, & Kramer, 2010) 86% of research insetueons now offer flexible tenure clock policies (Hollenshead, Sullivan, Smith, August, & Hamilton, 2005) Extensions now allowed for both sexes in many insetueons (Thornton, 2005) o o lab delays, childbirth, eldercare, health reasons, etc. BUT women are significantly more likely to extend tenure clock (Quinn, 2010; Thornton, 2005) 2
Research Has Focused On Use And Wage And Promo=on Effects Wage penalty when clock is extended for family reasons (Manchester, Leslie, & Kramer, 2010) PromoEon rates becer for extenders (Manchester, Leslie, & Kramer, 2013) Extenders more likely to leave tenure track (Quinn, 2010) 3
Less Is Known About Well- being Effects Extenders feel less saesfied with tenure process, less fit with tenure criteria, less supported, and get less feedback about process (Pribbenow, Sheridan, Winchell, BenEng, Handelsman, & Carnes, 2010) Goals: o Determine the effect of tenure clock policy on well- being (job sa=sfac=on, psychological well- being, burnout, turnover inten=ons) o Inves=gate whether these effects are moderated by sex and/or by discipline 4
Stressful Events Lead To Extensions Events that lead to extending, whether posieve or negaeve, cause faculty to experience stress from the process of adjustment: o childbirth/adopeon o eldercare o health issues o delayed lab startup o divorce Hypothesis 1: Stopping the tenure clock will be nega=vely related to well- being. 5
Does Extension Have A Bigger Effect On Women Or On Men? Worse for women Working in academia violates tradieonal gender roles. (Judge & Livingston, 2008) Extending may be perceived as incompetence or inability to meet job expectaeons. Worse for men Tenure clock policies seen as feminine because of differences in uelizaeon and history as a policy for women (Quinn, 2010) Men have reported being penalized by the university system if they seemed to be too commiced to their families (Sallee, 2012)
Compe=ng Hypotheses Hypothesis 2a Women who extend the tenure clock will have worse outcomes than men who extend. Hypothesis 2b Men who extend the tenure clock will have worse outcomes than women who extend. Women < Men Men < Women
Does Discipline Ma[er? STEM = science, technology, engineering, mathemaecs o less autonomy/freedom? o more pressure to obtain grant- funding? Hypothesis 3: Faculty working in STEM departments will have more nega=ve outcomes than those working in non- STEM.
Sex By Discipline Interac=on STEM female faculty drop out of the STEM pipeline at a higher rate than men as their careers progress (Blickenstaff, 2005) are underrepresented in STEM, may feel like tokens or lack appropriate mentors (Ragins & Cocon, 1993; Ragins & Scandura, 1994) ideal- worker norm expected by STEM likely violated by the use of flexible tenure clock policy, resuleng in flexibility segma (Williams, 2000) Hypothesis 4: Women working in STEM departments will have more nega=ve outcomes than women working in non- STEM departments. Hypothesis 5: Women working in STEM departments who extend the tenure clock will have the most nega=ve outcomes compared to all other groups.
Method 1,233 Faculty Members (44% response rate) to the 2013 Faculty Climate Survey 65% male 43.4% in STEM departments 7.5% stopped the tenure clock (N = 92) 62% female 38% in STEM departments Tenure clock status Did not consider, considered but did not extend, extended STEM status Depts. coded STEM/non- STEM in accordance with NSF s definieon of STEM Turnover inteneons Burnout Psychological well- being Job saesfaceon
Hypothesis 1 Results Both considered and extended groups had higher turnover inteneons than those who did not consider (par=ally supported) 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 Did Not Consider Considered Stopped 1 0.5 0 Turnover IntenEons Burnout Psychological Well- Being Symptoms Job SaEsfacEon 11
Hypothesis 2a/2b Results Neither supported The interaceon of sex and tenure clock status did not have a significant relaeonship with any outcomes.
Hypothesis 3 Results STEM reported higher turnover inteneons and lower job saesfaceon than non- STEM (par=ally supported) 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 non- STEM STEM 1.5 1 0.5 0 Turnover IntenEons Burnout Psychological Well- Being Symptoms Job SaEsfacEon 13
Hypotheses 4 and 5 Results Neither supported The interaceon of sex and discipline did not have a significant relaeonship with any outcomes. The three- way interaceon among sex, discipline, and tenure clock status did not have a significant relaeonship with any outcomes.
Discussion Extending seems bad, should we stop allowing extensions? o No. The lesson here is that extensions do not cure all barriers to success and should not be treated as solueons. Perhaps reasons for extending the clock also lead to turnover, regardless of other unaffected outcomes o It is possible that faculty enjoy their jobs but cannot meet the anequated but expected ideal- worker norm following a stressful event, so they turnover. TradiEonal gender roles work against both men and women who extend; possible that flexibility segma similarly impacts both