The Triple Whammy: Gendered Careers of Geographically Marginalised Academic STEM Women

In this paper we explore how gender, non-standard job roles as well as location create a triple whammy affecting the visibility and therefore the career paths of women STEM academics. Drawing on data from interviews and surveys at a distributed university with locations across the UK, we examine the experiences of a group of ‘Regional Academics’ who are located at a distance from the main university campus, either in regional centres or as homeworkers, and show how gender intersects with distance and status to exacerbate inequalities. In their narrative accounts, they describe themselves as the ‘glue that hold the bits of the university together’, mediating between part-time tutors, students and other academics and researchers. We explore how career progression has been limited for these liminal academics, but how small steps to increase visibility and provide recognition for achievement can result in strategies that overcome these inherent obstacles

Measuring Faculty Motivation And Engagement Through An Institutionally Supported Faculty Development Program At An Academic Healthcare Center

Trends in the literature suggest that institutional support, defined as provisions for balancing work demands, schedule, and protected time, is a critical factor consistent with institutional academic success and an increase in faculty satisfaction. Competing factors including societal scrutiny, cost containment the safety and effectiveness of academic healthcare institutions, faculty recruitment and retention, increasing expectations for faculty, and pressures for high-functioning productivity can lead to feelings of ineffectiveness for faculty. This summative program evaluation focused on the success of the Scholars Program, an institutionally supported faculty development program. The researcher sought to identify and describe faculty perceptions of the program’s effectiveness as defined by two metrics: the faculty member’s self-perceived motivation to remain in an academic career path and their engagement in academics after they graduated the Scholars Program. The study was guided by two research questions. 1) How do faculty members who participated in the Scholars Program describe its influence on their engagement in academic activities supported by the program? 2) Do the curriculum vitae (CV) of faculty members who have participated in the Scholars Program demonstrate sustained academic productivity through evidence of scholarly appointment and promotion? Participants consisted of scholars who graduated in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. This program evaluation used an embedded mixed methodology to identify the qualitative and quantifiable outcomes of the Scholars Program specific to faculty motivation and engagement in academics. The qualitative themes describe the programmatic experiences of the participants and how those programmatic elements effect their self-perceived motivation to participate in scholarly activity. The quantitative data showed participants demonstrated engagement in scholarly work after graduating the scholars program. The findings suggest that participants enjoyed and found value in the program. Recommendations include: Institutions who may be struggling with faculty engagement might explore programs that utilize a similar approach. The conceptual framework could be useful for developing programs for institutionally supported faculty development and should be evaluated for effectiveness

Social Media Use in the Restaurant Industry: A Work in Progress

A survey of 166 restaurant managers reveals a mixed picture in their use of social media and its impact on operations. Although many restaurants are using social media, the study found that many restaurateurs lack well-defined social media goals, both in terms of the purpose of the restaurants’ social media activities and the target of their social media messages. Although the restaurant operators in this convenience sample were generally supportive of the use of social media, well over half were not certain that social media met one or more of three specific goals, namely, increasing customer loyalty, bringing in new customers, and boosting revenues. The respondents generally rely more heavily on non-financial metrics than on actual financial numbers to measure the return on their social media investment, due to the large degree of uncertainty surrounding how to measure the financial returns of social media on operations. On balance, independent restaurants made more use of social media than did chains. The study’s findings suggest that restaurateurs should reevaluate their social media approaches to ensure that they are strategically designed and executed

Vice-Chancellor's Gender Equality Fund Final Report 2019: Redressing the Promotion Gap: Practices and Processes to Minimise Gender Disparities in Academic Advancement

Like many universities in Australia and internationally, women at Western Sydney University (WSU) remain under-represented in senior academic positions. In addition, there is a persistent gender pay gap for female academic staff across the institution. Despite the robust literature, researchers and higher education institutions have struggled to understand how vertical gender segregation might be alleviated in academia, and to establish effective gender equity programs which target gender differences in promotion. In addition, little research has evaluated the impact of existing programs beyond the individual level and in comparison to other institutional initiatives. The degree to which gender initiatives are effective in making change is one of the most important and challenging questions in striving for gender equity in contemporary universities, yet this has been inadequately addressed by researchers. There are two key research questions for this project: how does WSU’s promotion policy and process compare with other Australian institutions, and; how might WSU alter current policy and practice to reduce the gender promotion gap? Data was collected through interviews with women academics who had progressed to Professor or Associate Professor whilst at Western Sydney, and both internal and external members of the Western Sydney University Academic Promotions Committee. The research also included an assessment of the WSU promotions policy and relevant promotions and gender equality process documents, and a comparison was carried out between WSU and two other institutions. We find that women are at a disadvantage in achieving measures of excellence in academic competitions for promotion. What is more, gender bias also works around these measures, so that even when women do successfully compete in terms of the metrics, they are blocked by institutional gatekeepers or marginalized and stigmatized for attempting to play a game for which they are seen to be corporeally mismatched. These processes were recognized by the women who bid for promotion but also by several of the promotions committee members. Although there is some useful policy and processes in place in our institutions in relation to promotion, gender bias continues to work through cultural practices. There is also evidence of a reticence to see the metrics of excellence, that serve academic capitalism very well, as anything but neutral or to see gender inequities as systemic. In order to redress the promotion gap, we therefore need to challenge these perceptions and look to cultural and educative solutions. This project provides recommendations for increasing women’s promotion rates, which will also assist in reducing the gender pay gap

Rewarding educators and education leaders in research-intensive universities

The reward and recognition of staff focused on learning and teaching is an issue that affects all types of higher education institutions. Research-intensive institutions, for example, have always been conscious of the balance between research and teaching, particularly in relation to funding streams and the REF, but have ensured that their students receive the excellent teaching that they deserve. One indication of this is the increasing number of HEA Fellows at such institutions. At a time of growing emphasis on the importance of high quality student education, the HEA’s research into career structures and prospects - which includes Rebalancing promotion in the HE sector: Is teaching excellence being rewarded by Annette Cashmore et al, and Shifting landscapes: Meeting the staff development needs of the changing academic workforce by William Locke et al – can help to inform policy and practice. The HEA will continue to commission high quality research - from across the sector - to address key issues in this area. The research offered below by Dilly Fung et al focuses solely on the Russell Group – which it is acknowledged comprises only a small section of the UK’s research-intensive institutions - and examines the challenges at those particular institutions. It is hoped that some of the findings, analysis and recommendations might be applicable more broadly, however, in the UK and elsewhere

The MaTE Tool—Enabling Engaged Scholars at a Regional University

Providing institutionally recognized evidence of community engaged scholarship has long been problematic for engaged scholars when applying for recognition through promotion or probation pathways. To combat this, the University of Wollongong [in New South Wales, Australia] developed an online tool for use by engaged scholars to track and measure their engagement activities in a consistent and institutionally recognized form. This article outlines the process that was undertaken to develop the online system for measuring and tracking engagement (the MaTE tool). It outlines the initial recognition of the key issues arising from a comprehensive review of the literature; the drafting process undertaken to develop a prototype for the tool; and the interview stage and subsequent re-drafting process and finalization of the tool. The article concludes with a consideration of future directions for the tool and its further implementation at the university

Health Care Improvement Initiative: Outcomes and Impact of an Academic-Practice Partnership Between a Large Integrated Health System’s Nurse Scholars Academy and the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions

By December 2018, a large integrated health system’s Nurse Scholars Academy (NSA) will have financially-sponsored 64 registered nurses to return to school through a strategic academic-practice partnership program at the University of San Francisco (USF). Referred to as ‘Nurse Scholars,\u27 health system employees elected to return-to-school through NSA. As a five-year initiative, NSA was at risk for not receiving additional funding beyond 2020 without a thorough outcomes analysis that articulated the outcomes to executive leadership. This health system employs more than 23,000 registered nurses in Northern California (NCAL). The NSA is a region-wide effort to accelerate academic progression, leadership development, and nursing professional development for strategic groups of Registered Nurses (RNs). NSA oversees disbursement of health system sponsored tuition assistance to Nurse Scholars at strategic academic partners in the United States. The intervention included the development of an instrument to assist with measuring academic-practice partnership impact. Completed in three plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles, the intervention was tested and refined over five months. To summarize the findings, the project produced an executive dashboard for executive leadership. Quantitative measures included employee retention, the benefit of financial help to students, and measurable examples of professional development. Qualitative measures derived from survey responses were analyzed to identify the impact of completing a change-in-practice project, capacity for future leadership, and observed change in professional maturity. The first PDSA cycle tested the Nurse Scholar survey, and 67% of eligible Nurse Scholars responded. Results were positive, with each outcome measurement goal met except for survey response rate and professional certification rate. Employee retention was 95%. Promotions or additional responsibility assigned to a Nurse Scholar occurred in 62% of students. Certification rate for Nurse Scholars was 81%. Nurse Scholar dissemination was 33%. Both groups unanimously agreed that the degree program had a positive impact on their professional maturity. Degree completion rate overall was 100%. In addition, 85% of Nurse Scholars agree or strongly agree that financial assistance impacted their ability to enroll in and complete a degree program. The second PDSA cycle refined the survey and improved the distribution method. The final PDSA cycle developed a summary for executive stakeholders and identified next steps for sustainability. This project established baseline data, engaged stakeholders and developed a foundation for NSA to identify program outcomes and share them with executive leadership. Survey questions and data collection processes were optimized. This project illuminated a need for additional research that examines the quantifiable clinical/financial/patient impact of individual Nurse Scholar projects on their respective micro, meso, or macro systems. Finally, longitudinal outcomes of Nurse Scholars would be of future interest to fully understand the health system’s return-on-investment in sponsoring tuition and human resources for the academic-practice partnership to occur

Promoting inclusive metrics of success and impact to dismantle a discriminatory reward system in science

“The most dangerous phrase in the language is: We’ve always done it this way.” —Rear Admiral Grace HopperSuccess and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist “rewards” by prioritizing citations and impact factors. These metrics are flawed and biased against already marginalized groups and fail to accurately capture the breadth of individuals’ meaningful scientific impacts. We advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We outline pathways for a paradigm shift in scientific values based on multidimensional mentorship and promoting mentee well-being. These actions will require collective efforts supported by academic leaders and administrators to drive essential systemic change.Peer reviewe