Collaboration and Gender Equity among Academic Faculty

• In Event: 294 - Regular Session. Sociology of Higher Education. Faculty and Gender Strategies, from Dual Partner Job Search to Co-Authorship and Mentoring

Abstract

Universities were established as hierarchical bureaucracies that reward individual attainment in evaluating success, which historically privileges men faculty. Yet in contrast to this individualistic model, collaboration is both crucial to 21st century science and, we argue, for advancing equity for women faculty. This paper draws on the research literatures on gender equity and on collaboration in higher education, and reports on data collected from 85 faculty members during focus groups on one campus. The six focus group meetings were held separately by faculty rank/gender groups (i.e., assistant professor men, full professor women, etc.). The structured questions asked participants to consider collaboration in research, career development, and de-partmental decision-making. Inductive analyses of the focus group data collected led to the development of a theoretical model in which three key factors emerged that create conditions under which collaboration is likely to produce more equitable outcomes: resources, relationships, and recognition. Findings indicate that: ensuring women faculty have equal access to resources is central to safeguarding their success; relationships, including mentoring, inclusion and collegiality, facilitate women’s careers in academia; and recognition via transparent evaluation processes also bolsters women’s professional advancement. Our data lead us to surmise that gender equity will be stronger where resources, relationships, and recognition intersect – having multiplicative rather than additive effects.

Authors

• Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts

• Laurel Smith-Doerr, University of Massachusetts