As summarized in the recent Harvard Business Review article, 5 Ways Managers Can Support Pregnant Employees, there are ways to reduce detrimental experiences that affect health and well-being outcomes for pregnant faculty, staff, students, and their babies. The article links to two studies that examined workplace experiences related to pregnancy discrimination specifically and to health-related . . .
Keeping individuals on career paths, supporting, valuing, including
In the corporate world, employers are finding ways to support employees who are caregivers because they realize it provides a competitive advantage to attract and retain employees. The need for robust resources, benefits, and policies is apparent: a Harvard Business School study found that “73% of all employees have some type of current caregiving responsibility.” . . .
The recent terrifying shooting in a Colorado nightclub underscores the vulnerability of transgender and LGBTQIA-diverse peoples and the urgent need for better measures to ensure inclusion and safety. According to the Equity and Inclusion Vocabulary [https://www.mtu.edu/diversity-center/resources/vocabulary/] resource from the Michigan Tech Center for Diversity and Inclusion, “Identifying as transgender, or trans, means that one’s internal . . .
Research is showing that data-driven insights are critical to recognizing and rectifying inequities in faculty workloads, particularly service tasks that are expected but don’t count for promotion, such as standing committee membership or mentoring a colleague. Too often, such tasks are expected or requested of women and BIPOC faculty. Rather than “fixing the women/underrepresented” with . . .
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 . . .
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 . . .
In this essay, a group of scientists advocates for paradigmatic change in the academic scientific enterprise. Specifically, they point to biases in STEMM measures of success, normative standards that support a subset of scholars and narrow the career pathways for others, and call out those in positions of power for engaging in advocacy performances rather . . .
The COVID-19 pandemic has called attention to the impediments that women in STEM face as mothers, including a multipronged “maternal wall” with career-long ramifications. This week’s Roundup takes you to a virtual conference, “Motherhood and career retention in STEM: Systemic barriers and actionable solutions” held on May 5, 2021. The event was sponsored by Mothers . . .
The Department Chair Professional Development Workshop Series aims to strengthen the abilities of department chairs to lead change by cultivating inclusive and supportive work environments for all faculty. Workshops will address the challenges of faculty evaluation, department culture, work-life integration, and diversity, equity and inclusion, with appropriate attention to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 . . .
Beginning a new school year can be a moment for recognizing and challenging ingrained patterns and perspectives in order to create a more inclusive and welcoming campus community. One pernicious aspect of campus life is the pervasive ableism that often goes unacknowledged. Ableism refers to the beliefs, practices, and physical arrangements that disadvantage and stigmatize . . .