Person:
Misra, Joya

Job Title

Professor, Sociology & Public Policy, College of Social & Behavioral Sciences

Last Name

Misra

First Name

Joya

Discipline

Sociology

Expertise

Comparative historical sociology
Gender and social policy, world-system studies
Political & economic sociology
Race/gender/class
Welfare states

Introduction

My research and teaching primarily focuses on inequality. As a political sociologist, I try to understand why poverty and labor market inequalities differ across countries and over time, studying how politics, policies, social movements, and cultural contexts lead to different outcomes, with an aim to creating more equitable societies. In all of my work, I consider how policies may work to both reinforce and mediate inequalities. Gender is a central lens for my analyses, although I also explore class, race/ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, and the intersections of these statuses.
Currently, I am the editor of the journal, Gender & Society.

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Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 26

Creating Diverse Departments: Best Practices
(2020-01-01) Wingfield, Adia Harvey; Misra, Joya
Currently, most universities have relatively limited diversity. The National Center for Education Statistics shows that in 2018, more than two thirds of all university faculty are white, 10% are Asian and Pacific Islanders, 5% are Latinx, 1% are Multiracial, .4% are Indigenous and 5.5% are Black. Black and Latinx faculty are particularly underrepresented among STEM fields.
Collaboration and Gender Equity among Academic Scientists
(2017-01-01) Misra, Joya; Smith-Doerr, Laurel; Dasgupta, Nilanjana; Weaver, Gabriela; Normanly, Jennifer
Universities 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.
Institutional Approaches to Mentoring Faculty Colleagues
(2021-01-01) Misra, Joya; Kanelee, Ember Skye W.; Mickey, Ethel L.
To build an inclusive climate for faculty, colleges should develop formal programs for mentoring rather than just leave it to individuals, write Joya Misra, Ember Skye Kanelee and Ethel L. Mickey.
Faculty Mentoring Best Practices
(2019-01-01) Misra, Joya
All faculty members need mentoring. Ideally, your unit will offer mentoring across rank. Assistant Professors (most commonly targeted for tenure) Clinical/NTT Faculty (professional development) Associate Professors (key to ensuring smooth progression to Full) Associate/Full Professors (progressing into leadership positions) Members of groups that are underrepresented in your field – by gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, first-generation status, religion, ability status, etc. – are least likely to receive mentoring and career advice. Mentoring programs ensure that all faculty members are able to access mentoring support.
Shared Decision Making Best Practices
(2020-01-01) Misra, Joya
There are many potential topics for shared decision-making in departments. Some of the most common, and most challenging, include: Recommending faculty hires to Dean Suggesting Chair appointments to Dean Adopting/amending bylaws Tenure and promotion deliberation process Electing faculty to committees Changing curricula Recommending office space/lab allocations Merit deliberations Faculty can be involved in many other different kinds of decisions, such as identifying speakers to invite to campus, student awards, ensuring faculty and student success, and other activities.
Equitable Evaluation During COVID
(2021-01-01) Misra, Joya
Evaluating faculty must evolve, given that faculty experiences have differed during the pandemic. Yet, faculty need an opportunity to document their contributions and achievements, as well as the pandemic-related limitations they have experienced. The goal is to enter this information into the record in a way that recognizes how each faculty member’s workload (how much they were doing in different areas) and work context (where and how they did their work) have differed due to the pandemic, and that allows the university to account for the pandemic’s long-term effects. Memories are short. When faculty are evaluated years down the road, the constraints they operated under must be recognized.
10 Small Steps for Department Chairs to Foster Inclusion
(2020-01-01) Mickey, Ethel L.; Kanelee, Ember Skye W.; Misra, Joya
In times of crisis, it becomes more important than ever, as stress can cause well-intentioned leaders to resort to bias and exclusion, write Ethel L. Mickey, Ember Skye Kanelee and Joya Misra.
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, Laurel
Climate 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.
Mentoring Plan Template
(2019-01-01) Misra, Joya
Mentoring plans allow departments to articulate how new faculty members will receive the mentoring and support that they need to be successful. While mentoring may happen “organically” for some faculty members, research shows that there are significant differences among faculty members in how much support and mentoring they receive, and even in how much honest feedback they receive.
Continuing Research Collaboration Relationships
(2023-01-01) Mickey, Ethel L.; Misra, Joya; Normanly, Jennifer; Smith-Doerr, Laurel
This tool–Continuing equitable research collaboration relationships–is part 2 of a three tool series for embedding equity into all phases of research collaboration. See also Creating equitable research collaborations (part 1) and Crediting collaboration equitably (part 3).