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Publication Universities Should Look in the Mirror(2021-01-01) Smith-Doerr, LaurelColleges have excellent faculty who are contributing new knowledge on equity and inclusion, but sadly that knowledge is rarely applied to the institutions themselves.Publication Growing the roots of equity: The TREE model of institutional response to COVID-19(2022-01-01) Clark, Dessie; Mickey, Ethel L.; Misra, JoyaFeminist scholars have long documented the complex, multiple ways in which academic institutions reproduce gender inequalities (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, & Institute of Medicine, 2007). In times of crisis, institutional commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion may be sidelined (Tulshyan, 2020). Academia must enact responses to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that retain and promote diverse women faculty who are already disadvantaged in their institution. This includes ensuring that structural shifts, such as policy changes, lead to deep, cultural change, embedding equity into the fabric of institutional norms and values. In this article, we outline a model for institutional change—the Thinking Ahead, Resource Provision, Evaluation, Equity (TREE) model—with the aim of informing diversity efforts in higher education more broadly during the pandemic.Publication Creating Inclusive Department Climates in STEM Fields: Multiple Faculty Perspectives on the Same Departments(2022-01-01) Misra, Joya; Mickey, Ethel L.; Kanelee, Ember Skye W.; Smith-Doerr, LaurelClimate studies that measure equity and inclusion among faculty reveal widespread gender and race disparities in higher education. The chilly departmental climate that women and faculty of color experience is typically measured through university-wide surveys. Although inclusion plays out at the department level, research rarely focuses on departments. Drawing from 57 interviews with faculty in 14 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) departments, we compare experiences with inclusion among faculty in the same departments and rank who differ by race and gender. Women of color perceive their departments as least inclusive, followed by White women, White men, and men of color (largely foreign born). Yet the organizational context of departments strongly shapes faculty perspectives on climate. Analyzing multiple perspectives on the same departments reveals inclusive, improving, and marginalizing departments, as explained by perceptions of representation, collegiality, and democratic leadership. Faculty across race and gender largely agree when they are in inclusive or marginalizing departments. In improving departments, there is greater disagreement. By focusing on faculty who share the same department and rank, but differ by race and gender, we identify key approaches leaders can take to create more inclusive departments. Our focus on the department level helps develop new insights about how inclusion operates in university settings.Publication Collaborations and Gender Equity among Academic Scientists(2017-01-01) Misra, Joya; Smith-Doerr, Laurel; Dasgupta, Nilanjana; Weaver, Gabriela; Normanly, JenniferUniversities were established as hierarchical bureaucracies that reward individual attainment in evaluating success. Yet collaboration is crucial both to 21st century science and, we argue, to advancing equity for women academic scientists. We draw from research on gender equity and on collaboration in higher education, and report on data collected on one campus. Sixteen focus group meetings were held with 85 faculty members from STEM departments, separated by faculty rank and gender (i.e., assistant professor men, full professor women). Participants were asked structured questions about the role of collaboration in research, career development, and departmental decision-making. Inductive analyses of focus group data led to the development of a theoretical model in which resources, recognition, and relationships create conditions under which collaboration is likely to produce more gender equitable outcomes for STEM faculty. Ensuring women faculty have equal access to resources is central to safeguarding their success; relationships, including mutual mentoring, inclusion and collegiality, facilitate women’s careers in academia; and recognition of collaborative work bolsters women’s professional advancement. We further propose that gender equity will be stronger in STEM where resources, relationships, and recognition intersect—having multiplicative rather than additive effects.Publication Addressing and Documenting Pandemic Impacts(2020-01-01) Misra, Joya; Mickey, Ethel L.; Clark, DessieCrisis can easily sideline institutional commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, even as it exacerbates inequalities by gender, race, class, and other social locations. As members of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst ADVANCE-IT team, we were alert to the disparate impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on caregiving faculty, often women, and communities of color. We partnered with university leadership who, at the highest levels, recognized the importance of diversity, as well as the deeply engaged faculty union. Our immediate efforts have been to think creatively, adapt programming, create tools, and communicate clearly with our stakeholders to ensure that, over the long term, these disparate impacts do not lead to negative outcomes for STEM women regarding reappointment, tenure, and promotion, which would create a less diverse and inclusive university.