DiversityandBiasintheSearchCommittee

Process

EducationalCaseforDiversity• Betterpreparesstudentstoliveandworkinagloballydiversesociety• Increasescollegesatisfaction,studentdevelopment,intellectualengagementandgrowthofstudents• Positiveimpactoneducationaloutcomesofbothminorityandmajoritystudentpopulations• Presenceofwomenfacultycorrelatedwithgreatersuccessforwomengraduates• Diversitysuccessdoesnotrequireextraeffort,onlywhatisappropriate

- ChristopherD.Lee,TheDiversityAdvantage,June11th,2015.

EducationalDiversityasaStrategicGoal

Institutional Effectiveness• Goal 1: Foster a diverse, ethical, safe and respectful workplace with

effective and transparent communications that support the university's mission and values.

Objective 1.1: Develop and recruit leadership that reflects the diversity of the student body.

Student Engagement and Success• Goal 3: Prepare students to successfully and meaningfully interact with

people from diverse backgrounds.• Objective 3.1: Support students in becoming actively engaged global

citizens with strong cultural awareness.• Objective 3.2: Build a university culture in which respect,

responsibility, pride and diversity are valued, encouraged and celebrated.

EMUStrategicThemes

FacultyEthnicity/StudentEthnicityMinorities

EMU Total Female White Total Minority Black/AfricanAmerican

Hispanic AsianAmerican

Indian/AlaskanNative

NativeHawaiian/Pacific

Islander

TwoorMoreRaces

TotalFaculty(asofFall2016)

691 51% 78% 21% 7% 1% 12% 0.6% 0.1% 0.3%

TotalStudents(asofFall2016)

21,105 60% 65% 35% 18% 5% 3% 0.3% 0.06% 4%

HowBiasesAffectSearchCommittees

ImplicitBias• Everyonehasbias,itlivesdeepinthesubconsciousandeveryoneunconsciously hasthesethoughts• Affectsourattitudesandactions/behaviors• Notdirectlycontrollable• Biascanbepositiveornegative• Tendstofavorourowngroup• Difficulttochange,butnotimpossible• Startsdevelopingfrombirth

• Oftenourdeclaredbeliefsdonotalignwiththeimplicitassociationsweholdinoursubconscious• ImplicitAssociationTest

WhereDoesImplicitBiasComeFrom?AllAroundUs!

• Exposuretomedia,newsprogramming,family,teachers,peers• Directandindirect(unconscious)messages• Impossibletoresistnottakingintoyoursubconscious• Ourbrainreceives11millionpiecesofinformationeverymoment,butareonlyconsciouslyawareof40 piecesatbest• Messagescanbeframedtospeaktoourunconscious• Mayinitiallybereceivedasdistortedbutcanbereinforcedandinternalizedovertime (Buchanan,N.,2016)

CostofImplicitBias

• ForthePrivileged• Limitedself-awarenessanddifficultyempathizingwithothers• Increasedfear,guilt,shameandisolationfromthosewhoaredifferent• Financialcoststhroughlossofvaluableemployeesandcustomers

• ForDiverseStudentandFaculty• Experiencecampusasalienating,invalidating,andstressful• Qualificationsandcredentialsquestionedbystudentsandcolleagues• Researchandteachingcontributionsnotrecognizedorvalued• Disengaged,possiblyleavingtheinstitutionorchangingcareers

(Buchanan,N.,2016)

SearchCommitteePreparations• FormSearchCommittee• Canusepeopleinsideandoutsidedepartment• Itisrecommendedthatthesearchcommitteehasadiversemake-uptoreflectthedepartment,college,anduniversity• Considerappointinga“diversityadvocate”onthecommitteetoreviewbestpracticesforaligningwithUniversity’sstrategicgoalsforadiverseeducationalenvironment

• Reviewdepartmentalanduniversitygoalsforareasthatareunderutilizingfemalesandminorities• Reviewunderstandingsofbiastoencourageawarenessthroughprocess

SearchCommitteeBestPractices• Examineplannedsearchpracticesformicro-inequities

• Practicedetectingtheminwholeprocess

• Replacemicro-inequitieswithmicro-affirmations• Knowthebiasprofileofyourspecificdiscipline

• Example:STEMfieldsandgenderbiases

• Questiononeanotherasamatterofpractice– notonlythediversityadvocate’sjob,buteveryone’sjob• HavememberstakeHarvard’sImplicitAssociationTesttotesttheirownbiases(https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html)

DefiningPositionExpectationsExaminethepostingformicro-inequitiesandenhanceinclusivelanguage• Whenclearlydefiningtheexpectationsoftheposition,includeanexpectationforthepersontoworkwithmulticulturalpopulations(students,employees,communities,etc.)• Canmakeitacompetencyrequirementforselection.Researchhasshownthatcreatingvariableslikethisincreasestheprobabilityofminoritycandidateselection(Smith,Turner,Osei-Kofi,&Richards,2004)

• “Require/Preferexperiencewithstudentssimilartotheonesweserve…or…experiencewithmulticultural/multilingualcommunitieslikeours.”

• Correlatestodiversity-focusedinterviewquestions

PassiveRecruitmentStrategies• ExpandyourreachbeyondtraditionalPassiveRecruitmentTechniques:• Postingadvertisements• RelyingonEMU’sbrandtoattractthetalentweneed• Unsuccessfulminorityrecruitmentislike“fishinginthesamelakewiththesamebaitandsametechniqueandexpectingtocatchadifferenttypeoffish”

• Targeted,outreached-focusednetworkingbyindividuals (asopposedtobytheorganization)ismoreeffective

ActiveRecruitmentStrategiesNotruesourcing strategyiscompletewithouttargetingdiversepopulations• Justasfacultysearchcommitteestargetcandidateswithcertainskillsandexpertise,thosewithspecificbackgroundsandenrichingexperiencesthatthecollegeislackingshouldbesoughtafteraswell

ContinuousRecruitmentStrategy• DevelopRelationshipsandSeekReferralsinsideandoutsideEMUforpotentialstaff/faculty

• LocalOrganizations• ConferencesandProfessional

Events

• UniversityGroups• MinorityOrganizationsand

Publications

TipsforDiverseRecruitment• Createawelcominginstitutionimagefromthefirstcommunicationwiththecandidate• Avoidmicro-inequitiesthroughomission• UseProfessionalOrganizationsinyourdisciplineforwomenorpeopleofcolor• ProfessionalOrg.Example:SearchingforaminorityPhysicsProfessor?• PublicationExample:DiverseIssuesinHigherEdMagazine• NationalSocietyofBlackPhysicists(http://nsbp.org/)• IfusinganExecutiveSearchFirm,monitorandexaminetheirprocessforbiasandtheir“idealcandidatepicture”

ScreeningCandidatesThedebateonusingsocialmediaandGoogletopre-screencandidates:

• Pros:Canlearnimportantinformation,canviewacademicpreparationandcommitmenttothefield

• Cons:Canrevealprivateorprotectedclassinformation,influenceunconsciousbias,andpromotegossip

• Sameprocessshouldbeusedforallcandidates• Structuredpre-screenquestionnaireshouldbedevelopedsothesamequestionsshouldbeaskedofallcandidates

• Ifreferencechecksaredone,thesearchcommitteemustapplyprocesstoallcandidates

• Documentallprocesses;rationaleforalldecisionsshouldbegiveninwriting

IllegalInterviewQuestions

• Manyquestionscommonlyaskedofcandidatesarenotonlytoopersonal,butillegal.Questionsalsocannotbeaskedthatelicitthisinformation.

§ Age§ MaritalStatus§ Birthplaceofapplicantand

his/herrelatives§ Citizenship§ Disability§ Height

§ Weight§ GeneticInformation§ Race§ Sex§ Religion§ Misdemeanor,non-convicted

arrests

Interviewing• Ifcandidatebeginstorevealprotectedcategoryinformation,steerconversationbacktojob-relatedissues• Ifcandidateisnotchosenforjobtheycanclaimtheywerenothiredbasedoffofanypersonalinformationtheyrevealed

• Reviewingdiversitydatabeforetheinterviewingstagehelpscommitteememberswhenrespondingtocandidatequestionsaboutrepresentationofgroupsacrosscampus• Candidate“fit”isoftenmisinterpretedassomeonewhoblendsin

• “Fit”shouldbeevaluatedobjectivelyusingpreviouslyagreeduponcriteriathatismeasurableandobservable

Interviewingcontinued…• Beconsciousoffirstimpressionsofpeopleandcollectivestandards/triggers

• Standardsonhandshaking,personaldisqualifiers,etc.• Consciouslynoticesimilaritiesbetweencandidatesbeforedifferences• Processforinterviewingcandidatessameforallcandidates

• Timeforquestionsisequitablyappliedtoeachcandidate• Ensureallcommitteemembersattendallinterviews

• Noticehowyouverbalizeandvalidatecandidates

Diversity-focusedinterviewquestions

• “Pleasedescribeyourexperienceswithdiversityinand/oroutsidetheclassroom.”

• “Discusssomeofthespecificstrategiesyouhavefoundtobeeffectiveindevelopingandmanagingadiverseworkteam.”

• “Haveyoueverhadanyexperiencesthatincreasedyourawarenessofpersonalandculturaldifferences?Howdidthisaffectyourrelationshipswithindividualsfromdifferentbackgroundsthanyourown?”

• “Describeasituationwhenyouneededthecooperationofmanydiversepeopleinordertosucceed.Whatstrategiesdidyouutilizetoensuresuccess?”

(Lominger’s Competencies,2016.)

Selection• Theselectionstageshouldbetheonewherethemostdiscussionsshouldandcouldbehadaboutbiasesandthemessageswearesendingtoothersoncampus• Engageinsomeamountofreasonablerisk-takingduringevaluations• Interrupt“I’mfordiversity,butIwantquality”andopenlyspeakaboutbias

• Committeememberswhowereabsentforanypartoftheprocessshouldnotparticipateintherankorderingofapplicants

• Becarefultonotletthecommitteeslipinto“groupthink”orletthediscussionbecomedominatedbyanyparticularindividuals

• Trackanypatternsinhiringactivityandreasonsforacceptinganddecliningofferstomonitorthemessagesyouaresendingtoapplicantsandwhatsortsofpatternsmayindicateapresenceofbias

WelcomingandRetainingColleagues

• Welcomeanyquestionsinadvanceregardingqualityoflifeissues.Wewanttogivethemthemostrealisticjobpreviewwecanaswellasarealisticassessmentofthecommunity.• Familycareleaves,maternal/paternalleaves,housing,schools,community,etc.

• Informemployeesaboutlocalattractionsand/orprovideresources• YpsilantiVisitorsBureau,AnnArborFamilyResourcesList

• ProvideexamplesofEMU’scommitmenttodiversity• ChineserecruitmenteffortstriplednumberofChinesestudentsover3years• EMUrecognizedasoneofthetop2LGBTfriendlycollegesinthenationbytheCampusPrideIndex

BestPractices

WelcomingandRetainingColleagues(continued)

• Introducenewemployeestoleadershipandteammembers• Makeapointtogettoknowemployeespersonallytobetterunderstandtheirneedsandhelpeasetheirtransition• Matchthemwithanappropriatementorfromthesamedepartment• Assistsinacclimatingthepersontoanewworkenvironment,culture,mission,andvision

• Haveemployeemeetwithagroupofstudentsthatarerepresentativeofthediverseaudiencetheywouldregularlyservice

StrategiestoReduceBias• Knowyourbiases

• TaketheImplicitAssociationTestbyHarvard• Attendtrainingseminars(bias,bystander,allyinterventions)– awarenessisnotenough

• Canreducebiasanditsinfluenceonourbehaviors• Helpprepareyouforsituationsthatareofgreatestriskforbias

• Viewsituationsandconceptsfromalternativeperspectives/viewpoints• Lookforopportunitiesformeaningfulintergroupinteractions• Buildrelationshipsviasimilarities,increasestrustandcommunication(butrecognizeandrespectdifferenceswhenappropriate)

• Committolong-termengagementandpersonalchange• Apologizewhenyou’vemadeamistake

AFewLastWords• IhopewehaveequippedyouwithsometoolstobeanAgentofChangeinourSearchCommitteeProcess

“Weneeddiversityindiscipline,intellectualoutlook,cognitivestyle,andpersonalitytoofferstudentsthebreadthofideasthatconstitute

adynamicintellectualcommunity.”- BenefitsandChallengesofDiversityinAcademicSettingsEveFineandJoeHandelsman,UniversityofWisconsin,2010

Thankyou!• Questions?

“Diversity:theartofthinkingindependentlytogether.”

— MalcolmForbes