Sara Rushing

Now Hiring! Empirically Testing a Three-Step Intervention to Increase Faculty Gender Diversity in STEM

Workforce homogeneity limits creativity, discovery, and job satisfaction; nonetheless, the vast majority of university faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are men. We conducted a randomized and controlled three-step faculty search intervention based in self-determination theory aimed at increasing the number of women faculty in STEM at one US university where increasing diversity had historically proved elusive. Results show that the numbers of women candidates considered for and offered tenure-track positions were significantly higher in the intervention groups compared with those in controls. Searches in the intervention were 6.3 times more likely to make an offer to a woman candidate, and women who were made an offer were 5.8 times more likely to accept the offer from an intervention search. Although the focus was on increasing women faculty within STEM, the intervention can be adapted to other scientific and academic communities to advance diversity along any dimension.

Comparative Humilities: Christian, Contemporary, and Confucian Conceptions of a Political Virtue

This essay examines contemporary Western thinking on humility. Compared to other virtues, little has been written about humility in the past century. This has led scholars to dub it a forgotten virtue. Recently, a renewed interest in humility can be found among scholars working in various academic disciplines. These scholars disagree, however, about the meaning and implications of humility for contemporary life. I seek to intervene in this disagreement through a comparative approach and bring the ancient Eastern tradition of Confucianism to bear on the current Western resurgence of interest in humility as a civic value. I argue that humility is a crucial political virtue that fortifies us and helps us resist disillusionment. Humility, therefore, should neither be reduced to a vestige of traditional Christianity nor viewed as a watered down notion of modesty.

Absent Autonomy: Relational Competence and Gendered Paths to Faculty Self-Determination in the Promotion and Tenure Process.

This research examines ways in which men and women university faculty sought self-determination in the promotion and tenure (P&T) process. Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2012) research tends to view autonomy as the central factor in self-determination, taking priority over other psychological needs of relatedness and competence. The P&T process occurs within a context that inherently limits autonomy, providing a unique opportunity to examine experiences of relatedness and competence when autonomy is constrained. We used a qualitative research strategy with a matched case study design to explore how individuals experience the constructs of SDT (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) within the P&T process. Our project focuses on faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments undergoing P&T review at one university. Women faculty in STEM were compared with men faculty at the same rank and in similar departments concurrently going through P&T review. Findings showed that men reported experiencing self-determination via informational competence whereas women approached self-determination through relational competence. Creating a level playing field for faculty navigating the P&T process requires being attuned to different paths to self-determination, fostering relationships between faculty, and clarifying policies and procedures.

Added Benefits: How Supporting Women Faculty in STEM Improves Everyone’s Job Satisfaction.

Can gender-based diversity programs benefit everyone? We tested whether and how a broadening participation program intended to benefit women working within male-dominated academic fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, may relate to job satisfaction for all who feel involved. Informed by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2012), we designed and tested a gender-diversity program that supported women faculty’s psychological need for autonomy, relatedness, and competence through their involvement in five activities embedded in three “ADVANCE Project TRACS” (Transformation through Relatedness Autonomy and Competence Support) initiatives. Longitudinal repeated measures collected over 3 years from men and women tenure track faculty across disciplines show that for everyone, involvement with the program predicted a significant positive change in psychological need satisfaction. This change was associated with positive changes in job satisfaction over time. Results demonstrate the success of this particular program, and suggest that diversity programs that target one group can have wide-spread positive impacts on all who feel involved.

Humility, Autonomy, and Birth as a Site of Politics

Western political thought, from the classical Greek era to our own time, is notorious for its relegation of bodily and family matters to the private sphere. Contemporary feminist and critical political theorists have taken measures to counter this impulse. Yet even as these discourses acknowledge the centrality of the body, vulnerability, and relationality for social and political theory, they continue to functionally disavow giving birth as an important cultural institution in which to engage political and ethical questions.