tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/academic-hiring-21778/articlesAcademic hiring – The Conversation2021-03-07T19:09:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545562021-03-07T19:09:42Z2021-03-07T19:09:42ZNo change at the top for university leaders as men outnumber women 3 to 1<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387629/original/file-20210304-17-ox49i1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=109%2C7%2C2157%2C1402&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Cotton_statue,_Liverpool_-_DSC00850.JPG">Rept0n1x/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian university leaders are nearly three times more likely to be a man than a woman. </p>
<p>Of 37 public university chancellors, just 10 are women (27%) and 27 (73%) are men. It’s exactly the same for vice-chancellors: 10 are women and 27 are men. </p>
<p>Together, this means men hold 54 of the 74 top jobs in Australian higher education.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/most-of-australias-uni-leaders-are-white-male-and-grey-this-lack-of-diversity-could-be-a-handicap-150952">Most of Australia's uni leaders are white, male and grey. This lack of diversity could be a handicap</a>
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<p>Last year presented a big opportunity for progress towards gender equity among university leaders. During 2020, vice-chancellors at 15 of Australia’s 37 public universities either announced their departure from the role, or actually left. This move of 41% of the vice-chancellors in a single year provided the best opportunity for improving gender equity in living memory. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Australian university councils, which appoint vice-chancellors, did not take up the opportunity. The gender ratio didn’t change at all. </p>
<p>To date, women have been appointed in just four of the 15 (27%) interim or ongoing replacements made. Two of these four women moved from one vice-chancellor position to another. In 11 of the 15 announced vice-chancellor replacements – 73% of cases – a man won the role.</p>
<p>Men also dominate the upper levels of Australian academia. The <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/2019-staff-numbers">latest available figures</a> (from 2019) show:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>86% more men than women at associate professor and professor levels D and E (10,363 men, 5,562 women)</p></li>
<li><p>11% more men than women at senior lecturer level C (6,355 men, 5,724 women)</p></li>
<li><p>25% more women than men at lecturer level B (7,428 men, 9,253 women)</p></li>
<li><p>15% more women than men at associate lecturer level A (4,426 men and 5,093 women).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Overall, the numbers of men and women employed as academics aren’t very different. In 2019, Australian universities <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/2019-staff-numbers">employed 54,204</a> full-time and fractional full-time academics: 28,572 men (53%) and 25,632 (47%) women. It’s the seniority of the positions they hold that differs starkly. </p>
<p>These figures do not include casual staff. </p>
<h2>Isn’t the gender balance improving?</h2>
<p>Optimists often assure me leadership gender equity is improving. Granted, the percentage of female chancellors in Australian has increased in the past five years. In 2016, <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/101841">WomenCount</a> reported 15% of Australian university chancellors were women. While the increase is positive, it remains disappointing that women occupy only about one-quarter of these increasingly powerful and important roles.</p>
<p>The shift in senior academic ranks has also been slow. In 2009, <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/higher-education-statistics/staff-data/selected-higher-education-statistics-2009-staff-data">73.5% of professors were men</a>. Between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of female professors has risen from 26.5% to 35%. That’s an improvement of less than one percentage point per year on average. </p>
<p>At this rate, it will be the late 2030s before women make up half of the professoriate in Australia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/female-leaders-are-missing-in-academia-27996">Female leaders are missing in academia</a>
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<h2>Why does gender inequity persist?</h2>
<p>The most common reason put forward for gender inequity is related to women’s role in childbearing. But the fact that only women can grow, birth and breastfeed babies does not, on its own, explain why there are 86% more male associate professors and professors than women in these roles, nor why there are nearly three times more male than female vice-chancellors and chancellors. After all, these womanly activities take a relatively short amount of time and most women I know can skilfully multi-task while pregnant and breastfeeding. </p>
<p>However, the fact that women take on the bulk of child-raising duties might help explain the inequities. Of course, people of every gender can equally well raise children. But they don’t – it’s mostly left to the women. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flexible-work-arrangements-help-women-but-only-if-they-are-also-offered-to-men-155882">Flexible work arrangements help women, but only if they are also offered to men</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother opens car door for girl going home after school" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387620/original/file-20210303-19-16ppgkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Men are no less capable of picking up children from school but typically it falls to women to do the school run.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-school-concept-beautiful-young-asian-1084814675">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>For women, the results of this unequal sharing of responsibility include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>less time and energy for academic pursuits</p></li>
<li><p>more teaching (often) and less time for research and publishing</p></li>
<li><p>lower academic and leadership profiles (usually)</p></li>
<li><p>fewer opportunities to engage in activities that count for promotion and for senior leadership roles.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, not all women have children. And those that do find that they grow up, learn to feed, dress and eventually support themselves and move out of home. Is it also possible that Australian university culture and practices privilege men’s careers and hold back women’s advancement?</p>
<p>University decision-makers, including promotion committees, might well favour men because of: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>relatively uninterrupted and neat career trajectories </p></li>
<li><p>relatively greater freedom to engage in research and publishing without the disadvantages of part-time employment, never mind the mid-afternoon school run</p></li>
<li><p>more easily quantified outputs</p></li>
<li><p>more frequent opportunities to lead</p></li>
<li><p>the cumulative achievements, profile and trajectory that come with all of the above.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing male and female academics' ratings of constraints on research" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387632/original/file-20210304-13-1k4sc2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">The Conversation. Data: T. Khan & P. Siriwardhane (2020)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-is-widening-the-academic-gender-divide-146007">How COVID is widening the academic gender divide</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Let’s shake up the status quo</h2>
<p>Most universities try to redress gender inequity. Committees, agenda items, plans, targets and mentoring programs abound. But evidently these efforts aren’t working.</p>
<p>After many years in executive and governance leadership, I continue to observe decision-makers often thinking of men first, or only of men, when searching for suitable leadership candidates. </p>
<p>On the rarer occasions that women are offered leadership opportunities, they have to adopt the “right” style and carefully balance gravitas and humility. They must learn how to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-must-women-leaders-learn-gender-judo-to-stay-likeable-at-work-20190904-p52nzj.html">perform gender judo</a> and ensure they don’t fall into the <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/lean-in-9780753541647">success versus likeability conundrum</a> that Facebook chief operating officer and author Sheryl Sandberg made famous. </p>
<p>In short, to become academic leaders, women must skilfully navigate the unconscious bias and sexism that permeate universities.</p>
<p>While shifts are occurring, they are painfully slow, as the gender data over the past decade and predicted trajectories show. Might it be time for women (and enlightened men) to take matters into their own hands to begin to undermine the status quo? I think so – so I’ve written <a href="https://www.marciadevlin.com.au/contact-me/">a book that proposes techniques to adopt to these ends</a>. </p>
<p>What will you do to contribute to greater gender equity?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Devlin AM does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International Women’s Day is a time to take stock of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. 2020 was a massive missed opportunity to improve gender equity among university leaders.Marcia Devlin AM, Adjunct Professor, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553572021-02-22T18:57:50Z2021-02-22T18:57:50ZCOVID hit casual academics hard. Here are 5 ways to produce a better deal for unis and staff<p>Australian universities roughly <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/Default.aspx">doubled the number of casual staff</a> employed to 23,000 (in full-time equivalents) from 2001 to 2019 (the latest year for which figures are available). </p>
<p>The greatest increase in casual staff has been in the academic workforce. The proportion of casual staff <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/Default.aspx">increased from 20% to 24%</a> of this workforce in full-time equivalent (FTE) terms — as casual staff usually work part-time, <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/lh-martin-institute/fellow-voices/evolving-australian-university-workforce">we estimate</a> that’s about 90,000 people.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Universities Australia <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/17000-uni-jobs-lost-to-covid-19/">announced</a> 17,300 university jobs had been lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It said the sector was likely to lose about A$3.8 billion in revenue in 2020 and 2021. </p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/lh-martin-institute/fellow-voices/australian-university-workforce-responses-to-covid-19-pandemic">previous analysis</a> of individual university announcements in 2020 of job losses totalling around 6,000 FTE, it is highly likely most of the 17,300 jobs lost are people on casual or fixed-term contracts. A modest 10% reduction in academic casual staff would mean 9,000 lost their jobs. This has a significant impact on the capacity to teach domestic students.</p>
<p>There have been and will continue to be legitimate reasons for casual academic employment in higher education. A number of factors have prompted this steady increase in casualisation of academic work. </p>
<p>Two main considerations have been:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>rapid <a href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMWExZWZmZDktODBiNS00NzA3LWJkOTgtN2ZkOTA3NzhiNThmIiwidCI6ImRkMGNmZDE1LTQ1NTgtNGIxMi04YmFkLWVhMjY5ODRmYzQxNyJ9">growth in student numbers</a> coupled with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-universities-came-to-rely-on-international-students-138796">decline in the real rate of government funding</a> for teaching and research, making universities less keen to take on more “permanent” academic staff</p></li>
<li><p>very generous conditions attached to continuing employment, including 17% employer-provided superannuation, redundancy provisions well above community norms, highly regulated workload provisions and, for some, access to generous “outside work” entitlements.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chart showing total Australian university enrolments from 2000 to 2019" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385441/original/file-20210222-15-dvwu50.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=260&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Total Australian university enrolments from 2000 to 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMWExZWZmZDktODBiNS00NzA3LWJkOTgtN2ZkOTA3NzhiNThmIiwidCI6ImRkMGNmZDE1LTQ1NTgtNGIxMi04YmFkLWVhMjY5ODRmYzQxNyJ9">Commonwealth Department of Education Skills and Employment, Selected Higher Education Statistics</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Relying too heavily on casual academic employment could be detrimental in the long term for the student experience, research programs and universities — as well as for the staff themselves.</p>
<p>In 2020, Australian universities responded quickly and nimbly to the immediate emergency created by COVID-19. In 2021, as a fresh round of enterprise bargaining begins, universities have an opportunity to capture the disruption created by the pandemic and reform the terms and conditions for their increasingly contingent and casualised academic workforce.</p>
<h2>A better deal for unis and staff</h2>
<p>Here are five proposals that are readily achievable. Each would give better effect to universities’ stated commitments to value staff and allow them to fulfil their potential.</p>
<p><strong>1. Allow fixed-term engagement for teaching duties</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="http://awardviewer.fwo.gov.au/award/show/MA000006">Higher Education Industry (Academic Staff) Award</a> specifically excludes the use of fixed-term contracts for staff whose main role is teaching. This provision can in turn be linked to the increasing use of casual staff for teaching. It limits the capacity of universities to take on new teaching staff in times of uncertain student demand. </p>
<p>Varying the award to allow universities to engage fixed-term staff for teaching duties would provide greater certainty for staff and a more consistent experience for students.</p>
<p><strong>2. Change employment structures for teachers regularly employed as casuals</strong></p>
<p>Limitations on fixed-term employment for teaching have resulted in expanded numbers of casual teachers. However, simply removing the restraint is unlikely to change employment patterns, as casual teaching tends to be concentrated in particular periods of the year. </p>
<p>A fixed-term contract that allows for engagement and payment across a year but with work more concentrated in specific periods will not only improve security of tenure, but also enable staff to undertake a broader range of tasks, including student consultation. It will also give these staff access to personal and professional benefits such as academic promotion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="female lecturer points to a laptop as she explains an issue to a male student" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385433/original/file-20210222-13-kgr8rr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fixed-term contract that allows for engagement and payment across a year would enable staff to undertake a broader range of tasks such as student consultation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-university-student-working-one-tutor-478396096">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3. Shift the casual pay structure from the 1980s to the 2020s</strong></p>
<p>The current structure is based on the requirement to deliver hour-long lectures and tutorials and separate hourly rates for other academic duties such as marking, music accompaniment and nursing clinical supervision. All hourly rates attract a 25% loading to compensate for loss of annual and sick leave. </p>
<p>The Academic Salaries Tribunal (AST) <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2FHPP032016002288%22;src1=sm1">codified the structure in 1980</a>. The evolution of teaching since then means this structure no longer reflects the breadth of work required. These changes include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>team teaching (staff collaborate on delivery)</p></li>
<li><p>the flipped classroom model (students absorb the lecture and reading materials online at home, then discuss this or work on live problem-solving in classes)</p></li>
<li><p>the use of workshops and other hands-on work</p></li>
<li><p>online teaching where staff must be responsive to student work. </p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>4. Create a reward/career structure for casual teaching staff</strong></p>
<p>Many of these staff are both expert in their field and excellent teachers. They include industry professionals and practitioners. </p>
<p>Some universities have developed promotion systems for honorary staff, especially where an academic title is important to professional standing. These processes might be adapted for casual teachers. They could then be appointed or promoted to an academic rank based on merit and receive pay to match, albeit as a casual employee.</p>
<p><strong>5. Allow for core entitlements to be portable</strong></p>
<p>The careers of many academic staff are now built on concurrent or consecutive appointments at several universities. Universities generally have provisions for recognising prior service at another university, but these largely benefit continuing staff. </p>
<p>The creation of the higher education industry superannuation scheme, UniSuper, in 1983 is an example of a whole-of-sector collaboration that has benefited staff and universities. A similar cross-sector framework to recognise service at another university should be considered. This might extend to the training and accreditation of casual teachers, ensuring quality across the sector. And in the case of fixed-term staff, it might allow for core entitlements such as annual and sick leave to be more portable.</p>
<p>The pandemic has greatly sharpened Australian universities’ focus on their staff and HR policies, structures and strategies. This presents an opportunity to review and greatly improve the employment practices for casual academic staff, in particular those relating to core student teaching. </p>
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<p><em>The detailed analysis on which this article is based can be found <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/lh-martin-institute/fellow-voices/evolving-australian-university-workforce">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Beard is affiliated with the Association for Tertiary Education Management and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teresa Tjia is employed as Dean of Students and Registrar (Interim) at Federation University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Baré and Ian Marshman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Universities have legitimate reasons for employing some staff on casual contracts, but the impacts of the COVID pandemic have brought long-standing problems to a head. Now is the time to act on these.Elizabeth Baré, Honorary Fellow, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneIan Marshman, Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneJanet Beard, Honorary Senior Fellow, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneTeresa Tjia, Honorary Senior Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1475552020-10-26T18:46:31Z2020-10-26T18:46:31ZWage theft and casual work are built into university business models<p>The COVID crisis has exposed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/far-too-many-victorians-are-going-to-work-while-sick-far-too-many-have-no-choice-143600">destructive consequences</a> of an <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-09/coronavirus-looms-as-catastrophe-for-casual-workers/12039154">over-reliance on casual labour</a> across the economy. Australian universities provide one of the clearest examples of this. For the past two decades, universities have leaned into international student fees on the revenue side and casual workers on the expense side. </p>
<p>This approach effectively shifted the risks of the international student fee market onto insecurely employed staff with few entitlements or employment rights. Since the pandemic caused international student fee revenue to dry up, thousands of casual university staff have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/16/almost-500-more-university-jobs-anu-unsw-covid-cuts-bite">lost their jobs</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-70-of-academics-at-some-universities-are-casuals-theyre-losing-work-and-are-cut-out-of-jobkeeper-137778">More than 70% of academics at some universities are casuals. They're losing work and are cut out of JobKeeper</a>
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<p>This is a devastating consequence of the business model of universities intersecting with the federal government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-letting-universities-suffer-138514">ideological aversion to universities accessing JobKeeper</a>.</p>
<p>On top of this, the associated problem of wage theft is widespread. In a newly released National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-16/university-wage-theft-case-hits-federal-court-union-claim/12771128">survey</a> of 2,174 professional and academic staff at every university except Charles Darwin, almost four in five academic respondents claimed one or other form of underpayment.</p>
<p>University managers have been <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/transcripts/2413/Transcript%20-%207%20September%202020%20-%20UNCORRECTED.pdf">keen to deny the extent of casualisation</a>. They point to figures showing casuals comprise only a small proportion of their workforce on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis. Universities are only required to report their staffing figures to the Education Department on an FTE basis. This underestimates the actual headcount of casual staff.</p>
<p>The NTEU <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/submissions/68329/0022%20National%20Tertiary%20Education%20Union.pdf">estimates</a> the proportion of casual employees in Australian public universities is about 45%. </p>
<p>This estimate closely matches the data universities provide to the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>. It’s the only government agency that requires all Australian universities to report their total staff numbers by employment category. The agency’s data show the proportion of casual staff is <a href="https://data.wgea.gov.au/organisations/3496">as high as 58%</a> at some universities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/casual-academics-arent-going-anywhere-so-what-can-universities-do-to-ensure-learning-isnt-affected-113567">Casual academics aren't going anywhere, so what can universities do to ensure learning isn't affected?</a>
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<h2>Casual work and wage theft go together</h2>
<p>University managers typically downplay the problem of wage theft. In a recent <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Underpaymentofwages/Submissions">submission</a> to the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/Underpaymentofwages">Senate Inquiry into Unlawful Underpayment of Employees’ Remuneration</a>, the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA), an employer group representing universities, claimed wage theft is not a systemic issue in Australian universities.</p>
<p>Yet we now know that in NSW alone seven of the 11 public universities have indicated they are being, or have recently been, audited for underpayment of staff – Sydney, UNSW, Western Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Charles Sturt and New England. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-18/rmit-uq-now-among-universities-accused-of-underpaying-staff/12565528">Other Australian universities accused of underpayment</a> include Melbourne, Monash and RMIT in Victoria, the University of Queensland, and UWA and Murdoch in Western Australia.</p>
<p>This is an indication of the scale of the problem. And <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/more-australian-vice-chancellors-earning-a1-million">well-paid vice chancellors</a> value casuals for more than just being able to end their employment at a moment’s notice. Casuals can be paid less than they are owed. Wage theft, normally associated with the hospitality industry, has become rife within universities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shocking-yet-not-surprising-wage-theft-has-become-a-culturally-accepted-part-of-business-121038">Shocking yet not surprising: wage theft has become a culturally accepted part of business</a>
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<h2>How are casuals underpaid?</h2>
<p>There are several common forms of underpayment for casual workers.</p>
<p>The first is a semantic sleight of hand where managers classify teaching work in a way that attracts a lower rate of pay. For example, tutorials are regularly classified as “demonstrations”, meaning the casual is paid less for the same type of work. </p>
<p>Last year at <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/university-of-melbourne-exposed-in-decade-long-wage-theft-case/12519588">Macquarie University</a> the NTEU negotiated about A$50,000 in back payments for casual staff whose tutorials had been reclassified as “small group teaching activities” with a lower rate of pay. Similarly, at the <a href="http://www.nteu.org.au/article/Dispute-at-UWA%3A-Halting-wage-degradation-%28Connect-12-02%29-21518">University of Western Australia</a>, tutorials have been classified as “information sessions” that attract a lower rate of pay. </p>
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<img alt="Young male tutor talks with class" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364406/original/file-20201020-19-tiyqu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One form of wage theft is when tutorials are reclassified so the hourly rate of pay is lower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rear-view-male-tutor-leading-discussion-1127599325">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Another frequent source of underpayment is a failure to pay casuals their full entitlements. For example, casual workers are entitled to be paid for a minimum number of hours per engagement, but university payroll systems, which only look at time sheets, might ignore this. This is why auditors have been called into Sydney University where casual workers might have been <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/sydney-uni-reveals-tens-of-millions-in-staff-underpayments-20200813-p55lj8.html">underpaid as much as A$30 million</a> over six years.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most common and insidious form of wage theft is requiring casuals to work for no pay. Typically, key tasks simply aren’t part of a casual worker’s contract, yet are expected to be completed. This could be consultation with students, class preparation, familiarisation with labyrinthine policies, or being required to complete marking within unrealistic timeframes.</p>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/university-of-melbourne-exposed-in-decade-long-wage-theft-case/12519588">University of Melbourne</a>, the Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating underpayments in relation to casual marking based on the improper use of piece rates, rather than payment for the hours worked. About A$1 million has already been paid out. The NTEU is also in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-18/rmit-uq-now-among-universities-accused-of-underpaying-staff/12565528">dispute with RMIT management</a> over a similar issue. </p>
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<img alt="Exhausted female academic rests head on pile of assignments" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364424/original/file-20201020-23-1r2p0xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">At some universities, underpayments for the hours academic staff spend marking run into millions of dollars.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teacher-student-sleeping-on-pile-books-165250475">DJ Taylor/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Why has the problem become so entrenched?</h2>
<p>Because of their insecure employment and fear of losing work, casuals are often reluctant to raise underpayments with their supervisors.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dependent-and-vulnerable-the-experiences-of-academics-on-casual-and-insecure-contracts-118608">Dependent and vulnerable: the experiences of academics on casual and insecure contracts</a>
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<p>A recent <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aiXDTewJF9f1-PRKtvnpBmSAw4qW2kMR/view">survey at UNSW</a> found 42% of casuals reported doing unpaid work. A <a href="https://usydcasuals.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/survey-report-2.pdf">survey at Sydney Uni</a> reported 82% of casuals working unpaid hours. </p>
<p>Much of the work casual staff do is not actually casual in nature. It is regular, ongoing and stable over time. Student enrolments, for example, which drive teaching work, are quite steady year on year. </p>
<p>The solution is simple: end the over-reliance of universities on casuals. Just a few months ago, such a proposal would have sounded outlandish. But unprecedented times demand new solutions. </p>
<p>Moving casual university work into salaried positions with greater security and employment rights would be good for staff, good for students and good for the broader community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damien Cahill is the Assistant Secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union (NSW).</span></em></p>More than a dozen Australian universities have been publicly accused of underpaying staff. Some have paid millions in backpay after audits. And a big factor in wage theft is the rise of casualisation.Damien Cahill, Associate Professor, Department of Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/864002017-10-30T19:02:47Z2017-10-30T19:02:47ZHigher education cuts will be felt in the classroom, not the lab<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191985/original/file-20171026-28083-rpss5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teaching-focused academics are often considered to be "lesser" academics.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a recent <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/productivity-review/report/productivity-review.pdf">Productivity Commission report</a>, the bias of universities in favour of research over teaching was exposed. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/news/consultation-future-higher-education-reform-cost-of-delivery-report">proposed higher education reform</a> that would have seen A$380m cut from university funding was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-governments-28-billion-university-funding-cuts-shot-down-by-the-senate-20171019-gz47yf.html">rejected by the Senate</a>, but the word is that Education Minister Simon Birmingham has returned to the bunker to develop a new strategy. The most likely scenario is that vice-chancellors will need to cut costs, and we know where the axe will fall. Teaching-focused academics will be the hardest hit, and the cuts will be felt in the classroom rather than the research laboratory. </p>
<h2>What is a teaching-focused academic?</h2>
<p>The term <a href="http://apo.org.au/node/35663">teaching-focused academic</a> has been used to include teaching-only academics, teaching-focused academics and teaching-intensive academics. The number of teaching-focused academics in Australia has increased from 755 in 2005 to 3696 in <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2016-staff-full-time-equivalence">2016</a>. The number of teaching-focused academics is also increasing in the <a href="https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/shifting_academic_careers_final.pdf">UK</a> and <a href="http://cou.on.ca/reports/teaching-stream-positions/">Canada</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/performance-funding-is-not-the-way-to-improve-university-teaching-86230">Performance funding is not the way to improve university teaching</a>
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<p>In Australia, the rise of the teaching-focused academic is credited to universities seeking to increase their <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/excellence-research-australia">Excellence in Research (ERA) rankings</a>. Poor performing teaching-research academics tend to become teaching-focused academics <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-017-0138-9">to maintain ERA rankings</a>. </p>
<p>Teaching-focused academics are often considered to be “lesser” academics (<a href="https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/jtlge/article/view/627">Academicus minor</a>). While evidence of research success is measured by volume (number of publications and research income), evidence of teaching scholarship is less quantifiable. </p>
<p><a href="http://apo.org.au/node/35663">For example</a>, 84% of academics consider teaching is important, but 29% believe teaching is rewarded in promotion. The data support their perception, with less than 10% of teaching-only academics above senior lecturer level, while more than 30% of teaching-research academics are above senior lecturer level. </p>
<p>Even when a teaching-focused academic is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2011.536970">recognised</a> for teaching excellence, it may not be acknowledged by their peers, or they may be <a href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/Teaching_and_Learning_Files/awards/College/Israel_executive%20summary%20and%20advice.pdf">subject to ridicule</a> from other academics. </p>
<h2>“Rank and sack” method shows bias against teaching-focused academics</h2>
<p>Teaching-focused academics are more likely to be made redundant. Vice-chancellors tend to use the “rank and sack” method to protect researchers. Academics are ranked on the basis of research volume, and those individuals <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/the-question/should-unproductive-academics-be-made-redundant-20120413-1wyle.html">below a certain threshold are sacked</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/uwa-academics-sent-redundancy-letters/news-story/0c93a9548d48368ff16d9808337c4f10">twist</a> to the “rank and sack” method is to give the academic the option to become teaching-focused. An attitude of “anyone can teach” prevails. The departure of teaching-focused academics is felt in the classroom. These are the academics who keep up-to-date with technology, current trends in assessment practices and curriculum development.</p>
<p>University recruitment is focused more on research performance than teaching performance, to the detriment of teaching. In Australia, permanent research-only academics outnumber teaching-only academics <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2016-staff-full-time-equivalence">four to one</a>. Teaching-focused academics are further marginalised by casual employment. <a href="http://apo.org.au/node/35663">82% are casual employees</a>. </p>
<p>Over the last decade there has been a significant increase in casual staff, <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/australias-universities/key-facts-and-data#.WfFn3ROCxBw">primarily to support teaching</a>. When a tenured position becomes available, an academic with a track record in research is often appointed rather than a teaching-focused and, most likely, casual academic. </p>
<p>In Canada, universities hiring a research academic with a proven record rather than a popular teacher for a tenured position <a href="http://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/those-who-can-teach/">led to a petition</a> from students. The popular teacher’s contract was extended. </p>
<p>Not renewing casual contracts is an easy fix for a manager who needs to cut costs. It isn’t so easy on the academic who relies on the income. Recently, an academic who had worked as a casual academic in Sydney for 15 years and was passed over for tenured positions <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/dangers-lurk-in-the-postmodern-career-that-is-missing-job-security-20161017-gs3u5o.html">committed suicide</a>. </p>
<h2>Cultural bias against teaching-focused academics is national</h2>
<p>At a national level, there is further evidence that teaching is not valued at universities. The <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/history-arc">Australian Research Council</a> (ARC) distributes much of the category one research funding to universities. It started in 1946. In contrast, the Australian government’s teaching and learning body started as the Carrick Institute in 2006, and was renamed <a href="http://www.olt.gov.au/">Office of Learning and Teaching</a> (OLT). The OLT was shut down in June 2016. What would be the reaction to dissolving the ARC?</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00143643">In 1992</a> Ruth Neumann, after interviewing heads of department and university executive, revealed a cultural bias against teaching-focused academics. Knowledge of the discipline was valued more than teaching skills. The following quotes are from her report:</p>
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<p>academics involved in research were described as being: alert, enthusiastic, excited, keen, curious, fresh, and more alive.</p>
<p>the teaching of those academics not involved in research was described as: repetitive, dull, unstimulating, unexciting, dry, sterile and stagnant. </p>
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<p>This cultural bias against teaching-focused academics may not be so explicit, but statistics regarding casualisation, poor promotion prospects, redundancy priorities and the attitude to teaching awards indicate that very little has changed. This bias <a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-only-roles-could-mark-the-end-of-your-academic-career-74826">still exists</a>. </p>
<p>Given this, it is easy to predict the outcome of any cuts to university funding. Teaching-focused academics will be sacrificed. Casual contracts for teaching-focused academics won’t be renewed. Tenured teaching-focused academics will be made redundant. The teaching load of academics who don’t have time to do research will be increased. But ERA rankings won’t be affected and the lights will still burn bright in university research laboratories around the country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Whelan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cultural bias against teaching-only academics will see them get the axe in funding cuts to higher education.Michael Whelan, Lecturer in Environmental Science, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/825682017-08-21T10:55:23Z2017-08-21T10:55:23ZGoogle memo completely misses how implicit biases harm women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182605/original/file-20170818-22783-fr99ny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bias at work?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-architect-blueprint-business-416405/">pixabay.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Workplace biases are back in the national conversation, thanks to the recent <a href="http://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320">memo</a> by a Google employee. The memo’s author challenges the company’s diversity policies, arguing that psychological differences between men and women explain why fewer women work in tech. </p>
<p>He also minimizes the effect that unconscious biases have on women in the workplace. Even though most of us believe that we value others equally and don’t discriminate, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blindspot-Hidden-Biases-Good-People/dp/0553804642">research shows</a> that our unconscious beliefs show up in our actions. </p>
<p>I am a professor of economics at a women’s college, focusing on issues that women face in the labor market. To me, the evidence is clear that implicit bias is still prevalent in today’s workplace, even after years of federal and state laws that make discrimination illegal – and that bias often leads to actual economic harm.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/SIGI_cost_final.pdf">One recent analysis</a> by the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development states that gender based discrimination has decreased global income by 16 percent, or US$12 trillion. Since research documents that women will devote more of their <a href="https://blogs.wsj.com/ideas-market/2011/01/27/the-gender-of-money/">financial resources to spending on the needs of children</a> than do men, it is especially important to families that women have economic empowerment and their own earnings. </p>
<h2>Giving men the credit</h2>
<p>A good definition of implicit bias comes from the <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/">Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity</a> at The Ohio State University. Implicit bias “refers to the attitudes and stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.” These biases are involuntary – we can be totally unaware of how they affect our assessments of others. </p>
<p>For example, people must work in teams in many jobs. It can be hard for an outsider to accurately assess the effectiveness and competency of each team member. Are women seen as “free riders” on the work that their male collaborators do?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20171126">One recent study</a> explored how this can affect economics professors. It found that male and female professors had similar rates of being approved for tenure if their body of research consisted mostly of solo-authored research. </p>
<p>But the story was different when it came to co-authored articles. In economics research, authors’ names are listed alphabetically, not in order of how much work was done. That makes it difficult to determine which author made which contribution. The study found that for each co-authored paper a man had, his probability of getting tenure increased by 8 percentage points. For a woman, each co-authored paper increased her probability of getting tenure by only 2 percentage points. </p>
<p>But a further division of the data shows as well that it matters which gender were her co-authors. If she had all female co-authors on a paper, this additional paper resulted in the same probability of receiving tenure as any co-authored paper by a male. But if all of her co-authors on a paper were male, this additional paper had no increase to her probability of being approved for tenure.</p>
<h1>Preferences for male candidates</h1>
<p>Unfair gender stereotypes result in male entrepreneurs receiving more funding for their businesses and male job candidates being more likely to be interviewed.</p>
<p>A unique <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/etap.12275/full">study of venture capital funding decisions</a> transcribed the conversations of a group of venture capitalists – two women and five men – as they decided whether and how much funding to give to male and female entrepreneurs. The venture capitalists didn’t believe that they had any gender bias in their decision-making. </p>
<p>However, the female entrepreneurs who applied to this group were less likely to receive funding and received smaller amounts. An analysis of the venture capitalists’ conversations with each other showed that the male entrepreneurs were stereotypically described as being more competent than the female entrepreneurs.</p>
<p><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122416668154">Another study</a> sent out nearly identical fake resumes to real summer internships for law students. The qualifications were identical. The only differences in the resumes were using traditionally male or female names and including varied descriptions of hobbies and financial aid scholarships, which subtly signaled the applicant’s “high” or “low” socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>Resumes of males with hobbies associated with higher-class backgrounds – such as sailing or classical music – received significantly more callbacks than the resumes of the higher-class females. They also received more callbacks than lower-class males and females with hobbies such as soccer or country music. </p>
<p>The researchers solicited the opinions of practicing lawyers on the applicants’ likability and potential fit with their firm’s culture. Once again, these attorneys preferred to interview the higher-class male applicants. The attorneys indicated that they did not think the lower-class applicants would be good fits for their firms’ cultures. They also believed that the higher-class women would be more likely to have work-family conflicts that would impair their effectiveness at work. </p>
<h2>Eliminating implicit bias</h2>
<p>These studies are just a few examples of many with similar results. Implicit bias is evident in a wide range of occupations and women do suffer economic harm with less funding for their businesses, fewer job offers and fewer promotions. </p>
<p>Despite what the author of the Google memo argues, companies should try to eliminate implicit bias on both principles of fairness and of efficiency – to hire the worker who will actually be the most effective for the job. While “diversity training” can make us more <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-43598-001">mindful of our thoughts</a>, by itself it will not eliminate the impact of implicit biases. What needs to also change are the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.20033/full">hiring and promotion processes</a>, which fortunately many businesses today are starting to do. </p>
<p>The questions companies <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/seven-steps-to-reduce-bias-in-hiring-1487646840?mod=e2fb">should be asking themselves include</a>: Do job advertisements use gender-neutral language? How much demographic information should be requested on the application? Are there new methods of advertising job openings that will reach a more diverse group of applicants? Are performance evaluation systems evaluated for gender neutrality?</p>
<p>One classic study of the impact of removing any potential gender bias in the hiring process comes from symphony orchestras. To become employed in an orchestra, the applicant must give an audition. Many orchestras have adopted “blind auditions,” in which hiring committees can hear but not see the applicant. Economists who <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.90.4.715">examined data from 1970 to 1996 of this revised hiring process</a> found that this practice increased the likelihood that a female musician would be hired by 25 percent. </p>
<p>The young women that I teach are outstanding leaders and scholars. Only the organizations that are eliminating implicit bias will receive the full economic benefit to their bottom line when they hire and promote these qualified women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>E. Anne York is affiliated with the North Carolina Internship Council. </span></em></p>Even after years of federal and state laws making discrimination illegal, implicit bias still leads to actual economic harm for women.E. Anne York, Professor of Economics, Meredith CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/478942015-11-11T04:09:30Z2015-11-11T04:09:30ZUniversities must rethink how they retain and nurture young academics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101053/original/image-20151106-16258-1p178bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Producing brilliant graduates is one thing – developing and nurturing those who want to remain in academia is quite another.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Reed/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the years after South Africa became a democracy, the country’s universities began a tough process of change. They worked to improve access for students across the board of race and gender. They introduced a number of “accelerated development” programs designed to diversify their staff bodies. It was correctly deemed important that universities did not remain almost exclusively the domain of white South Africans.</p>
<p>These “accelerated development” programs had names like “Growing our own timber” to emphasise <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-10-05-00-training-new-academics-is-a-complex-challenge">their focus</a> on attracting and retaining young black African, Coloured and Indian academics. Similar programs <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/why_leadership-development_programs_fail">are run</a> – not just in academia – and <a href="http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/docs/Benefits_Challenges.pdf">discussions</a> are still taking place <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-are-fewer-than-100-black-professors-in-britain-why-24088">around the world</a>.</p>
<p>On the face of it, South African universities’ programs included all of the classic and essential support structures for developing a new generation of academics. Participants were offered mentoring and support for their teaching and research. </p>
<p>So, did they succeed? If we look quite literally on the face of it – by examining staff demographics – it seems not. University staff bodies, particularly at the country’s wealthier and better resourced institutions, remain <a href="https://africacheck.org/reports/how-many-professors-are-there-in-sa/">mainly white</a> 21 years into South Africa’s democracy. Why have these programs failed – and what can be done to improve them in future?</p>
<h2>Stumbling blocks to success</h2>
<p>There are several reasons that talent retention programs have not worked. One is that many young academics leave universities after completing a Master’s or PhD because they can earn significantly more in government or the private sector. The other is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/south-africa-race-black-professors">a lack of</a> effective mechanisms within universities for identifying and mentoring young black students.</p>
<p>Then there’s the more challenging issue of alienating institutional cultures. Some young academics don’t feel valued by their university. In some cases, participants on these programs and their assigned mentors come from different cultural backgrounds and have divergent world views. They have little in common with their mentors, so may struggle to develop their academic identities without giving up their own views and values in order to “fit in”.</p>
<p>Another problem is that many participants are recruited into these programs at the same universities where they studied. This requires a shift of their identity and mindset from student to staff member. </p>
<p>Associated with this is the challenge of interacting with new “colleagues” who, just a few years earlier, were their lecturers. These power dynamics may significantly influence the retention of staff on these accelerated development programs.</p>
<h2>Change can’t happen in a vacuum</h2>
<p>The first rush of “grow our own timber” programs has passed. New programs <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-10-05-00-training-new-academics-is-a-complex-challenge">are emerging</a>. But the question of staff transformation – ensuring that a university’s staff are representative of varied genders and races – remains a <a href="https://www.cput.ac.za/storage/services/transformation/ministerial_report_transformation_social_cohesion.pdf">burning issue</a> in South Africa. </p>
<p>Some universities, my own among them, responded to this renewed focus on transformation by attempting to facilitate dialogue sessions in so-called “safe spaces”. Here they tried to uncover the difficulties faced by Black and Coloured academics on the one hand, and Indian and white academics on the other. </p>
<p>Such spaces for open discussion are vital, but I believe it’s time to shift beyond our fears and explore these difficult and sensitive issues <em>together</em> rather than in individual racial groups.</p>
<p>An integrated approach is key in more than one way. Accelerated development programs have a much greater chance of success if these are integrated into broader institutional work towards transformation, rather than occurring in vacuums in different parts of universities. </p>
<p>Ideally, these programs should include the transformation of staff bodies, the curriculum and institutional governing bodies like senates and councils. This broader, systemic approach will also ensure that such changes become embedded in the academic project. </p>
<p>It might also positively influence the academic pipeline. Black students might identify more strongly with black role models who share the same cultural backgrounds, beliefs and values, which could inspire students to further their studies. This means the pool of qualified black postgraduates who could be recruited into the academy would be widened, and genuine long-term change can be achieved. </p>
<h2>Hard conversations</h2>
<p>Regardless of the institutional approach taken to address transformation, what is critical for success is deep mutual respect and a willingness to see other perspectives, <em>and</em> be shaped by them. Only then can institutional culture be shifted and transformation goals achieved. However, meaningful discussions across racial lines in a multi-racial, multi-cultural setting are naturally awkward and difficult. They are also often dominated by the most senior voices. </p>
<p>Such discussions also tend to uncover deep-seated, “below-the-surface” beliefs and personal biases – some which we might not even be consciously aware of or want to acknowledge. But it is for these very reasons that we must engage in open, honest conversations. Doing so will help us all understand ourselves better, and will enable us to widen our perspectives and find common ground. </p>
<p>One of the best environments for finding common ground is in cross-faculty staff development programs and workshops facilitated by academic development staff. These offer academic staff a chance to reflect on issues impacting teaching and learning in environments. </p>
<p>The workshops also tend to be designed to promote learning through shared experiences, and it is often in these moments of sharing that staff realise how common and widespread some of their more hidden challenges actually are. </p>
<p>To promote greater participation and reflection, academic developers should aim to create supportive, caring and ethically safe learning environments. These will facilitate deeper dialogue and the sharing of more contentious issues and challenges as well as promoting the development of valuable networks amongst new staff. </p>
<p>This may lead to a greater sense of belonging and value – arguably the most <a href="http://www.academicjournals.org/app/webroot/article/article1380550130_Samuel%20and%20Chipunza%20pdf.pdf">critical factors</a> in staff retention, irrespective of race group.</p>
<p>The transformation project in higher education in South Africa can no longer be ignored. The sooner we embrace unconventional and more inclusive ways of building the next generation of academic staff, the sooner we will be able to transcend the lingering legacy of our apartheid past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kershree Padayachee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Universities in South Africa have tried to “grow their own timber” in a bid to diversify staff bodies. These programs haven’t been wildly successful. Why, and what can be done differently?Kershree Padayachee, Senior Lecturer (Academic Development), University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/494112015-10-21T10:31:54Z2015-10-21T10:31:54ZWomen preferred for STEM professorships – as long as they’re equal to or better than male candidates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99117/original/image-20151021-32255-14wyo4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much do hiring decisions in academia factor in the gender of the applicant?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=268365578&src=id">Files image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the 1980s, there has been robust real-world evidence of a preference for hiring women for entry-level professorships in science, engineering, technology and math (STEM). This evidence comes from hiring audits at universities. For instance, <a href="http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12062/gender-differences-at-critical-transitions-in-the-careers-of-science-engineering-and-mathematics-faculty">in one audit of 89 US research universities</a> in the 1990s, women were far less likely to <em>apply</em> for professorships – only 11%-26% of applicants were women. But once they applied, women were more likely to be invited to interview and offered the job than men were.</p>
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<p>But what went on behind the scenes with these hiring decisions? Did women applicants give better job talks than men, publish more or in better journals, or have stronger letters of recommendation? Were hiring committees trying to address the <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2015/nsf15311/digest/">faculty gender balance</a> that typically skews more male than female?</p>
<p>To find out why academic faculty preferred women, an experiment was needed, and we recently conducted one.</p>
<h2>Collecting hypothetical hiring data</h2>
<p>Previously, in five national experiments, we asked 873 faculty from 371 colleges and universities in all 50 US states to rank three hypothetical applicants for entry-level professorships, based on narrative vignettes about the candidates and their qualifications. We <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2015/04/08/1418878112.DCSupplemental/pnas.1418878112.sapp.pdf">told participants</a> our goal was to collect information about what faculty looked for in job applicants when hiring, so we could advise our own graduate students.</p>
<p>We asked them to imagine that colleagues in their department had already met these hypothetical applicants, evaluated their CVs, attended their job talks, read their letters of recommendation – and rated the applicants as 9.5 out of 10 (very impressive) or 9.3 (still impressive, but just less so).</p>
<p>One of the applicants was an outstanding woman, pitted against an identically outstanding man. Because men and women were depicted as equally talented, any hiring preference had to be due to factors other than candidate quality. We included a third, male, foil candidate as one of the many ploys we employed to mask the gendered purpose of the experiment. In this previously published research, we found that both female and male faculty strongly prefer (by a 2-to-1 margin) to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418878112">hire an outstanding woman over an identically outstanding man</a>. The sole exception to this finding was that male economists had no gender preference.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98897/original/image-20151019-23226-98mll6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=575&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Faculty of both genders exhibit 2-to-1 preference for hiring women applicants with identically outstanding qualifications, with the exception of male economists.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even when we gave faculty only a single applicant to evaluate, those given the woman rated her more hireable than did those given the identical applicant depicted as a man. Not surprisingly, this finding caused a <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Passions-Supplant-Reason-in/232989?cid=megamenu">media frenzy</a>, as it <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-good-news-about-hiring-women-in-stem-doesnt-erase-sex-bias-issue-40212">contradicted what many believe</a> to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-face-it-gender-bias-in-academia-is-for-real-44637">sexist hiring in academia</a>. </p>
<p>Note that these experiments were not designed to mimic actual academic hiring, which entails multi-day visits, job talks and so on. The purpose of our experiments was not to determine <em>if</em> women are favored in actual hiring but rather to determine <em>why</em> data suggest they are in real-world conditions. To answer this question, one needs a controlled experiment to equate applicants.</p>
<p>Remember that our experiment looked at typical short-listed candidates – who are extremely qualified – at the point of hiring, and did not address advantages or disadvantages potentially experienced by women, girls, men and boys throughout their development. It is worth acknowledging, though, that a 2-to-1 advantage enjoyed at the point of tenure-track hiring is substantial and represents a pathway into the professoriate that is far more favorable for women than men.</p>
<h2>Finding the limit to a preference for women</h2>
<p>We wondered how deeply the faculty preference for women that we’d previously identified ran. Do faculty prefer a woman over a slightly more qualified man? How about a much more qualified man?</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01532">most recent experiment</a>, just published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, examined this question.</p>
<p>Using the same methods from our earlier study, we presented 158 STEM faculty with two male applicants and one female applicant for a tenure-track assistant professorship in their specific field. We presented another 94 faculty with two female applicants and one male applicant. In one contest, the female applicant was slightly less outstanding than her two male competitors, although still impressive; in the other, the male applicant was slightly less outstanding than his two female competitors.</p>
<p>It turned out that faculty of both genders and in all fields preferred the applicant rated the most outstanding, regardless of gender. Specifically, faculty preferred to hire slightly more outstanding men over slightly less outstanding women, and they also preferred to hire slightly more outstanding women over slightly less outstanding men.</p>
<h2>Reconciling with other STEM sex bias research</h2>
<p>These results show that the preference for women over equally outstanding men in our earlier experiments does not extend to women who are less accomplished than their male counterparts. Apparently, when female and male candidates are not equally accomplished, faculty view quality as the most important determinant of hiring rankings.</p>
<p>This finding suggests that when women scientists are hired in the academy, it is because they are viewed as equal or superior to males. These results should help dispel concerns that <a href="http://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1602">affirmative hiring practices</a> result in inferior women being hired over superior men.</p>
<p>The absence of preference for a less outstanding man does not necessarily imply that academic hiring is meritocratic under all conditions. It is possible that with different levels of candidate information (or if the candidates were somewhat less competent, as opposed to being stellar), results might differ. Discrimination may be a concern when candidate qualifications are ambiguous, but, based on our study, not when candidates are exceptionally strong. Thus, our interpretation of our results is that women who are equal to or more accomplished than men enjoy a substantial hiring advantage. </p>
<p>These findings may provoke concerns. If affirmative action is intended to not merely give a preference to hiring women over identically qualified men, but also to tilt the odds toward hiring women who are slightly less accomplished but still rated as impressive, gender diversity advocates may be disheartened. Those who’ve lobbied for more women to be hired in fields <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1529100614541236">in which they are underrepresented</a>, such as engineering and economics, may find the present findings dismaying and argue that extremely well-qualified female candidates should be given preference over males rated a notch higher. </p>
<p>One claim finds no support in our new findings: the allegation that the dearth of women in some fields is the result of superior female applicants being bypassed in favor of less accomplished men. If excellent women applicants were given short shrift, the slightly less qualified man would have been chosen frequently over more qualified women. But this scenario occurred only 1.2% of the time – similar to the number of times a slightly less accomplished woman was chosen over a more accomplished man.</p>
<p>None of this means women no longer face unique hurdles in navigating academic science careers.</p>
<p>Evidence shows that female lecturers’ <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-014-9313-4">teaching ability is downrated</a> due to their gender, letter writers for applicants for faculty posts in some fields use <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9291-4">more standout (ability) words</a> when referring to male applicants, faculty harbor beliefs about the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261375">importance of innate brilliance</a> in fields in which women’s representation is lowest, and newly hired women in biomedical fields receive <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.8517">less than half the median start-up packages</a> of their male colleagues – to mention a few areas in which women continue to face challenges.</p>
<p>Nor do the present findings deny that historic sexism prevented many deserving women from being hired, or that current implicit <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000005">stereotypes associating science with men</a> are not related to lower science course-taking.</p>
<p>All of these studies suggest areas in need of further work to ensure equality of opportunity for women.</p>
<p>On the other hand, based on <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1529100614541236">hundreds of analyses of national data</a> on the lives of actual faculty women and men across the United States, we and economists Donna Ginther and Shulamit Kahn found that the overwhelming picture of the academy since 2000 is one of gender fairness. Our analyses examined hiring, remuneration, promotion, tenure, persistence, productivity, citations, effort and job satisfaction in every STEM field. The experiences of women and men professors today are largely comparable, as is their job satisfaction.</p>
<p>Our new experimental findings call into question unqualified claims of biased tenure-track hiring. Sex biases and stereotypes might reduce the number of women beginning training for the professorial pipeline, but when a woman emerges from her training as an excellent candidate, she is advantaged during the hiring process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen J Ceci receives funding from NIH.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy M Williams receives funding from National Institutes of Health. </span></em></p>Previous research found a preference in academia for hiring stellar female candidates over stellar male candidates for STEM jobs. A new study investigated what happens if applicants aren’t as evenly matched.Stephen J Ceci, Professor of Human Development, Cornell UniversityWendy M Williams, Professor of Human Development, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.