ap final report 13jan17 - uzh4e2b3e6a-33c0-4540-8238... · 2!! general!project!motivation!!...
TRANSCRIPT
!1!
!!!Career!and!Life!Phase!of!an!Assistant!Professor!“Lebens3!und!Laufbahnphase!Assistenzprofessur“ !!Action!Plan!Gender!Equality!UZH!201332016!!Written!by:!Dr.!Jamie!L.!Gloor!(project!leader)!&!Susanne!Mehr,!MA!(project!assistant)!Supported!by:!Prof.!Dr.!Bruno!Staffelbach!&!Dr.!Anja!Feierabend!(former!project!leader)!Chair!in!Human!Resource!Management!Faculty!of!Business,!Economics,!&!Informatics!!Project!Representative!Gender!Equality!Office:!Tanja!NeveRSeyfarth,!MA!!!!General!Abstract!!There!is!a!persistent!and!pervasive!gender!gap!in!the!professorship!despite!achieving!parity!across!
many!subjects!for!some!decades!at!the!Bachelor!and!Master!levels.!If!the!goal!is!to!gain!more!female!
professors,!however,!then!examining!the!professorship!is!already!too!late.!Instead,!the!early!career!
phase!is!a!critical!period!when!the!gender!gap!widens,!but!it!also!overlays!with!the!prime!childbearing!
years,!which!may!highlight!career!uncertainty,!role!conflict,!and!employment!riskRespecially!for!young!
women.!To!examine!this!critical!career!and!life!period,!we!assess!four!key!data!sources!relevant!to!
Assistant!Professor!(AP)!training!and!selection,!including!objective!data!and!perceptual!measures,!to!
assess!the!role!of!scholar!gender!and!parenthood!in!becoming!an!AP.!We!describe!our!main!findings,!
highlight!overarching!trends,!and!outline!5!practical,!evidenceRbased!recommendations!for!the!
selection,!development,!retention,!and!promotion!of!early!career!academic!talentsRespecially!women.!
_________________________________________________________________________________!
!Obschon!in!den!meisten!Disziplinen!ein!ausgewogenes!Geschlechterverhältnis!in!den!BachelorR!und!
MasterRStudiengängen!erreicht!wurde,!besteht!nach!wie!vor!eine!Geschlechterkluft!in!der!
Professorenschaft.!Wenn!das!Ziel!ist,!mehr!Professorinnen!zu!gewinnen,!darf!die!Ursachenforschung!
nicht!erst!bei!der!Professorenschaft!beginnen.!Der!kritische!Zeitpunkt,!in!welchem!sich!die!
Geschlechterkluft!auftut,!ist!während!der!frühen!Karrierephase.!Die!Phase!des!gebärfähigen!Alters!
bringt!insbesondere!für!junge!Frauen!Karriereunsicherheit,!Rollenkonflikte!und!Anstellungsrisiken!mit!
sich.!Zur!Betrachtung!dieser!kritischen!KarriereR!und!Lebensphase!beziehen!wir!vier!zentrale!
Datenquellen!ein,!die!relevant!für!die!Anstellung!und!Promotion!von!Assistenzprofessuren!sind.!Dabei!
berücksichtigen!wir!objektive!Daten!und!subjektive!Werte,!um!die!Rolle!von!Geschlecht!und!
Elternschaft!während!dem!Anstreben!einer!Assistenzprofessur!zu!untersuchen.!Wir!beschreiben!
unsere!Resultate,!zeigen!übergreifende!Trends!auf!und!stellen!verschiedene!praktische,!
evidenzbasierte!Empfehlungen!vor.! !
!2!
General!Project!Motivation!!Education,!research,!and!development!are!indispensable!and!highly!valued!resources!for!
Switzerland,!as!evident!by!their!annual!expenditure!per!student!ranking!the!second!highest!in!the!
world!(OECD,!2013).!Switzerland!is!also!economically!successful!and!competitive!in!the!European!
and!global!markets,!ranking!number!one!on!both!the!Innovation!Union!Scoreboard!(European!
Commission,!2013)!and!the!Global!Competitiveness!Report!(World!Economic!Forum,!2013).!To!
maintain!international!competitiveness,!however,!an!efficient!research!base!and!academic!career!
model!is!of!central!importance!(League!of!European!Research!Universities,!2010a!OECD).!As!most!
modern!academic!career!models!in!Europe!include!the!position!of!an!Assistant!Professor!(APa!
League!of!European!Research!Universities,!2010),!and!APs!have!been!specifically!introduced!to!
retain!talents!in!academia!(Jäger!&!Schiermeier,!2001),!it!is!concerning!that!there!remains!such!a!
paucity!of!empirical!study!related!to!APs!in!Switzerland.!Thus,!it!remains!unclear!if!and!how!this!
position!influences!young!researchers’!academic!careers!and!the!documented!discrepancy!between!
males!and!females!in!academic!career!trajectories!in!Switzerland!(Federal!Statistical!Office,!2013).!!!
!
As!the!path!from!PhD!to!professorship!is!long!and!risky,!especially!for!females!(Ginther!&!Kahn,!2004a!
National!Science!Foundation,!2004),!many!talented!graduates!may!shy!away!from!an!academic!
career!and!join!the!private!or!public!sector!instead!(Fitzenberger!&!Schulze,!2013).!Private!or!family!
roles!may!be!especially!prominent!for!women!during!this!early!career!phase!because!they!continue!to!
perform!the!lion’s!share!of!unpaid!labora!specifically,!women!spend!2!to!10!times!more!time!on!unpaid!
care!work!than!men!(OECD,!2014).!This!could!lead!to!conflict!between!these!roles!and!added!stress!
and/or!a!resource!drain!in!time!or!attention,!which!might!decrease!women’s!wellRbeing,!engagement,!
or!performance,!creating!additional!barriers!to!stay!and!succeed!in!academia.!!
!
Figure!1:!Leaky!Pipeline:!Share!of!men!and!women!in!percent!(%)!from!start!of!bachelor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!education!to!full!professorship!(with!time!lag)!
!
!!
Source:!NeveRSeyfarth!&!Loewe!(2016)!!
48% 49% 50%45%
27% 31%
20%
52% 51% 50%55%
73% 69%
80%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
Start BA MA PhD Senior!Research!Associate
AP Professor
Women
Men
First!AppointRments!
!3!
However,!an!AP!could!be!an!incentive!to!remain!in!research!and!academia.!Specifically,!APs!enable!
young!scientists!to!conduct!independent!research!while!also!providing!opportunities!for!promotion!to!a!
higher!career!level!during!early!career!stages!(see!University!of!Zurich,!2012).!However,!the!life!and!
career!phase!towards!and!during!an!Assistant!Professorship!often!brings!difficulties!that!can!lead!to!
career!pitfalls,!especially!for!women!(Bozeman!&!Gaughan,!2011).!For!example,!the!dropout!rate!of!
women!in!academia!increases!with!each!step!of!career!progress!with!50%!of!women!at!the!doctoral!
phase,!but!only!27%!APs!and!20%!Professors!(NeveRSeyfarth!&!Loewe,!2016a!see!Figure!1).!In!
particular,!the!proportion!of!female!APs!has!stagnated!and!even!declined!in!recent!years,!falling!
below!the!levels!from!2003!at!some!faculties!(Seyfarth,!Spieler,!&!Maurer!Lutz,!2012).!Thus,!empirical!
study!of!these!young!scholars!during!this!critical!career!period!is!essential!to!derive!evidenceRbased!
measures!to!curb!these!trends,!and!ideally,!to!promote!women!in!the!Swiss!professoriate.!
!
In!response!to!this!persistent!and!pervasive!gender!gap!in!professorships!and!the!potential!benefits!of!
the!new!AP!position,!the!Swiss!University!Conference!(SUC)!proposed!two!goals!to!be!met!by!2016:!
25%!female!Professors!(full!and!associate!professors)!throughout!Switzerland!and!40%!female!APs!
(Rectors’!Conference!of!the!Swiss!Universities,!2013).!To!achieve!these!goals,1!it!is!of!central!
importance!to!learn!more!about!career!pitfalls!for!women,!particularly!while!on!the!path!to!or!during!an!
AP,!even!more!so!considering!recent!declines!in!the!share!of!women!APs!at!the!University!of!Zurich!
(Seyfarth!et!al.,!2012).!However,!given!the!significant!loss!of!educated!human!resources!before!the!
AP,!we!extend!our!investigation!to!include!early!career!scholars!such!as!PhD!students!and!postRdocs.!!
!! !Project!Parts!!To!inform!these!questions,!we!take!a!multiRfaceted!approach,!analyzing!several!different!data!sources!
relevant!to!the!AP!position.!!
!
First,!we!examined!annual!meetings!(i.e.,!a!yearly!assessment!or!performance!review)!as!a!Human!Resource!(HR)!practice!in!the!context!of!AP.!This!comprised!two!parts:!qualitative,!semiRstructured!
interviews,2!but!we!also!included!measures!about!annual!meetings!in!our!longitudinal,!quantitative!
survey!study.!Our!qualitative!study!was!conducted!with!five!APs!in!Switzerland.!We!asked!about!the!
AP!position,!if!and!how!it!might!be!helpful!for!an!academic!career,!and!if!and!how!APs!might!be!better!
supported!with!annual!meetings.!Drawing!from!these!qualitative!results,!we!also!designed!a!template!to!be!used!in!actual!annual!meetings!conducted!between!APs!and!a!supervisor,!dean,!or!similar.!
Through!our!longitudinal!study,!we!were!also!able!to!quantify!how!many!young!scholars!have!these!
meetings,!with!whom!they!meet,!their!perceived!quality!of!these!meetings,!as!well!as!the!effects!of!
annual!meetings!on!early!career!scholars’!attitudes!and!persistence!in!academic!employment.!
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1Unfortunately,!recent!estimates!suggest!that!these!goals!will!not!be!met!in!2016!after!all!(e.g.,!see!„Universitäten!erfüllen!die!Frauenquote!nicht”!by!Rafael!von!Matt!(18!October!2016)!retrieved!from!www.srf.ch)!!2The!interviews!and!the!developed!template!to!be!used!in!actual!annual!meetings!were!funded!by!the!Bundesprogramm!Chancengleichheit!2008R2012/13.!!
!4!
!
Second,!we!quantitatively!analyzed!AP!personnel!selections!(e.g.,!the!processes!and!eventual!decisions)!at!the!University!of!Zurich.!Data!were!collected!from!all!7!faculties!detailing!each!phase!of!
the!application!process:!initial!applications,!shortRlists,!and!eventual!hires.!We!also!collected!
information!about!the!positions,!including!whether!they!were!newly!created!or!existing!positions,!and!
tenureRtrack!or!nonRtenureRtrack.!We!analyzed!women’s!overall!representation!across!the!hiring!
process!and!per!the!different!faculties.!!
!
Third,!we!conducted!a!mixed!methods!study!or!exit!survey!targeted!at!former!APs!at!the!University!of!Zurich.!Through!quantitative!analysis!and!qualitative!analysis!of!openRended!questions,!we!sought!
to!determine!if!APs!were!still!employed!in!academia!and!if!this!differed!per!scholar!gender.!We!also!
assessed!how!the!AP!position!could!be!a!better!springboard!for!an!academic!career,!and!if!this!
differed!per!scholar!gender.!
!
Finally,!we!conducted!a!quantitative!longitudinal!assessment!of!early!career!scholars!in!Switzerland.!We!examined!PhDs!and!postRdocs!in!addition!to!APs,!because!the!gender!gap!widens!
after!the!PhD!phase!with!many!women!are!already!lost!before!the!APa!we!also!expand!our!scope!to!
include!all!state!and!federal!universities!in!Switzerland.!We!track!the!same!early!career!scholars!over!
time!to!examine!specific!aspects!of!their!careers!(e.g.,!research!productivity!and!annual!meetings)!
and!their!life!phase!(e.g.,!pregnancy!and!parenthood)!to!determine!how!these!key!factors!influence!
scholars’!persistence!in!academia.!
!Table!1!summarizes!the!four!parts!of!our!study!along!the!phases!of!the!early!academic!career.!Of!note,!only!the!first!and!fourth!parts!of!the!project!were!described!in!our!application/project!proposal.!
Indeed,!we!have!added!the!other!parts!as!“deep!drilling”!to!better!inform!our!key!research!questions!
and!more!comprehensively!assess!APs!using!both!subjective!and!objective!data,!from!prospective,!
current,!and!former!APs.!!!!
!
Table!1:!Overview!of!project!parts!&!their!respective!fit!with!academic!career/!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!employment!phase!
Phases!of!!the!academic!!
career!
!
Training!and!Education!
(PhD,!PostRDoc)!!!
Attracting!and!Recruitment!
(PhD,!PostRDoc)!
Hiring!and!Selection!!(AP)!
Retention!and!Promotion!!(AP)!
!
Project!parts!!!
Part!I,!IV! Part!I,!III! Part!II,!IV! Part!I,!IIIRIV!
!
! !
!5!
Part!I:!Annual!Meetings!!Qualitative!Interviews!&!Proposal!of!a!Tool!(Quantitative!Results!in!Part!IV)!!!Goal!!A!central!disadvantage!for!young!scientists!is!the!tremendous!uncertainty!that!accompanies!an!
academic!career!(Dubach,!Graf,!Stutz,!&!Gardiol,!2012).!At!Swiss!universities!especially,!more!than!
80%!of!academic!positions!are!temporary,!while!in!countries!such!as!the!United!States!of!America!
and!Sweden,!more!than!50%!of!the!research!positions!at!universities!are!tenureRtrack!or!unlimited!in!
nature!(Fink!et!al.,!2012).!Given!the!small!proportion!of!Professorships!with!tenure!or!APs!with!tenureR
track,!there!is!indeed!a!high!career!uncertainty!for!young!researchers!in!Switzerland.!As!many!women!
show!lower!occupational!selfRefficacy!than!their!male!counterparts!(Berweger!&!Keller,!2005),!they!
may!be!more!discouraged!by!this!uncertainty!and!leave!academic!careers!earlier!than!men.!This!
raises!the!question!of!how!young!scientists!can!be!better!supported!to!prevent!a!“brain!drain”!or!mass!
departure!from!academia.!Although!increasingly!more!universities!implement!measures!to!promote!
young!academics!(e.g.,!annual!career!development!meetings!with!a!supervisor!or!mentoring!
programs),!evidenceRbased!tools!or!systematic!study!such!measures!and!their!effects!is!missing.!!!
!!Data!!We!first!conducted!qualitative,!semiRstructured!interviews!with!five!APs!in!Switzerland.!Effort!was!
made!to!include!men!and!women,!with!and!without!children,!from!diverse!academic!disciplines!and!
fields.!Most!participants!were!employed!in!GermanRSpeaking!Switzerland!(4/5).!
!
Second,!we!developed!an!annual!meeting!outline,!which!was!then!implemented!at!the!University!of!
Zurich.!We!also!measured!and!tracked!early!career!scholars’!annual!meetings!and!their!quality,!so!
that!we!could!measure!their!effects!on!persistence!and!promotion!in!academia,!and!if!the!effect!of!
annual!meetings!differs!per!scholar!gender.!!
!!Analytical!Strategy!!To!analyze!the!interviews,!we!used!a!grounded!theory!approach!(Glaser!&!Strauss,!1967)!to!analyze!
participants!openRended!responses.!This!approach!conceptualizes!and!rearranges!qualitative!data!
with!the!goal!of!generating!theory!(Maxwell,!1996a!Strauss!&!Corbin,!1990).!Hence,!rather!than!
impose!predetermined!categories!on!our!data,!we!used!this!bottomRup!approach!for!an!inductive!
understanding!of!the!diverse!factors!that!relate!to!academics’!experiences!of!the!AP!position.! !
!6!
Results!!First,!we!highlight!the!professional!aspects!of!APs!that!are!conducive!for!an!academic!career,!with!
emphasis!on!annual!meetings,!because!these!meetings!represent!a!specific!HR!practice!that!could!
potentially!reduce!the!uncertainty!of!APs.!As!noted!in!the!table!below,!all!participants!said!APs!were!
good!career!moves!to!remain!in!academia!and!eventually!become!a!professor.!Most!participants!
mentioned!specific!topics!that!should!be!discussed!in!the!annual!meetings,!including!setting!concrete!
goals!and!support!systems!to!stay!on!track!for!further!academic!promotion!and!be!embedded.!These!
goals!are!especially!important!given!that!APs!are!typically!new!positions!in!Swiss!Universities,!and!
thus,!they!do!not!always!have!quantified!performance!criteria.!Those!aspects!of!APs!that!are!not!
conducive!for!an!academic!career!include!the!time!and!emphasis!on!teaching,!which!come!at!the!
expense!of!research,!which!is!often!prioritized!in!academic!promotion!decisions.!Given!that!many!APs!
are!also!nonRtenureRtrack!or!timeRlimited,!4!participants!noted!that!an!academic!career!is!still!
uncertain—even!as!an!AP—and!2!participants!suggested!it!might!be!more!attractive!for!women!in!
particular,!to!have!more!longRterm!job!security!(e.g.,!tenureRtrack!positions).!!!!
Table!2:!Summary!of!themes!and!frequency!of!occurrence!
Theme! #!of!Mentions!
AP!is!a!good!career!move/stepping!stone! 5!Setting!more!concrete!goals!in!annual!meetings!is!important! 4!Too!much!emphasis!on!teaching/not!enough!research! 4!Support!from!mentors/supervisors!encouraged!me!into!academia! 4!An!academic!career!(as!an!AP)!is!still!uncertain! 4!A!supportive/flexible!partner!makes!it!possible! 4!Having!kids!is!difficult!(a!real!or!an!imagined/expected!issue)! 4!WorkRLife!is!a!private!issue!(or!a!nonRissue)! 4!Tenure!would!encourage!more!women!because!of!more!certainty! 3!!!Second,!we!highlight!the!personal!aspects!of!private!life!during!APs!that!are!conducive!to!an!
academic!career,!with!a!special!emphasis!on!family.!Because!the!prime!childbearing!years!overlap!
with!the!early!career!phase!of!an!AP,!even!though!more!educated!women!are!remaining!childless!in!
the!modern!age!compared!with!previous!decades,!partners!and!(potential)!children!still!represent!a!
very!prominent!influence!from!private!life!during!this!period.!As!shown!the!table!above,!4!participants!
noted!that!a!supportive,!flexible!partner!is!a!necessary!condition!for!achieving!success!in!academia.!
Several!participants!(3)!with!or!without!children!also!noted!that!children!would!make!academic!
productivity!and!success!more!difficult,!but!they!did!not!necessarily!want!to!discuss!their!private!lifeR
including!childrenRin!their!annual!meeting(s)!or!with!supervisor(s).!For!a!more!detailed!summary!of!
responses,!see!Appendix!A.!For!our!proposed!annual!meeting!guideline,!see!Appendix!Ba!our!
analysis!of!annual!meetings’!quantity,!quality,!and!their!effects!on!early!academics’!careers!is!
included!in!Part!IV!(the!longitudinal!study).!! !
!7!
Part!II:!Assistant!Professor!Hiring!Analysis!!!Assistant!Professor!Short!Lists!and!Appointments!at!the!University!of!Zurich!!!Goal!!In!the!second!part!of!our!study,!we!aimed!to!analyze!the!gender!gap!at!different!stages!of!the!hiring!
process.!Therefore,!we!collected!and!analyzed!quantitative!data!from!AP!selection!decisions!at!the!
University!of!Zurich.!Given!the!small!number!of!professorship!positions!available!and!the!novelty!of!
Assistant!Professorships!more!generally,!it!is!also!important!to!create!new!AP!positions!to!gain!a!
greater!share!of!female!APs!and!professorsa!thus,!we!measured!new!versus!existing!positions.!
Moreover,!disadvantages!and!accompanying!insecurities!of!nonRtenure!tracks!are!one!of!the!most!
discussed!and!criticized!aspects!of!an!academic!career!among!young!researchers!(Levin!&!Shaker,!
2011a!Purcell,!2007).!Job!insecurity!associated!with!nonRtenure!track!positions!has!a!negative!
influence!on!women’s!work!attitudes,!such!as!job!satisfaction,!organizational!commitment,!or!turnover!
intention!(Rosenblatt,!Talmud,!Ruvio,!1999).!Therefore,!we!also!measured!how!many!of!the!AP!
positions!were!tenureRtrack!versus!nonRtenureRtrack!(or!timeRlimited)!positions.!!
!!Data!!Data!was!collected!from!all!seven!faculties!at!the!University!of!Zurich,!beginning!with!the!first!hire!of!
an!Assistant!Professor!in!2000!through!2014.!In!total,!there!were!131!cases,!for!which!96!contained!
complete!data!(see!Table!3!for!an!overview).!
!
Table!3:!Sample!of!the!hiring!analysis!
Faculty! N" Percent!
Theologische!Fakultät!(THS)! 3! 3.1%!Rechtswissenschaftliche!Fakultät!(RWF)! 7! 7.3%!Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche!Fakultät!(WWF)! 21! 21.9%!Medizinische!Fakultät!(MeF)! 24! 25.0%!Vetsuisse!Fakultät!(VSF)! 3! 3.1%!Philosophische!Fakultät!(PhF)! 23! 24.0%!MathematischRNaturwissenschaftliche!Fakultät!(MNF)! 15! 15.6%!Total! 96! 100%!!!!Analytical!Strategy!!Given!the!small!sample!(e.g.,!N!=!19!women),!the!statistical!power!to!detect!effects!is!limited!and!the!
generalizability!of!any!estimates!that!we!could!derive!would!be!questionable.!Thus,!our!analyses!are!
limited!to!descriptive!results!only.!
!8!
Results!!Type!of!Position!Table!4!provides!an!overview!of!the!type!of!AP!across!the!seven!faculties.!In!total,!over!69!(72%)!of!
the!vacant!AP!positions!have!been!newly!createda!however,!there!are!differences!in!the!number!of!
open!positions!due!to!the!different!sizes!of!the!faculties!(see!Figure!2).!Of!note,!over!60%!of!the!AP!
positions!were!newly!created!at!6!of!the!7!faculties.!!
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Figure!2:!Assistant!Professorship!positions!by!type!
!
!!!
!! !
2! 2! 5! 5! 1! 6! 5!1! 5!
16! 19!
2!
16!10!
R
5!
10!
15!
20!
25!
30!
THF RWF WWF MeF VFS PhF MNF
Newly!created!position
Old!position
Table!4:!Differences!in!types!of!position!
Faculty! New!Positions! Tenure3Track!
N! 95! 96!
THF! 1! (33.3%)! 2! (66.7%)!RWF!! 5!! (71.4%)! 1! (14.3%)!WWF! 16!! (76.2%)! 15! (71.4%)!MeF! 19!! (79.2%)! 10! (41.7%)!VFS!! 2! (66.7%)!! 1! (33.3%)!!PhF! 16!! (72.7%)! 4! (17.4%)!MNF! 10!! (66.7%)! 10! (66.7%)!Total! 69!! (72.6%)! 43! (44.8%)!
!9!
In!total,!43!(45%)!of!the!vacant!AP!positions!were!offered!with!tenureRtrack.!Figure!3!shows!that!there!
are!considerable!differences!between!the!faculties.!The!RWF!(Rechtswissenschaftliche!Fakultät,!
Faculty!of!Law)!and!the!PhF!(Philosophische!Fakultäta!Faculty!of!Arts!and!Social!Sciences)!offered!
only!14%!and!17%!tenure!track!APs.!In!contrast,!the!WWF!(Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche!Fakultäta!
Faculty!of!Business,!Economics!and!Informatics)!offered!over!70%!tenure!track!AP!positions.!
!Figure!3:!Tenure!and!non3tenure!track!positions!
!
!!
!
!
Women’s!representation!at!different!stages!of!the!selection!process!Of!2,731!applicants,!96!were!hired!as!APs!and!19!were!women!(19.8%).!Table!4!shows!that!there!are!
remarkable!differences!concerning!the!women’s!representation!in!the!applicant!pool!between!the!
faculties!across!the!stages!of!the!recruitment!with!WWF,!MeF,!and!MNF!with!noticeably!very!few!
women,!although!for!all!faculties!there!are!generally!fewer!women!with!each!step!of!selection.!
!
Table!5:!Number!of!women!at!each!stage!of!the!selection!process!
Faculty! Applications! Shortlist! Top!3! Hired!
Total!N! 2’731! 439! 192! 96!
THF! 22! (28.6%)! 7! (38.9%)! 3! (37.5%)!! 1! (33.3%)!!RWF! 87! (41.2%)! 22! (56.4%)! 7! (36.8%)! 3! (42.9%)!WWF! 126! (21.4%)! 25! (29.1%)! 10! (20.8%)! 2! (9.5%)!MeF! 47! (21.2%)! 17! (22.4%)! 4! (16.7%)! 4! (16.7%)!VFS!! 7! (63.6%)!! 5! (71.4%)!! 3! (60.0%)!! 2! (66.7%)!!PhF! 274! (38.5%)! 44! (39.4%)! 20! (35.1%)! 4! (17.4%)!MNF! 128! (14.1%)! 22! (21.8%)! 7! (22.6%)! 3! (20.0%)!
Total! 691! (25.3%)! 142! (32.3%)! 54! (28.1%)! 19! (19.8%)!!!! !
67% 14% 71% 42% 33% 17% 67%
33%
86%
29%
58%67%
83%
33%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
THF RWF WWF MeF VFS PhF MNF
NonRtenure!trackTenure!track
!10!
Figure!4!illustrates!women’s!representation!at!the!different!levels!of!the!selection!process!for!each!of!
the!seven!faculties.!Compared!with!the!overall!percentage!of!female!applicants!(25.3%),!women!are!
on!average!relatively!overRrepresented!at!the!stage!of!the!shortlist!(32.6%)!and!the!selection!of!the!
top!three!candidates!(28.1%),!yet!they!are!underrepresented!at!the!end!(i.e.,!final!hiresa!19.8%).!
!
Figure!4:!Women’s!representation!at!each!level!of!the!selection!process!!
!!!
There!were!9!cases!in!which!no!women!applied!for!a!position,!29!cases!in!which!no!women!were!on!
the!short!list,!and!54!cases!in!which!no!woman!was!among!the!top!3!choices.!Thus,!the!likelihood!of!a!
woman!being!considered!for!a!position!decreases!with!selection!progress.!!
!
Moreover,!Figure!5!shows!that!the!likelihood!of!a!man!being!considered!for!an!AP!position!slightly!
decreases!in!the!first!stages!of!the!selection!process!as!well,!but!increases!in!the!end!for!final!hires.!
!
Figure!5:!Women!and!men!represented!at!each!level!of!the!selection!process!!
!!
!
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
THF RWF WWF MeF VFS PhF MNF
ApplicationsShortlistTop!3Hired
90.6%
69.8%
43.8% 40.0%33.3%
20.6% 19.8%
100.0%97.9%
91.7%
60.0%66.7%
79.4% 80.2%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%100.0%
Application Short!List Top!3 3rd!choice 2nd!choice 1st!choice Hired
Women
Men
!11!
Part!III:!University!of!Zurich!Assistant!Professor!Exit!Survey!!A!Mixed!Methods!Study!of!Current!and!Previous!Assistant!Professors!!!Goal!!To!gather!more!information!about!the!success!of!an!AP!position!as!a!springboard!for!an!academic!
career,!we!contacted!mostly!former!(but!also!some!current)!APs!from!the!University!of!Zurich.!The!
first!goal!of!this!survey!was!to!examine!whether!University!of!Zurich!APs!are!still!employed!in!
academia!and!if!the!AP!position!contributed!to!the!retention!of!these!talented!young!scholars!in!
academia.!Second,!we!asked!the!former!University!of!Zurich!APs!about!their!experiences!as!an!AP,!
the!advantages!and!disadvantages!of!the!AP!position,!as!well!as!their!personal!suggestions!for!
improvement!and!specifically!attracting!more!female!APs.!
!!Data!!From!131!APs!who!were!previously!(or!still!currently)!employed!at!the!University!of!Zurich,!we!located!
publically!available!email!addresses!for!most!of!them!(N!=!122a!93.1%)!to!contact!former!APs!and!
invite!them!to!participate!in!our!online!surveya!39!current/former!APs!responded!to!our!survey.!
!!Analytical!Strategy!!Given!the!small!sample,!especially!of!female!APs!(N!=!6),!the!statistical!power!to!detect!effects!
(particularly!for!gender)!is!limited!and!the!stability!and!generalizability!of!any!estimates!that!could!be!
derived!would!be!questionable.!Thus,!our!analyses!are!limited!to!descriptive!results!only.!!
!!Results!!Of!the!former!APs!of!the!University!of!Zurich!who!responded!to!our!survey,!37!(94.9%)!were!
employed!in!professorial!rolesa!the!other!two!did!not!respond!to!this!item.!This!result!indicates!that!the!
AP!position!seems!to!be!a!good!launch!pad!for!an!eventual!professorship.!However,!this!is!a!low!
response!rate!compared!with!the!total!sample!of!APs!that!the!University!of!Zurich!has!employed!(N!=!
122)!and!very!few!women!(N!=!6).!Thus,!we!conducted!a!search!to!find!out!if!the!former!APs!are!still!
employed!in!academia.!All!94!of!the!122!(77.0%)!APs!for!whom!emails!could!be!found!were!still!
employed!in!academiaa!the!exact!affiliations!of!11!APs!were!uncertain!and!28!could!not!be!located.!!
!
Conservatively,!this!remains!a!77%!success!rate!for!former!APs!of!the!University!of!Zurich,!indicating!
that!the!AP!position!is!generally!a!good!springboard!for!an!academic!career.!However,!based!on!this!
information,!we!cannot!conclude!whether!an!AP!is!more!or!less!helpful!according!to!scholar!gender.! !
!12!
In!our!survey,!we!asked!participants!about!the!advantages!and!disadvantages!of!an!AP!position.!
Table!6!summarizes!the!most!frequently!mentioned!themes!separated!by!gender.!Even!though!very!
few!women!participated!in!our!survey,!these!topics!may!be!especially!important!for!female!APs.!!
!
Table!6:!Advantages!and!disadvantages!of!Assistant!Professorships! !
Advantages! Women" Men! Total!
Independence!&!freedom! 3!(43%)! 10!(32%)! 13!(33%)!TenureRtrack,!job!security! 2!(29%)! 5!(16%)! 7!(18%)!Title!&!reputation! 2!(29%)! 4!(13%)! 6!(15%)!
Disadvantages! Women" Men! Total!
More!administrative!work!&!teaching!load! 4!(57%)! 9!(29%)! 13!(33%)!More!responsibility! 2!(28%)! 3!(10%)! 5!(13%)!!
!
In!the!second!part!of!the!survey,!we!asked!the!former!(and!current)!APs!how!the!AP!position!is!as!a!
springboard!for!an!academic!career,!including!what!could!be!improved!so!that!this!career!path!is!
more!attractive!and!encouraging!for!young!academicsRespecially!women.!In!this!qualitative!survey,!10!
(25%)!APs!suggested!that!longRterm!contracts!(6!years!+)!or!tenureRtrack!positions!would!provide!
more!job!security!and!the!possibility!to!start!larger!research!projects.!Moreover,!2!(5%)!APs!reported!
that!formulating!clear!regulations!and!expectations!and!having!a!mentor!would!help!them!to!gain!
more!role!clarity!in!their!new!position,!learn!how!to!progress,!and!ideally,!be!promoted.!
! !
!13!
Part!IV:!Longitudinal!Study!of!Scholars’!Personal!&!Professional!Experiences!!!A!Quantitative!Study!of!Early!Career!Scholars!in!Switzerland!!!Goal!!Although!recent!studies!of!female!professor’s!childbearing!and!scholarly!success!in!GermanRspeaking!
Europe!suggest!that!only!the!most!productive!dare!to!have!children!and!pursue!an!academic!career!
(e.g.,!Joecks,!Pull,!&!BackesRGellner,!2014),!as!we!previously!stated,!the!largest!share!of!educated!
female!scholars!are!lost!just!after!the!doctoral!studies!(Seyfarth!et!al.,!2012).!Thus,!examining!a!
sample!of!women!who!have!achieved!professorships!is!already!too!late!and!a!potentially!biased!
sample.!Furthermore,!decades!of!research!have!shown!gender!biases!in!hiring!and!selection!that!are!
consistently!to!women’s!detriment,!with!women!having!to!show!more!performance!and!productivity!to!
achieve!equal!evaluations!and!employment!outcomes!as!men!(see!Heilman,!2001a!2012).!
Experimental!research!shows!that!even!when!men!and!women!with!the!same!education,!experience,!
and!CVs!apply!for!academic!positions,!women!are!offered!lower!salary,!are!less!likely!to!be!mentored!
and!hired,!and!are!less!likely!to!be!promoted!compared!with!men!(MossRRacusin,!Dovidio,!Brescoll,!
Graham,!&!Handelsman,!2012a!Steinpreis,!Anders,!&!Ritzke,!1999).!Thus,!to!tease!apart!the!supplyR!
(employee)!and!demandRside!(employer)!influences!on!young!academics’!careers,!we!conducted!a!
prospective!study,!following!early!career!academics!over!three!years.!!
!
The!goal!of!this!study!was!twoRfold:!to!examine!career!pitfalls!for!women!on!the!path!to!
professorships!and!to!develop!measures!specifically!designed!to!support!early!career!female!
academics!and!counteract!these!potential!pitfalls.!Specific!goals!of!this!study!included:!!
!
1.! Examining!and!summarizing!patterns!and!trends!of!the!work!and!family!
situations!of!early!career!researchers,!
2.! Analyzing!the!effects!of!institutional,!personal,!and!family!variables!on!the!
satisfaction!and!success!of!early!career!researchers,!and!
3.! Deriving!and!proposing!scienceRbased!measures!and!funding!structures!to!
increase!the!proportion!of!female!APs!at!the!University!of!Zurich.!!
!!Data!!Many!women!leave!academia!before!even!starting!as!an!AP!(Federal!Statistical!Office,!2013a!NeveR
Seyfarth!&!Loewe,!2016).!Thus,!we!examined!APs!as!well!as!postRdocs!and!PhD!students.!Primarily,!
we!sampled!from!the!University!of!Zurich.!However,!several!Swiss!Universities!were!also!included!as!
comparisons!and!to!increase!the!representativeness!and!generalizability!of!our!findings.!In!the!end,!
researchers!from!all!Swiss!federal!and!cantonal!universities!were!represented!in!our!sample.!
!
!14!
Our!study!was!conducted!longitudinally!via!an!online!survey!distributed!in!2014,!2015,!and!2016.!Of!
note,!given!attrition!between!waves!of!data!collection!as!well!as!sporadic!incomplete!or!unreported!
measures,!sample!sizes!across!our!analyses!vary!slightly.!We!report!the!average!demographics!and!
job!characteristics!of!our!sample!in!Table!7!below.!!
!
Table!7:!Sample!demographics!
! Wave!1!(2014)! Wave!2!(2015)! Wave!3!(2016)!
Participants!invited! 3,196! 1,645! 1,633!
Total!participants! 2,078!(65%)! 852!(52%)! 1,030!(63%)!
Cleaned!sample! N!=!1896! N!=!604! N!=!824!
Gender!Male!Female!
!932!959!
!(49.2%)!(50.6%)!
!298!306!
!(49.3%)!(50.7%)!
!406!418!
!(49.3%)!(50.7%)!
Parenthood!Parent!Childless!
!359!1537!
!(18.9%)!(81.1%)!
!122!478!
!(20.2%)!(79.8%)!
!169!655!
!(20.5%)!(79.5%)!
Age!(in!years)! M!=!31.6! (SD!=!4.6)! M!=!32.2! (SD!=!4.5)! M!=!33.2! (SD!=!4.4)!Nationality!Swiss!NonRSwiss!
!720!1176!
!(38.0%)!(62.0%)!
!241!363!
!(39.9%)!(60.1%)!
!338!486!
!(41.0%)!(59.0%)!
Position!PhD!student!PostRDoc!AP!Professor!
!1118!571!207!R!
!(59.0%)!(30.1%)!(10.9%)!(0.0%)!
!343!197!57!7!
!(56.8%)!(32.6%)!(9.4%)!(1.2%)!
!375!241!53!17!
!(45.5%)!(29.2%)!(6.4%)!(2.1%)!
University!UZH!Others!
!479!1417!
!(25.3%)!(74.7%)!
!175!429!
!(29.0%)!(71.0%)!
!215!609!
!(26.1%)!(73.9%)!
Region!German!French!Italian!Bilingual!(French/German)!
!1266!513!64!41!
!(66.8%)!(27.1%)!(3.4%)!(2.2%)!
!427!146!17!11!
!(70.7%)!(24.2%)!(2.8%)!(1.8%)!
!572!209!24!15!
!(69.4%)!(25.5%)!(2.9%)!(1.8%)!
!!Participants!were!contacted!individually!via!email!to!complete!a!webRbased!survey!during!early!2014.!
Potential!participants!were!identified!internally!per!email!(e.g.,!by!the!Rector’s!Office!or!by!the!Gender!
Equality!Office)!or!contacted!by!the!project!team!through!the!public!database!of!www.proff.ch,!which!
was!especially!helpful!to!locate!APs.!!!
!
In!2014,!3,196!young!academics!in!Switzerland!were!invited.!In!total,!2,078!participated,!which!
corresponds!to!a!response!rate!of!65%.!After!removing!182!participants!due!to!missing!data!and!
unemployment,!the!total!sample!of!wave!1!consisted!of!1,896!scholars.!We!invited!all!1,645!
respondents!from!wave!1!who!entered!their!email!address!and!a!longitudinal!code!to!participate!in!
!15!
wave!2.!In!2015,!852!(52%)!participants!responded,!which!after!data!cleaning,!included!604!
participants.!In!2016,!we!invited!the!same!number!of!participants!to!take!part!in!the!third!survey.!Of!
the!academics!who!were!invited,!1,633!email!addresses!were!still!valid!and!1,030!participants!(63%)!
responded!to!our!survey.!After!data!cleaning,!the!final!sample!of!wave!3!included!824!participants.!In!
total,!492!participants!responded!to!all!three!surveys.!!!Measures!!Doctoral!students,!postRdocs!(including!senior!research!associates)!and!APs!reported!demographic!
and!jobRrelated!characteristics,!which!are!arguably!objective,!errorRfree!measures.!These!included!
gender!and!parenthood!status,!current!job!status,!job!changes!and!private!changes!(e.g.,!becoming!
pregnant!or!having!a!child)!between!the!waves!of!data!collection,!their!current!employment!status!(in!
%!as!well!as!employment!contract),!and!if!they!had!an!annual!meeting.!Participants!also!reported!
more!subjective!measures!(i.e.,!their!perceptions),!including!their!research!performance,!if!they!had!
an!annual!meeting!and!the!quality!of!these!meetings,!as!well!as!their!desire!for!an!academic!career.!!!!Analytical!Strategy!!Given!our!large!sample!and!sufficientlyRsized!subgroups,!we!present!descriptive!results!as!well!as!
inferential!statistics!(e.g.,!mixed!ANOVA)!of!participants!over!time!by!gender!and!parenthood.!!!!Results!!As!shown!below!(Figure!6),!from!304!scholars,!89!(29.3%)!were!promoted!or!retained!as!an!AP!(or!
higher,!for!example,!as!a!professor).!Gender!differences!in!achieving!an!AP!(or!higher)!are!clearly!
noticeable:!3!times!more!men!achieved!AP!(or!higher)!than!women!between!2013R2016.!!
!
Figure!6:!Descriptive!results!of!achieving!an!AP!(or!higher)!by!scholar!gender!(201332016)!!
!!
!
66 23 89
111
104215
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%
Men Women Total
No
Yes
!16!
Gender!and!Achieving!an!AP!Position!(or!Higher)!As!previously!described,!family!formation!directly!overlaps!with!this!critical!early!career!period,!and!
may!be!most!influential!for!women.!Thus,!we!also!examined!the!gender!differences!in!achieving!an!
AP!(or!higher)!by!parenthood!status!(see!below!in!Figure!7).!For!men,!fathers!are!the!most!highly!
represented!(50.7%),!followed!second!by!childless!men!(28.4%).!Mothers!followed!in!third!place!with!
26.7%,!but!childless!women!were!especially!underrepresented!(13.4%).!Of!note,!these!values!
together!add!to!more!than!100%,!given!that!the!percentages!are!calculated!according!to!category,!
and!there!were!more!men!represented!in!these!analyses!(n!=!177)!than!women!(n!=!127).!
!
Figure!7:!Descriptive!results!of!achieving!an!AP!(or!higher)!by!scholar!gender!and!parenthood!!!!
!!
!Gender,!Parenthood,!and!Achieving!an!AP!Position!(or!Higher)!These!objective!demographics!and!professional!outcomes!show!a!gendered!effect!such!that!more!
men!achieve!Assistant!Professorships!(or!higher).!Furthermore,!these!effects!are!especially!
prominent!when!incorporating!family!status.!That!is,!childless!women!are!especially!underrepresented!
as!APs!(or!higher).!Although!these!patterns!are!clear!in!describing!professional!outcomes!for!
subgroups!of!scholars,!they!do!not!explain!the!process!or!the!mechanism!contributing!to!these!
outcomes.!Thus,!we!turn!to!the!subjective!measures!to!inform!the!individualRlevel!drivers!of!these!
effects.!!! !
28.4% 49.3% 13.4% 26.7%
71.6%
50.7%
86.6%
73.3%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Childless!men
Fathers Childless!women
Mothers
No
Yes
!17!
Desire!for!an!Academic!Career!!A!similar!pattern!is!shown!in!childless!women!versus!men’s!selfRreported!desire!for!an!academic!
career!(1!to!5,!strongly!disagree!to!strongly!agree).!Although!childless!men!and!women!begin!with!a!
similar!desire!for!an!academic!career,!it!decreases!over!time,!especially!for!women!(see!Figure!8).!
This!pattern!of!results!remains!regardless!of!selfRreported!research!productivity!or!annual!meeting.!
!
Figure!8:!Descriptive!results!of!scholar!desire!for!an!academic!career!by!gender!over!time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(N"=!465)!
!!
!
Job!Characteristics!One!possible!mechanism!contributing!to!these!gendered!effects!in!achieving!an!AP!(or!higher)!could!
be!job!characteristics.!For!example,!previous!research!indicates!a!gender!pay!gap!such!that!women!
are!paid!about!20R30%!less!than!men!for!the!same!work!(Federal!Statistical!Office,!2014).!Given!the!
perceived!uncertainty!in!her!childbearing!(i.e.,!the!“maybe!baby”!effecta!Gloor,!2016),!young!childless!
women!may!also!have!shorter!contracts!and/or!more!temporary!contracts!compared!with!young!
childless!men!who!have!longer!and/or!more!permanent!contracts.!In!other!words,!young!females’!
career!commitment!and!dependability!could!be!viewed!as!less!certain!than!young!males,!which!is!
reflected!in!smaller!and!shorter!contracts!awarded!to!women!than!to!men.!If!paid!less,!employed!for!a!
smaller!percentage!and/or!a!shorter!length!of!time,!this!could!help!to!explain!women’s!greater!relative!
career!uncertainty!and!turnover!compared!with!men.!Thus,!we!assessed!these!objective!job!
characteristics!by!gender!and!parenthood!(Figure!9).!
! !
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
2014 2015 2016
Childless!Men Childless!Women
!18!
Figure!9:!Job!characteristics!by!scholar!gender!&!parenthood!!
!
!!(Ns!=!1862R1896)a!values!reRscaled!for!a!common!0R1!axis!
!!
!Job!characteristics!were!not!evenly!distributed!across!gender!and!parenthood.!For!example,!fathers!
reported!the!highest!employment!rate!with!91.65%,!while!childless!women!reported!the!lowest!rate!
with!78.54%.!Similarly,!differences!in!pay!and!position!echoed!these!differences!in!employment!
contractsa!fathers!also!reported!the!highest!average!pay!(between!100,000R150,000CHF!annually),!
while!childless!women!reported!the!lowest!average!pay!(just!over!60,000CHF!annually)a!fathers!were!
also!overrepresented!as!APs,!while!childless!women!were!overrepresented!as!PhD!students.!
Employment!contracts!showed!a!similar!pattern.!Specifically,!although!permanent!contracts!were!
rare,!childless!women!(7.9%)!and!mothers!(7.8%)!had!more!temporary!contracts!than!childless!men!
(12.1%)!and!fathers!(8.9%),!who!were!more!likely!to!have!permanent!contracts.!!
!
Importantly,!these!differences!were!not!explained!by!scholar!age,!because!there!was!no!significant!
interaction!of!gender!and!parenthood!in!predicting!age,!F(1,1,887)!=!.470,!p!=!.493.!Furthermore,!the!
pattern!of!results!remain!the!same!in!predicting!employment!rate,!F(1,1,886)!=!6.365,!p!=!.012,!and!
pay,!F(1,1,854)!=!7.526,!p!=!.006,!by!scholar!gender!and!parenthood!after!controlling!for!scholar!age.!!
!
Fathers!had!the!largest!employment!contracts,!the!highest!pay,!the!most!job!security,!and!the!most!
senior!positions,!whereas!childless!women!had!the!smallest!employment!contracts,!the!lowest!pay,!
the!least!job!security,!and!the!most!junior!positionsa!we!showed!these!effects!regardless!of!scholar!
age.!Although!we!are!unable!to!determine!the!cause!for!these!discrepancies!(i.e.,!if!fathers!were!
being!favored!because!they!have!children!and!families!to!care!for)!or!if!childless!women!were!being!
disfavored!(i.e.,!“maybe!baby”!expectations),!the!final!job!outcomes!remain!the!same.!
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
Employment Job!Contract Pay PhD PostRDoc AP
Childless!Woman
Childless!Man
Mother
Father
!19!
Annual!Meetings!As!mentioned!in!part!I,!an!annual!meeting!outline!was!developed!and!implemented!at!the!University!
of!Zurich.!These!annual!meetings!should!be!conducted!between!the!dean!and!the!APs!(or!functional!
equivalents).!The!longitudinal!part!of!our!study!provides!data!to!analyze!whether!the!number!of!
annual!meetings!and!the!quality!of!these!meetings!changed!between!2014!and!2016.!Table!7!
represents!the!absolute!and!relative!quantity!and!AP’s!perception!of!quality!of!these!meetings.!
!
Table!7:!Number!and!quality!of!annual!meetings!!
! Wave!1!(2014)! Wave!2!(2015)! Wave!3!(2016)!
Total!sample!size! N!=!391!
Annual!meeting!(total)!With!the!dean!With!the!department!chair!With!a!supervisor!With!someone!else!No!annual!meeting!
!7!17!133!13!221!
!(1.8%)!(4.3%)!(34.0%)!(3.3%)!(56.5%)!
!5!22!138!16!210!
!(1.3%)!(5.6%)!(35.3%)!(4.1%)!(53.7%)!
!9!24!128!16!214!
!(2.3%)!(6.1%)!(32.7%)!(4.1%)!(54.1%)!
Meeting!quality*!(total)! M!=!3.2! (SD!=!1.1)!! M!=!3.3! (SD!=!1.1)! M!=!3.2! (SD!=!1.1)!UZH!sample!size! N!=!110!
Annual!meeting!(UZH)!With!the!dean!With!the!department!chair!With!a!supervisor!With!someone!else!No!annual!meeting!
!1!5!41!4!59!
!(0.9%)!(4.5%)!(37.3%)!(3.6%)!(53.6%)!
!3!3!39!6!59!
!(2.7%)!(2.7%)!(35.5%)!(5.5%)!(53.6%)!
!3!6!36!5!60!
!(2.7%)!(5.5%)!(32.7%)!(4.5%)!(54.5%)!
Meeting!quality*!(UZH)! M!=!3.3! (SD!=!1.0)!! M!=!3.2! (SD!=!0.9)! M!=!3.1! (SD!=!0.9)!!
*!Scale!ranged!from!1(poor)!to!5!(excellent)!
!
Compared!to!the!total!sample!of!academics!in!Switzerland,!early!career!scholars!at!the!University!of!
Zurich!do!not!have!significantly!more!or!less!opportunity!to!have!an!annual!meeting!(i.e.,!a!career!
development!meeting!or!performance!review!with!a!dean).!On!average,!55%!of!the!study!participants!
at!the!University!of!Zurich!and!at!other!Swiss!universities!reported!in!2014!that!they!do!not!have!an!
annual!meeting.!The!overall!quality!of!these!meetings!was!perceived!as!about!average!(M!=!3.2).!
After!the!annual!meeting!outline!was!introduced!in!2014,!a!larger!share!of!young!researchers!at!the!
University!of!Zurich!reported!to!have!an!annual!meeting!with!the!dean!or!the!department!chair.!
However,!the!reported!numbers!did!not!change!significantly!and!the!number!of!participants!who!do!
not!have!an!annual!meeting!at!all!remained!stable.!Moreover,!the!quality!of!the!meetings!at!the!
University!of!Zurich!was!rated!slightly!lower!than!the!year!before!(2014:!3.3,!2015:!3.1).!Although!the!
sample!size!of!110!scholars!is!rather!small!and!may!thus!preclude!definitive!conclusions,!while!only!
one!year!may!also!not!be!long!enough!for!the!effective!implementation!of!annual!meetings!(or!our!
evidenceRbased!guide),!we!discuss!how!annual!meetings!could!be!effectively!designed!and!
implemented!based!on!theory!and!findings!from!behavioral!science!in!the!subsequent!chapter.!
!
!20!
Part!V:!Review!&!Recommendations!!!Across!multiple!data!sources,!we!find!that!women!want!an!academic!career!as!much!as!men!at!the!
start!of!their!studies!and!they!apply!for!AP!positions,!but!despite!their!productivity!or!annual!meetings,!
women—especially!childless!women—are!fewer!at!each!stage!of!the!selection,!less!interested!in!an!
academic!career!over!time,!and!eventually!underrepresented!as!APs!(and!in!professorships).!Thus,!
we!suggest!five!evidenceRbased!measures!to!remedy!the!aforementioned!gender!disparities!and!
subtle!biases!that!may!consciously!(or!unconsciously)!permeate!early!career!selection,!development,!
and!employment!processes:!joint!applicant!assessment!(in!hiring!and!promotions)!and!active!sourcing!
for!high!quality!female!applicants,!automatic!annual!meetings!(paired!with!a!guide),!and!paternal!
leave!for!new!fathers!(not!just!mothers).!We!outline!each!of!these!practices!and!tools!below,!but!first,!
we!describe!the!behavioral!economics!approach!that!provides!the!guidance!and!empirical!foundations!
for!each!of!these!interventions:!nudges.!!
!
“Nudges”!are!minimally!invasive,!lowRcost!choice!architecture!strategies!derived!from!behavioral!
economics!(Thaler!&!Sunstein,!2008).!Nudges!are!conceptually!nested!somewhere!between!
information!and!intervention.!Specifically,!decisionRmaking!nudges!retain!all!possible!choices!while!
simply!altering!the!framing!or!defaults!in!which!these!decisions!are!made.!Nudges!diminish!the!
influence!of!decisionRmaking!inefficiencies!(e.g.,!shortRsidedness,!selfRserving!or!gender!biases)!in!
support!of!longRterm!change.!A!common!example!is!employers’!automatic!drafting!of!a!portion!of!
employees’!paychecks!directly!into!retirement!savings:!employees!can!always!optRout,!but!a!nudge!
such!as!this!increases!retirement!savings!exponentially,!which!is!in!employees’!personal!best!interest!
as!well!as!society’s!(arguable)!best!interests!in!the!longRterm!(Thaler!&!Sustein,!2008).!
!
Selection:!Joint!Applicant!Assessment!&!Voluntary!“Top!3”!Quota!According!to!our!hiring!analysis,!women!were!less!represented!than!men!in!the!final!hires,!a!number!
that!was!even!disproportionate!to!the!share!of!women!who!applied!for!AP!positions.!Derived!from!
recent!research!by!Harvard!professor!and!University!of!Zurich!graduate!Iris!Bohnet!(Bohnet,!2016a!
Bohnet,!van!Geen,!&!Bazerman,!2015),!we!propose!a!nudge!in!the!selection!practices!for!AP!
positions,3!but!the!same!principles!also!apply!to!promotions.!According!to!Bohnet!and!colleagues!
(2015),!this!nudge!works!because!conscious!(or!unconscious)!evaluation!standards!are!more!
probable!to!shift!across!individual!applicant!assessments,!and!thus,!are!more!problematic!if!these!
evaluation!standards!are!able!to!shift!according!to!applicant!gender.!!
!
This!is!concerning!because!individual!assessment!is!the!standard!or!typical!approach!to!personnel!
selection.!However,!when!two!applicants!are!compared!sideRbyRside!(germane!to!this!research!and!
recommendations:!a!male!applicant!and!a!female!applicant),!evaluation!standards!are!less!
ambiguous,!less!likely!to!shift,!and!granted!fewer!opportunities!to!enter!and!influence!the!decision.!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3Theoretically,!the!same!strategy!could!also!be!applied!to!postRdoc!(or!senior!research!associate)!positions,!but!these!positions!are!not!always!publically!posted.!Instead,!it!is!common!practice!that!PhD!students!stay!on!at!the!same!chair!as!postRdocs.!
!21!
Since!applicants!should!be!compared!sideRbyRside,!it!makes!more!sense!to!use!this!nudge!later!in!the!
selection!process,!for!example,!in!deciding!for!1!of!3!of!the!top!candidates.!However,!for!the!majority!
of!cases,!there!were!no!women!represented!in!the!top!3!spots!for!AP!positions.!!
!
Thus,!this!assessment!nudge!may!work!best!if!paired!with!a!second!nudge!that!ensures!that!at!least!1!
of!the!top!3!candidates!is!a!woman.!Although!this!second!assessment!nudge!might!be!problematic!for!
disciplines!that!struggle!to!recruit!qualified!female!candidates!(e.g.,!engineering),!our!descriptive!data!
indicate!women!are!represented!in!the!applicant!pool!for!nearly!every!post.!Thus,!locating!at!least!one!
qualified!woman!should!be!feasible!for!most!faculties!and!in!most!cases.!In!the!rare!cases!that!more!
female!applicants!need!to!be!located,!we!encourage!hiring!committees!to!use!active!recruiting.!!
!
Active!recruiting!or!active!sourcing!methods!refer!to!locating!candidates!and!personally!inviting!them!
to!apply!for!an!open!position.!Active!sourcing!may!also!entail!creating!talent!pipelines!of!qualified!
candidates!who!were!not!chosen!for!the!job!they!initially!applied!for,!but!could!be!a!good!fit!for!a!
future!position!at!the!same!firm.!These!methods!are!increasingly!popular!in!the!private!sectora!in!
2015,!74%!of!companies!in!GermanRspeaking!Europe!reported!using!active!sourcing!methods!to!find!
qualified!candidates!for!strategically!important!positions!(experteer,!2015).!Companies!implement!
these!direct!and!personal!approaches!to!remain!competitive!in!a!contested!labor!market,!thus,!there!
is!no!reason!why!universities!could!not!use!active!sourcing!methods!specifically!for!female!recruits.!
!
Compared!with!other!recent!strategies!to!reduce!gender!bias!in!hiring!(e.g.,!genderRfree!hiring,!such!
as!removing!gendered!names,!pictures,!and/or!pronouns!from!applications!and!reference!letters),!the!
strategies!that!we!suggest!here!retain!more!generalizability!and!are!less!easily!compromised.!Indeed,!
even!if!gender!is!eliminated!from!application!materials,!all!people!and!candidates!have!a!gender,!
information!that!is!easily!found!via!the!Internet!if!desired.!Finally,!the!nudges!that!we!recommend!here!
also!require!relatively!less!time!and!effort,!and!thus,!are!relatively!less!costly.!!
!Retention!and!Development:!Automatic!Annual!Meetings!&!Guidelines!According!to!our!analyses!of!early!career!academics!in!Switzerland,!women!have!less!job!security!
and!shorter!contracts!compared!with!men!already!at!the!PhD!and!postRdoc!levels,!yet!more!job!
security!and!longer!contracts!are!both!strategies!that!early!career!scholars!suggest!will!attract!more!
women!APs.!Importantly,!this!information!could!be!communicated!in!an!annual!meeting.!Furthermore,!
half!of!the!early!career!scholars!we!surveyed!do!not!have!one,!meaning!that!this!is!critical!opportunity!
to!reduce!insecurity!and/or!reinforce!young!women’s!potential!is!underutilized.!!
!
However,!this!also!has!legal!implications:!employees!of!the!University!of!Zurich!are!also!employed!by!
the!Canton!of!Zurich.!According!to!the!“Gesetz!über!das!Arbeitsverhältnis!des!Staatspersonals”!
(Personalgesetz,!177.10)!§46!and!the!“Vollzugsverordnung!zum!Personalgesetz”!(177.111)!§136,!all!
!22!
employees!should!have!a!yearly!“Mitarbeiterbeurteilung”!(i.e.,!an!annual!meeting)!and!their!
performance!should!be!evaluated!by!the!supervisor!on!a!regular,!yearly!basis.4!!
!
Thus,!we!propose!an!annual!meeting!nudge!by!making!a!yearly!meeting!the!default.!That!is,!
supervisors!automatically!have!a!meeting!scheduled!every!year!with!each!of!their!PhD!students!and!
postRdocs,!as!well!as!APs!in!their!field!to!discuss!their!performance,!concrete!career!progress!and!
goals!unless!the!scholar!decides!against!it.!It!could!be!particularly!helpful!and!most!likely!to!occur!if!a!
specific,!predetermined!date!was!chosen!for!all!employees!(e.g.,!December!1).!!
!
Indeed,!regular!meetings!are!already!university!and!legal!policy!despite!half!of!early!career!scholars!
not!having!one.!Specifically,!all!University!of!Zurich!staff!have!the!right!to!receive!a!regular!
assessment!of!their!work!and!conduct!(Conditions!of!Employmenta!University!of!Zurich,!2016).!Thus,!
this!nudge!could!encourage!uptake!of!an!already!established!policy!and!law,!as!well!as!having!the!
positive!side!effect!of!increasing!female!scholars’!information!about!their!performance,!career!
opportunities,!and/or!academic!potential.!Finally,!this!proposal!is!also!consistent!with!a!recent!study!of!
Swiss!employees!that!recommended!employeeRspecific!approaches!to!career!management!(Gerber,!
Wittekind,!Grote,!&!Staffelbach,!2009).!!
!
Recruitment!&!Retention:!Increased!Equality!in!Parental!Leave!Policy!!According!to!our!results!from!the!longitudinal!study,!paired!with!the!first!author!and!project!manager’s!
dissertation!research,5!our!results!indicate!that!concerns!of!impending!childhood!may!be!everRpresent!
in!the!minds!of!gatekeepers,!supervisors!and!coworkers,!potentially!placing!an!asymmetrical!risk,!
cost,!and!inconvenience!on!early!career!young!womenRespecially!childless!womenRcompared!with!
men.!Thus,!our!final!nudge!pertains!to!parental!leave!policy,!namely,!time!off!to!care!for!a!new!child.!
!
Specifically,!we!recommend!that!new!fathers!should!also!be!included!in!parental!leave!policy!
offerings,!which!are!currently!centered!on!women!at!both!the!federal!and!the!organizational!level.!For!
example,!the!University!of!Zurich!offers!16!weeks!of!leave!for!women!(2!weeks!in!excess!of!the!
federal!requirement!of!14!weeks),!while!men!are!offered!no!leave.6!Thus,!this!change!could!even!be!
essentially!costRfree!if!these!extra!2!weeks!are!simply!reallocated!to!male!employees.!!
!
Although!this!particular!nudge!may!be!politically!tricky!at!the!outset,!perhaps!especially!for!female!
employees!who!might!react!aversely!to!the!sense!of!having!lost!2!weeks!of!leave,!such!an!initiative!is!
in!line!with!best!practices!for!gender!equality!and!workRlife!initiatives!(League!of!European!
Universities,!2010).!Indeed,!this!policy!nudge!would!be!topRdown,!systematic,!and!transparent.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!4See!the!working!conditions!of!the!University!of!Zurich!http://www.uzh.ch/de/about/work/facts/workingconditions.htmlor!the!guideline!for!annual!meetings!of!the!Canton!of!Zurich!!http://www.pa.zh.ch/dam/finanzdirektion/pa/anstellungsbedingungen/!Mitarbeiterbeurteilung/mab_formulare/mitarbeiterbeurteilung_wegleitung.pdf.spooler.download.1398351083468.pdf/mitarbeiterbeurteilung_wegleitung.pdf!5More!information!available!upon!request!from!Jamie.Gloor@gmail.com.!!6Technically,!as!Canton!of!Zurich!employees,!men!are!entitled!to!one!week!of!paid!leave!and!one!month!of!unpaid!leave!(see!http://www.pa.zh.ch/internet/finanzdirektion/personalamt/de/anstellungsbedingungen/arbeitszeit_ferienurlaub/elternschaft/vaterschaftsurlaub.html)!although!it!is!not!wellRpublicized,!nor!is!it!advertised!on!the!University!of!Zurich!website!(see!http://www.uzh.ch/en/about/work/facts/workingconditions.html).!!!
!23!
Although!this!redistribution!of!leave!is!not!likely!to!eliminate!“maybe!baby”!risk!towards!potential!
mothers!(only!equitable!leave!allocated!evenly!to!new!mothers!and!fathers!might!help!to!achieve!this!
aim),!this!is!a!small,!free!step!in!the!right!direction!towards!gender!parity!in!unpaid!labor.!
!
In!addition!to!redistributing!the!“maybe!baby”!risk!and!pregnancy!inconvenience!associated!with!
(potential)!new!mothers,!this!nudge!might!also!entail!other!benefits!for!recruitment!and!the!workgroup/!
organizational!workRlife!culture!in!the!shortRterm.!For!example,!workRfamily!benefits!attract!more!
talents!to!firms!(Beauregard!&!Henry,!2009).!Thus,!this!minor!policy!change!might!also!make!the!
University!of!Zurich!more!attractive!to!talented!recruits,!which!fits!well!with!the!university’s!current!
strategic!aims!to!be!a!“familyRfriendly”!workplace.!Furthermore,!even!when!parental!leave!is!offered!to!
men,!problematic!work!cultures!that!value!and!reinforce!women’s!caretaking!but!disallow!and!
discourage!men’s!caretaking!may!still!trump!these!offerings,!preventing!men!from!taking!leave!even!
when!it!is!offered!(e.g.,!see!Berdahl!&!Moon,!2013a!Rudman!&!Mescher,!2013).!Thus,!making!this!
official!policy!change!at!the!organizationalRlevel!sends!an!important,!topRdown!signal!of!workRfamily!
support!that!may!legitimize!and!reinforce!men’s!decisions!to!take!paternal!leave.!!
!
Finally,!this!nudge!might!also!have!beneficial!side!effects!for!women’s!careers!in!the!longRterm.!For!
example,!new!mothers!who!take!longer!maternity!leaves!miss!more!work!than!men!who!take!no!
leaves!and!are!viewed!more!negatively!in!hiring!and!promotion!decisions!compared!to!employees!
who!have!taken!less!leave!(Swiss,!1996a!Williams!&!Ceci,!2015).!However,!men!who!take!paternal!
leave!are!also!more!involved!in!their!children’s!home!lives!in!both!the!shortR!and!longRterm!
(Nepomnyaschy!&!Waldfogel,!2007),!which!helps!to!create!more!balance!in!the!gendered!distribution!
of!unpaid!labor!and!caretaking!typically!borne!by!women.!!
!
Thus,!more!equitable!parental!leave!created!through!offering!and!encouraging!paternal!leave!in!new!
fathers!may!have!important!implications!for!fathers’!family!involvement!as!well!as!women’s!careers.!
After!all,!equality!entails!equal!opportunity!for!women!in!the!workplace!as!well!as!men!at!home.! !
!24!
Part!VI:!Conclusions!!Derived!from!multiple!objective!and!subjective!data!sources!collected!from!across!Switzerland!over!
the!course!of!3!years,!our!findings!consistently!supported!our!general!project!motivation:!incorporating!
gender!and!parenthood!in!assessments!of!early!career!positions!such!as!the!AP!is!of!central!
importance,!given!this!critical!period!of!potential!change,!conflict,!and!uncertainty!between!personal!
and!professional!roles.!Indeed,!we!found!meaningful!differences!in!our!patterns!of!results!by!including!
scholar!gender!and!parenthood.!Based!on!these!converging!findings,!we!derived!five!evidenceRbased!
recommendations!for!use!by!any!person!who!is!involved!in!the!selection,!training,!supervision,!or!
promotion!of!APs!(as!well!as!persons!who!might!become!APs,!e.g.,!PhD!students!and!postRdocs).!!
!
First,!although!women!applied!for!AP!positions,!they!were!fewer!in!number!as!the!personnel!selection!
and!promotion!processes!progressed,!with!8!out!of!10!positions!eventually!awarded!to!men.!Thus,!we!
proposed!paired!applicant!assessment!(rather!than!individual!assessment)!and!secondly,!a!specific!
selection!goal!to!have!at!least!one!of!the!top!three!applicants!be!a!woman!(whenever!practically!
possible).!Third,!active!sourcing!can!be!used!to!create!a!female!talent!pool!to!ensure!a!qualified!
female!candidate!is!included!in!the!selection!processes!for!each!position.!
!
Fourth,!although!women!had!more!job!insecurity!than!men,!only!half!of!all!early!career!scholars!had!
annual!meetings,!which!is!an!underutilized!opportunity!for!information!transfer!that!might!be!especially!
important!for!female!employees.!Thus,!we!proposed!to!increase!annual!meetings!through!
implementation!as!a!default!(i.e.,!an!automatic!event!for!all!employees!unless!the!employee!decides!
against!it).!Furthermore,!sponsors!might!use!our!tool!to!ensure!that!each!of!the!key!career!topics!are!
covered!with!all!employees,!but!in!addition,!to!ensure!the!sticky,!often!stressful!topic!of!the!workRlife!
interface!can!be!included!and!discussed!in!an!ordinary,!unassuming!way!(see!Appendices!B!&!C).!!
!
Fifth,!policies!on!the!organizational!and/or!governmental!levels!typically!award!parental!leave!to!new!
mothers!only!(or!primarily),!which!promotes!asymmetrical!perceptions!of!risk,!cost,!and!inconvenience!
towards!potential!new!mothers,!but!not!potential!new!fathers.!Thus,!we!proposed!that!employers!
promote!equality!in!paid!labor!as!well!as!unpaid!labor!(i.e.,!caretaking)!by!granting!more!equitable!
parental!leave!to!both!women!and!men.!Indeed,!gender!parity!in!unpaid!labor!is!also!a!persistent!and!
pervasive!form!of!inequality!that!influences!men’s!family!involvement!as!well!as!women’s!careers.!!
!
Finally,!although!our!analyses!and!recommendations!were!designed!for!the!early!career!academic!
(AP)!and!the!University!of!Zurich,!these!evidenceRbased!HR!practices!are!(theoretically)!applicable!for!
use!in!other!universities!and!hierarchicallyRorganized,!knowledgeRintensive!organizations.!Thus,!we!
encourage!gatekeepers!and!decisionRmakers!from!other!organizations!to!consider!these!evidenceR
based!practices!to!improve!gender!equality!in!the!early!career!phase!and!work!towards!the!ultimate!
goals:!equal!opportunity!for!women!to!pursue!a!career!(and/or!family,!if!they!want!to),!for!men!to!
pursue!a!family!(and/or!career,!if!they!want!to),!and!gender!parity!in!professorships!and!leadership.! !
!25!
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organizational!performance.!Human!Resource!Management!Review,!19(1),!9R22.!!!Berdahl,!J.!L.,!&!Moon,!S.!H.!(2013).!Workplace!mistreatment!of!middle!class!workers!based!on!sex,!
parenthood,!and!caregiving.!Journal!of!Social!Issues,!69,!341R366.!!Bergweger,!S.!&!Keller,!C.!(2005).!Prädiktoren!der!akademischen!Laufbahnintention.!Zeitschrift!für!
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versus!separate!evaluation.!Management!Science.!doi.10.1287/mnsc.2015.2186!!Bozeman,!B.!&!Gaughan,!M.!(2011).!Job!satisfaction!among!university!faculty:!Individual,!work,!and!
institutional!determinants.!The!Journal!of!Higher!Education,!82(2),!154R186.!!
Dubach,!P.!Graf,!I.!Stutz,!H.!&!Gardiol,!L.!(2012).!Evaluation!Bundesprogramm!Chancengleichheit!von!Frau!und!Mann!an!den!Universitäten.!Bern:!Staatssekretariat!für!Bildung!und!Forschung.!
!European!Commission.!(2013).!Innovation!Union!Scoreboard!2013.!Retrieved!from!
http://ec.europa.eu/.!!experteer!(2015).!Active!Sourcing!Studie!2015.!München:!experteer!GmbH.!!Federal!Statistical!Office!(Bundesamt!für!Statistik).!(2013).!Gender!Equality!–!Data,!Indicators.!
Retrieved!from!http://www.bfs.admin.ch/.!!Federal!Statistical!Office!(Bundesamt!für!Statistik).!(2014).!Wages,!income!from!employment!and!
labour!cost:!Gross!monthly!salary!(median)!2014.!Retrieved!from https://www.bfs.admin.ch/. !Fink,!A.,!Merkle,!A.,!Hirschi,!C.,!Hirt,!M.,!Paszkowski,!U.,!Mayer,!I.,!&!Maeder,!P.!(2012).!Vision!2020:!
Positionspapier!junger!Forschender,!Hearing!WBK.!!Fitzenberger,!B.!&!Schulze,!U.!(2013).!Up!or!Out:!Research!Incentives!and!Career!Prospects!of!
Postdocs!in!Germany.!German!Economic!Review,!15(2),!1R42.!!Ginther,!D.!K.!&!Kahn,!S.!(2004).!Women!in!Economics:!Moving!up!or!falling!off!the!academic!ladder?!
The!Journal!of!Economic!Perspectives,!18(3),!193R214.!!!Gerber,!M.,!Wittekind,!A.,!Grote,!G.,!&!Staffelbach,!B.!(2009).!Exploring!types!of!career!orientation:!A!
latent!class!analysis!approach.!Journal!of!Vocational!Behavior,!75(3),!303R318.!!!Glaser,!B.!G.,!&!Strauss,!A.!L.!(1967).!The!discovery!of!grounded!theory:!Strategies!for!qualitative!!
research.!Chicago:!Aldine!Publishing!Company.!!Gloor,!J.!L.!(2016).!The!labyrinth!of!leadership:!female,!family,!and!career!considerations.!Retrieved!
from!Zora.!University!of!Zurich,!Zurich,!Switzerland.!!Heilman,!M.!E.!(2001).!Description!and!prescription:!How!gender!stereotypes!prevent!women`s!
ascent!up!the!organizational!ladder.!Journal!of!Social!Issues,!57(4),!657R674.!!!Heilman,!M.!E.!(2012).!Gender!stereotypes!and!workplace!bias.!Research!in!Organizational!Behavior,!
32,!113R135.!!!Jäger,!M.!&!Schiermeier,!Q.!(2001).!Professors!facing!power!cuts!in!German!University!reforms.!
Nature,!411(6),!6.!!!
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Joecks,!J.,!Pull,!K.,!&!BackesRGellner,!U.!(2014).!Childbearing!and!(female)!research!productivity:!A!personnel!economics!perspective!on!the!leaky!pipeline.!Journal!of!Business!Economics,!84(4),!517R530.!!
!League!of!European!Universities.!(2010).!Harvesting!talent:!Strengthening!research!careers!in!
Europe.!Retrieved!from!http://www.leru.org.!!Levin,!J.!S.,!&!Shaker,!G.!G.!(2011).!The!hybrid!and!dualistic!identity!of!fullRtime!nonRtenureRtrack!
faculty.!American!Behavioral!Scientist,!55(11),!1461R1484.!!Maxwell,!J.!A.!(1996).!Qualitative!research!design:!An!interactive!approach.!Thousand!Oaks,!CA:!!
Sage.!!National!Science!Foundation!(2004).!Gender!Differences!in!the!Careers!of!Academic!Scientists!and!
Engineers,!Division!of!Science!Resources!Statistics.!Retrieved!from!http://www.nsf.gov/.!!MossRRacusin,!C.!A.,!Dovidio,!J.!F.,!Brescoll,!V.!L.,!Graham,!M.!J.!&!Handelsman,!J.!!(2012).!Science!
faculty’s!subtle!gender!biases!favor!male!students.!PNAS,!109(41),!16474R16479.!!!Nepomnyaschy,!L.,!&!Waldfogel,!J.!(2007).!Paternity!leave!and!fathers’!involvement!with!their!young!
children:!Evidence!from!the!American!Ecls–B.!Community,!Work!and!Family,!10,!427R453.!!!NeveRSeyfarth,!T.!&!Loewe,!C.!(2016).!Gleichstellungsmonitoring!Bericht!2015![Universität!Züric].!
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eagR2013Ren!!!OECD.!(2014).!Unpaid!care!work:!The!missing!link!in!the!analysis!of!gender!gaps!in!labour!outcomes.!
Retrieved!from!www.oecd.org!!!Purcell,!M.!(2007).!“Skilled,!Cheap,!and!Desperate”:!NonRtenureRtrack!faculty!and!the!delusion!of!
meritocracy.!Antipode,!39(1),!121R143.!!Rectors’!Conference!of!the!Swiss!Universities.!(2013).!Programme!CUS!PR4!Equal!Opportunity!/!
Gender!Studies.!Retrieved!from!http://www.crus.ch/.!!!Rice,!R.!E.,!Sorcinelli,!M.!D.,!&!Austin,!A.!E.!(2000).!Heeding!new!voices:!Academic!careers!for!a!new!
generation.!Washington,!DC:!American!Association!for!Higher!Education.!!Rosenblatt,!Z.,!Talmud,!I.,!&!Ruvio,!A.!(1999).!A!genderRbased!framework!of!the!experience!of!job!
insecurity!and!its!effects!on!work!attitudes.!European!Journal!of!Work!and!Organizational!Psychology,!8(2),!197R217.!
!Rudman,!L.,!&!Mescher,!K.!(2013).!Penalizing!men!who!request!a!family!leave:!Is!flexibility!stigma!a!
femininity!stigma?!Journal!of!Social!Issues,!69,!322R340.!!Seyfarth,!T.,!Itin,!A.!&!Maurer!Lutz,!E.!(2012).!Gleichstellungsmonitoring:!Bericht!2012.!Retrieved!from!
http://www.gleichstellung.uzh.ch/.!!Sorcinelli,!M.!D.!(2000).!Principles!of!good!practice:!Supporting!earlyecareer!faculty!(Guidance!for!
deans,!department!chairs,!and!other!academic!leaders).!Washington,!DC:!American!Association!for!Higher!Education.!
!Steinpreis,!R.!E.,!Anders,!K.!A.,!Ritzke,!D.!(1999).!The!impact!of!gender!on!the!review!of!the!curricula!
vitae!of!job!applicants!and!tenure!candidates:!A!national!empirical!study.!Sex!Roles,!41,!509R528.!
!Strauss,!A.,!&!Corbin,!J.!(1990).!Basics!of!qualitative!research:!Grounded!theory!procedures!and!!
techniques.!New!York:!Sage.!
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!Swiss,!D.!J.!(1996).!Women!breaking!through:!Overcoming!the!final!10!obstacles!at!work."Princeton,!
NJ:!Peterson's/Pacesetter!Books.!!!Thaler,!R.!H.!&!Sunstein,!C.!R.!(2008).!Nudge:!Improve!decisions!about!health,!wealth!and!!
happiness.!New!Haven,!CT:!Yale!University!Press.!!University!of!Zurich.!(2012).!Assistant!Professorships.!Retrieved!from!http://www.researchers.uzh.ch/.!!University!of!Zurich.!(2016).!Conditions!of!employment.!Retrieved!from!http://www.uzh.ch/.!!Williams,!W.!M.,!&!Ceci,!S.!J.!(2015).!National!hiring!experiments!reveal!2:1!faculty!preference!for!
women!on!STEM!tenure!track.!Proceedings!of!the!National!Academy!of!Sciences,!112(17),!5360R5365.!!
!World!Economic!Forum.!(2013).!Global!Competitiveness!Report!2013e2014.!Retrieved!from!
http://www.weforum.org/.!! !
!28!
Appendix(A:(Qualitative(Study(Summaries(of(Responses((
( Participant(1! Participant(2( Participant(3( Participant(4( Participant(5(
Demographic!
Information!Woman,!no!kids,!partner! Man,!1!child,!partner!
Woman,!2!kids,!husband!!
(also!academic)!
Woman,!children,!husband!(non?
academic)!Woman,!1!child,!husband!
Annual!
meeting,!
Contents,!
Wants/!
Needs!
No!meeting,!but!regular!contact!
with!University!Research!Center!
(funds!AP!position),!wants!meeting!
to!discuss!technical!support!&!
future!career!funding,!integration!&!
development!in!faculty!
No!meeting!–meetings!are!not!as!
important!as!network!&!talking!to!
department!(casual!coffees!or!
aperitif)!–!would!want!tenure?track,!
check?ins,!and!a!contact!person!
Had!3?4,!1!time!yearly.!No!pre?
made,!but!discussions!similar!with!
dean!&!mentor!(institute!head)!–!
discuss!research!and!teaching!–!
agreed!objectives!–!likes!current!
meetings,!but!concrete!next!steps/!
career!prospects!are!needed!
2!meetings,!1!with!dean,!2nd!with!
Prodekan!(difficult!to!find!dates?!
delayed)!–!invited!by!dean`s!office!
conducted!with!protocol!–!future!
plans!and!funding!discussed!–!
would!take!care!of!career!problems!
personally!
No!meeting,!but!ongoing!
conversation!culture!with!support–!
speak!regularly!about!publications,!
research,!conferences,!funding,!
contacts…!no!fixed!targets!agreed!
–!if!a!meeting!occurs,!hopes!to!talk!
to!multiple!people!
AP!Position!
Men!don’t!offer!“rosy”!welcomeW!
often!a!struggle!to!find!supportW!
suggests!mentoring!for!APsW!AP!is!
attractive!because!of!
embeddedness!in!the!university!–!
suggests!identifying!talented!
women!early!&!supporting!into!PhD!
&!AP–differences!in!resources!
(secretary!&!PhDs)!for!SNF!APs!vs.!
faculty!
Would!discuss!teaching!overloads!
(as!it!is!imp,!but!not!eq.!weighted)!–!
suggests!everyone!must!meet!
same!qualifications,!but!one!can!be!
allowed!more!time!to!do!so!–!AP!
title!important!to!imply!“self?
governance!tested”!–!income!also!
better!and!feels!like!full?faculty!
Much!uncertainty!of!future!
appointment!at!the!institute!–!
hanging!in!the!balance!and!looking!
in!the!private!sector!–!SNF!AP!at!
the!university!is!ideal,!but!she!could!
not!do!this!because!she!was!
already!oberassistent/post?doc!
(and!pregnant)!–!AP!allows!for!
independence,!and!husband!also!
at!institute!
Seems!AP!was!designed!for!6!
years!with!evaluation!at!interim!–!
would!likely!be!more!attractive!to!
women!if!there!was!TT!–!when!
responsibility!for!family!is!also!
there,!even!more!security!should!
be!given!
Applied!for!AP!to!remain!involved!
in!teaching!–!satisfied!with!job!but!
would!like!more!space!for!research!
–!temporary!appt.!makes!for!
uncertainly,!but!not!sure!if!this!
directly!and!negatively!impacts!
productivity!–!suggests!allowing!
indefinite!appointments!to!AP–!
good!career!stepping!stone!for!
women!&!men!
Dual?Career!
Couples!
No!issues!–!no!children!and!an!
understanding!partner!
Would!have!gone!to!US!for!post?
doc!–!would’ve!been!different!if!
partner!was!also!an!academic!
Dean!knows!about!dual!career!(if!
not,!she!would!tell)!–!husband!is!
also!an!academic!
Husband!has!flexible!job!and!will!
always!earn!well!?!Difficult!when!
both!are!academics!
Organized!research!stay!alone!in!
China!
Work?Family!
35!years!old!and!no!kids,!but!says!
would!have!likely!been!a!financial!
and!organizational!fiasco!to!have!
academic!career!and!children!
A!firm!contact!person!would!be!
helpful,!and!a!suspension!for!
maternity/paternity!leave!
Private!matter! Without!childcare,!she!could!not!
work!–!information!about!childcare!
should!be!provided!
Child!likely!slowed!progress,!had!to!
work!weekends!–!does!not!want!to!
talk!about!private/family!matters!
with!colleagues/!bossW!wouldn’t!
work!without!husband!
Easy!
A!professor!saw!her!dissertation!
and!motivated!her!to!apply!for!AP!
and!return!to!academia!
A!professor!motivated!him!for!an!
in?house!application!–!never!
wanted!private!sector!–!received!
support!from!2!profs!
Husband!encouraged!her,!no!other!
mentor!–!SNF!AP!provides!a!good!
platform!for!women!and!institute!
under!no!obligation!because!no!
tenure?track!!
Highlighting!the!opportunities!of!
university!life!could!prevent!her!
from!going!to!private!industry,!but!
the!mood!at!institute!also!important!
–!bosses!encouraged!her!
Never!felt!disadvantaged!as!a!
woman?!says!environment!is!rather!
collegial!
Hard!
Would!have!preferred!SNF!funding!
to!complete!Habilitation!&!avoid!
mixed!interestsW!research!often!
neglected!because!of!teaching/!
committee!involvementW!hard!to!
self?organize!&!say!no!–!would!go!
back!to!practice!if!no!permanent!
opportunities!in!academia!
Women!may!want!an!academic!
career!less!and!the!economy!is!too!
bigW!however,!university!might!be!
good!for!those!who!want!family!!
Tries!to!finish!Habilitation!since!
Assistant!Professor!is!not!
alternative!for!Habilitation!–only!
20%!SNF!AP!spent!on!teaching!–!
SNF!funding!generated!a!lot!of!
professors,!but!too!many!people!
and!not!enough!positions!so!may!
not!go!to!next!step!
Turned!down!good!job!elsewhere!
that!she!now!regrets–!difficult!to!
finish!habilitation!and!obtain!
funding!and!publish!?!current!area!
looks!good,!but!next!step!does!not!
Tried!to!stay!positive!and!received!
support!from!husband,!parents,!
and!mentors!–!suggests!permanent!
employment!would!be!central!to!
career!planning!and!safety,!
possibly!leading!to!more!female!
applicants!
(
!29!
Appendix(B:(Annual(Meeting(Outline((
(
!30!
(
!31!
!32!
!Appendix!C:!Evidence.Based!Practices!for!Supporting!New!Faculty!!
!
“To!ensure!that!the!academic!career!remains!a!strong!option!for!the!capable,!committed!scholars!we!
will!need!in!the!years!ahead,!we!must!understand!and!address!its!key!problems:!lack!of!a!
comprehensible!tenure!system,!lack!of!community,!and!lack!of!an!integrated!life.”!(Sorcinelli,!2000)!
!
Principles!of!Good!Practice!!
Improving!review!and!tenure!processes!!1.! Communicate!expectations!for!performance!
2.! Give!feedback!on!progress!
3.! Enhance!collegial!review!process!
4.! Create!flexible!timelines!for!tenure!
Encouraging!positive!relations!with!colleagues!and!students!5.! Encourage!mentoring!by!senior!faculty!
6.! Extend!mentoring!and!feedback!to!graduate!students!who!aspire!to!be!faculty!!
7.! Recognize!the!Department!Chair!as!a!career!sponsor!
Easing!stresses!of!time!and!balance!8.! Support!research!and!scholarly!development!
9.! Support!teaching,!particularly!at!the!undergraduate!level!
10.! Foster!a!balance!between!personal!and!professional!life!
These!ten!evidencePbased!principles!are!organized!into!three!main!categories:!Review!&!Tenure,!
Encouraging!Positive!Relations,!and!Easing!Stresses!of!Time!and!Balance,!and!are!presented!below!
in!detail.!These!inventories!are!meant!to!prompt!department!chairs,!senior!colleagues,!and!other!
academic!leaders!to!examine!their!individual!and!institutional!practices!to!better!support!new!and!
earlyPcareer!university!faculty!members.!Examples!of!concrete!and!innovative!approaches!to!be!
practiced!in!institutional!and!university!settings!are!also!provided.!
!
Sorcinelli!(2000)!outlined!these!principles,!which!were!derived!from!the!Heeding!New!Voices!study!
(Rice,!Sorcinelli!&!Austin,!2000)!and!informed!by!nearly!20!years!of!research!on!new!and!earlyPcareer!
faculty!by!Mary!Dean!Sorcinelli,!ED.D.!The!Heeding!New!Voices!study!interviewed!new!faculty!and!
graduate!students!aspiring!to!become!faculty.!Results!suggest!that!intellectual,!social,!and!resource!
support!from!senior!faculty,!chairs,!deans,!and!other!campus!administrators!may!be!critical!in!
attracting,!developing,!and!retaining!new!and!earlyPcareer!faculty.!!
!
! !
!33!
These!principles!are!developed!to!help!academic!departments,!colleges/divisions,!and!universities!
improve!the!lives!of!faculty!on!tenurePtrack!–!NOT!to!audit!or!evaluate.!These!suggestions!are!not!
only!directed!to!the!department!chairs,!as!supporting!earlyPcareer!faculty!members!is!clearly!
everyone`s!work.!!
Improving!review!and!tenure!processes!!!1.! Communicate!expectations!for!performance!!! Clear,!detailed,!regularly!updated!expectations!statement!
!! Set!challenging,!but!realistic!goals!for!research,!teaching,!and!service!
!! Ask!prePtenure!faculty!to!keep!a!log!of!their!activities!in!research,!teaching,!learning,!and!service!
!! Review!the!steps!and!schedule!for!achieving!tenure!
!! Promote!morePencompassing!criteria!for!annual!reviews!and!tenure!(i.e.,!increasing!emphasis!on!
teaching!and!service,!not!just!research)!!!
!
2.!Give!feedback!on!progress!!! Provide!clear,!honest,!and!constructive!feedback!on!progress!toward!tenure!
!! Highlight!what!is!going!well!and!what!needs!attentionP!provide!suggestions!
!! Structure!first!annual!review!to!be!more!oriented!towards!development!than!evaluation!
!! Rely!on!more!than!just!student!reviews!for!evaluation!of!teaching!
!! Regularly!solicit!feedback!from!prePtenure!faculty!about!their!perceptions!and!experience!of!the!
tenure!process!
!
3.!Enhance!collegial!review!process!!! Encourage!ongoing!discussion!in!department!of!tenure!review!process!and!values!that!inform!it!
!! Work!at!the!department!and!college/division!levels!to!create!a!clear!set!of!guidelines!for!the!
tenure!review!committee!regarding!expectations,!criteria,!etc.!
!! Sponsor!a!yearly!meeting!for!all!faculty!on!tenure!track!in!the!department!and!encourage!preP
tenure!faculty!to!attend!seminars!on!preparing!for!tenure!
!! Allow!prePtenure!faculty!to!meet!with!department!and!college/division!committees!to!open!up!
about!tenure!process!and!provide!more!information!about!it!
!
4.!Create!flexible!timelines!for!tenure!!! Encourage!prePtenure!faculty!to!explore!with!their!department!options!such!as!“stopping!the!
clock”!or!counting!previous!work!for!credit!to!“early!tenure”!based!on!individual!circumstances!
!! Provide!special!career!guidance!to!women!faculty!as!needed!(e.g.,!women!faculty!in!their!childP
bearing!years,!men!who!play!active!role!in!child!rearing!who!may!want!longer!or!more!flexible!
tenure!timelines)!
! !
!34!
Encouraging!positive!relations!with!colleagues!and!students!!5.!Encourage!mentoring!by!senior!faculty!!! Ask!a!representative!group!of!faculty!to!explore!mentoring!programs!and!recommend!workable!
models!(e.g.,!assigned!mentors,!committees,!etc.)!
!! Encourage!senior!faculty!to!initiate!contact!with!newcomers!(e.g.,!inviting!them!to!lunch,!offering!
to!read!papers,!visiting!classes)!
!! Build!responsibility!for!nurturing!new!colleagues!into!the!evaluations!of!senior!faculty!
!! Seek!ways!to!recognize!and!reward!senior!faculty!for!time!spent!working!with!junior!colleagues!
!! Ask!senior!colleagues!to!be!purposefully!welcoming!to!nonPmajority!faculty!newcomers!(these!
individuals!report!the!greatest!need!for!advice!&!coaching)!
!! Create!opportunities!for!earlyPcareer!and!senior!faculty!to!formally!collaborate!(e.g.,!teamP
teaching,!coauthoring!papers/grants,!reshaping!curricula)!
!! Encourage!new!faculty!to!be!proactive!about!asking!questions,!seeking!feedback,!and!making!
connections!with!senior!colleagues!
!
6.!Extend!mentoring!and!feedback!to!graduate!students!who!aspire!to!be!faculty!!!! Duplicate!for!graduate!students!many!of!the!supportive!activities!provided!for!new!faculty!(e.g.,!
provide!orientations,!encourage!study!groups,!invite!them!to!colloquia!and!seminars…)!
!! Ask!faculty!advisors!and!teaching!supervisors/research!assistants!to!build!regular!occasions!to!
discuss!with!them!the!students`!strengths!and!weaknesses,!appropriate!options!for!professional!
growth,!and!career!goals!
!! Work!with!colleagues!to!inform!graduate!students!about!the!academic!labor!market!and!other!
career!options!in!the!field!to!ensure!they!are!prepared!for!seeking!their!first!jobs!
!! Link!students!to!careerPplanning!resources!(college!or!institutional!level)!that!can!help!them!
create!resumes,!prepare!for!interviews,!and!search!for!jobs!
!
7.!Recognize!the!Department!Chair!as!a!career!sponsor!!! Help!manage!new!faculty’s!transition!to!campus!(ensure!office!space!and!equipment!are!in!place)!
!! Encourage!a!collegial!culture!in!the!department!
!! Assign!senior!faculty!members!to!mentor!newcomers,!and!oversee!mentoring!
!! Be!especially!mindful!when!assigning!committee!work!and!student!advising!not!to!overburden!
nonPmajority!faculty!
!! Encourage!prePtenure!faculty!to!look!outside!the!department!in!seeking!collaborative!and!
interdisciplinary!opportunities!
!! Urge!new!faculty!to!attend!college/institution!orientations!
!! Encourage!expanded!orientation!programs!such!as!those!that!offer!opportunities!to!build!
relationships,!provide!information!about!teaching,!scholarship,!and!key!campus!resources!
!! Support!faculty!beyond!their!first!yearP!provide!advice!for!research,!promotion!&!tenure!
!
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Easing!stresses!of!time!and!balance!!8.!Support!research!and!scholarly!development!!! Review!departmental!policies!for!assigning!resources!to!ensure!prePtenure!faculty!receive!
equitable!research!support!
!! Help!secure!basic!resources!and!support!to!ensure!that!new!faculty!receive!timely!assistance!
!! Earmark!travel!funds!academic!&!research!conferences!for!prePtenure!faculty!
!! Encourage!departmental!networks!to!support!earlyPcareer!researchers!(e.g.,!writing!projects,!
colloquia!for!ideas!in!progress)!
!! Help!new!faculty!identify!and!make!use!of!institutional!resources!such!as!sessions!on!grant!
writing,!getting!started!in!teaching,!professional!writing,!etc.!
!! Work!with!campus!administrators!to!support!flexible!leave!programs!so!that!prePtenure!faculty!can!
complete!scholarly!projects!before!their!tenure!review!
!! Encourage!a!morePintegrated!view!of!“scholarly!work”!to!encompass!scholarship!of!teaching!and!
scholarship!that!responds!to!community!needs!and!demands!for!research!and!public!service!!
!
9.!Support!teaching,!particularly!at!the!undergraduate!level!!! Create!opportunities!for!new!faculty!to!get!a!good!start!in!teaching!(share!course!syllabi,!invite!
them!to!visit!classes!from!senior!colleagues)!
!! Assign!new!faculty!to!courses!that!fit!their!interests!and!priorities,!can!also!offer!fewer!courses!or!
course!planning!within!the!first!few!years!
!! Provide!new!faculty!with!information!about!teaching!(e.g.,!student!profiles,!sample!syllabi,!names!
of!faculty!previously!teaching!these!courses)!
!! Provide!departmental!funds!that!earlyPcareer!faculty!can!access!for!course!materials,!equipment,!
workshops,!etc.!
!! Provide!early,!supportive!feedback!on!teaching!(e.g.,!reviews!from!students!and!colleague!
evaluations,!grading!distributions)!
!! Create!mechanisms!for!information!support!such!as!sponsoring!discussions!between!earlyPcareer!
and!senior!colleagues!
!
10.!Foster!a!balance!between!personal!and!professional!life!!! Counsel!prePtenure!faculty!on!how!to!manage!and!prioritize!their!time!among!teaching,!advising,!
research,!and!service!
!! Connect!women!faculty!to!special!resources!or!networks!that!might!be!of!support!to!them!
!! Link!faculty!newcomers!to!information!and!services!available!for!dualPcareer!couples!and!to!
flexible!employee!benefits!such!as!parental!leaves,!flexible!time!limits!for!tenure,!partPtime!status!
during!child!rearing,!and!child!care!
!! Welcome!new!faculty!with!information!about!the!local!community!both!onP!and!offPcampus!(e.g.,!
housing,!schools,!childPcare!options,!cultural!entertainment,!and!sporting!events)!!
!
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About!the!Authors!!Jamie!L.!Gloor,!PhD,!([email protected])!is!currently!a!postPdoc!and!lecturer!at!the!chair!of!Human!Resource!Management!at!the!University!of!Zurich.!In!January!2017,!she!will!be!a!postPdoc!at!the!chair!for!Research!and!Science!Management!at!the!Technical!University!of!Munich.!Her!research!interests!include!gender!and!diversity,!workPlife!and!policy,!leadership!and!careers,!with!a!dissertation!titled,!"The!Labyrinth!of!Leadership:!Female,!Family,!and!Career!Considerations"!(summa!cum!laude).!First!hired!in!2013!as!project!assistant!for!the!Assistant!Professor!project,!Jamie!was!later!promoted!to!project!leader.!She!is!grateful!for!the!productive!collaborations!over!these!last!3!years,!and!truly!hopes!that!the!time,!effort,!and!funding!spent!on!gender!equality!projects!such!as!this!one!will!make!meaningful!change!in!the!design!of!our!organization’s!hiring,!development,!and!parental!leave!policies!to!better!retain!and!promote!our!trained!(female)!talents.!!!
Susanne!Mehr,!MA!UZH,!([email protected])!studied!Economics!and!Business!Administration!at!the!University!of!Zurich.!After!she!gained!several!years!of!working!experience!as!a!human!resources!manager,!she!founded!her!own!staffing!service!company!for!events!and!security!services.!In!May!2015,!she!joined!the!chair!in!Human!Resource!Management!as!a!PhD!student!and!project!assistant!for!the!Assistant!Professor!project.!Her!research!interests!include!recruitment!and!newcomer!onboarding.!In!her!dissertation,!she!analyzes!the!influence!of!social!support!during!organizational!socialization.!Therefore,!she!hopes!that!the!responsible!bodies!of!the!University!of!Zurich!will!encourage!supervisors!to!conduct!regular!assessment!meetings!or!performance!reviews!with!APs!since!this!is!an!important!source!of!instrumental!and!emotional!support!for!young!researchers!during!the!initial!period!of!employment.!!