The Preponderance of Power in Faculty Search Committees: Facilitators and Inhibitors of Diversity

• In Event: Power Across the Faculty Career

Abstract

This study uses multiple sources of qualitative data within a multiple-case study design to examine the internal and external power dynamics within faculty hiring processes. Using data from four search committees across four different departments, findings demonstrate varied results regarding the extent to which power dynamics influence evaluation procedures and diversity outcomes. Internally, deliberations were bound by a normative climate of collegiality, consensus-building, and expert power, which impacted the strategies faculty used to communicate and actualize their preferences amongst colleagues. Externally, deans, department chairs, and departmental colleagues exerted considerable influence on search procedures and outcomes through generating the department's hiring priorities, employing institutional and personal strategies, and leveraging their theories of change.

Author

• Damani Khary White-Lewis, University of Maryland - College Park