Speaking Up: How Department Leaders Can Change the Conversation in the Academic Workplace Have you ever asked yourself “Why didn’t I say something?” when a friend or colleague said or did something that was biased or uncivil at work? You’re not alone. Deciding whether and how to respond to these moments is complicated. Yet navigating . . .
There are many reasons to be sensitive to and acknowledge diverse experiences, values, beliefs, and ways of being. Our team works to highlight some reasons in the ADVANCE Weekly Roundup. However, occasionally situations come to our attention that we had not thought about previously. The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) requires . . .
The climate or community that we create within our classroom and within our academic units can profoundly impact how individuals perform within those settings. This recent study in the Journal of Chemical Education determined that students’ social belonging in a general chemistry course could predict academic performance in that course. Social belonging included both an . . .
From the EEOC Newsroom: EEOC Releases Information about Employment Discrimination Against Caregivers.Although this article references COVID-19 situations specifically, discrimination based on a protected characteristics is always prohibited by federal and state laws/regulations. ADVANCE has written about the impacts COVID has had on caregivers in STEM. Articles of particular note are from July 31, 2020, March 10, . . .
Although the early years of the pandemic are behind us, and we are beginning to adjust to a “new normal” in our classrooms, labs, and professional activities, faculty continue to report feeling exhausted and over-stressed. Two recent essays in Inside Higher Ed suggest unique institutional responses: a “Chapter 11” work relief declaration and a return . . .
This article compares workload distributions among faculty in Tech and Engineering. It documents that women do more of the work to keep things running smoothly, often referred to as office “housework.” Such work rarely earns formal credit or recognition. In technology fields, women of color report that they are asked to lead HR or DEI . . .
A common problem on college campuses is that the people who most often choose to participate in workshops, trainings, committees, mentorships and other programs aimed at improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and sense of belonging (DEIS) are those same people that are already committed to such efforts. So, participants can feel they’re in an echo chamber, . . .
How and why do supervisors provide feedback? How does feedback influence retention? These questions are posed in this week’s Roundup article. While it focuses on the corporate world, the discussion also applies to the academic environment. Feedback is intended to help faculty, staff, and students improve performance, but the article notes that, “Telling people they . . .
We are all aware of various accommodations that our campuses have made to respond to the needs of those with disabilities, such as ramps into our buildings; signage in Braille in the elevators; wheelchair sections in our classrooms; and accessibility requirements for webpages and learning management systems. Still, students, staff and faculty with more visible . . .
A recent article in Science magazine, “Michigan’s Surprising Path to Diversity,” highlights the success of the Applied Physics Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan in recruiting and graduating underrepresented students. As much as one-third of the program’s entering cohort are Black, Latino, or Native American students, compared with 5% nationally, and women comprise one-third . . .