Promotion and Advancement Policies and Incentives in Higher Education: A Workshop

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The COVID-19 pandemic upended nearly every aspect of academia, leading colleges and universities to reexamine how they instruct their students and how they reward their faculty. But the pandemic was not the only disruptive event that took place in 2020. Colleges and universities have been forced to address issues related to productivity, teaching,student learning, mentoring, service, and innovative research in the context of remote or hybrid work - all amplified by the increased attention to and discussion of systemic racism, widespread economic hardships, and extreme environmental events. To help leaders of higher education understand how one particular issue - the current faculty reward, advancement, and hiring system - has changed and continues to change in response to several of the events of 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine commissioned a set of papers. These papers formed the basis for a series of four virtual workshops held on September 20, 23, 27, and 30, 2021. They examined how the events of 2020 have affected existing hiring and advancement policies and practices of institutions of higher education, the differential effects on the promotion and advancement of faculty from different populations, new policies and programs to support faculty, and new approaches that support more equitable faculty advancement. This publication is a short summary of the three workshops on the Next Normal for Leadership and Culture; Recruitment,Retention, and Support; and Advancement of Tenure and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty, as well as the fourth workshop with closing discussions. The presentations were intended to point toward the pandemic and beyond, as well as contextualize how these issues have played out in the last two years.

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12 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-27405-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/26405

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Promotion, Tenure, and Advancement through the Lens of 2020: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Faculty in science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM) are expected to excel in their technical work, teaching, and professional service. Their career advancement is often determined by academic peers evaluating accomplishments in these three areas. Recently, however, there is a growing concern that the evaluation of those accomplishments and traditional incentive systems are misaligned with some of the values and missions of higher education institutions, such as student learning, public engagement, and innovative research. Debates about current advancement systems also point to a body of research on the negative effects of traditional advancement criteria on the academic environment and workforce, including the influence of systemic and individual biases on the promotion and advancement of women and individuals from underrepresented populations.

To examine and potentially re-envision advancement pathways for all STEM faculty, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened academic leaders, scientists, engineers, medical professionals, scholars, philanthropists, and representatives from higher education associations and research funding agencies in October 2019. The Convocation on Re-envisioning Promotion and Advancement for STEM Faculty: Aligning Incentives with Values addressed challenges with the current system of faculty advancement and considered changes to promotion practices. Particular emphasis was placed on aligning faculty reward pathways to institutional and departmental missions and values. This publication highlights the presentation and discussion of the convocation.

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8 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-67516-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/25742

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Re-envisioning Promotion and Advancement for STEM Faculty: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Promotion and Advancement Policies and Incentives in Higher Education: A Workshop

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