Blogs

We are trying to ensure that candidates for faculty searches and promotion are reviewed in a fair and equitable way that factors in how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted professional and personal lives. We conducted qualitative research to understand the differential impacts of COVID-19 on faculty, then incorporated insights from the research project into case studies for two recurring workshop programs for faculty hiring (STRIDE) and faculty promotion evaluation (STRIPE). We also provided training and resources for department heads and developed university-level guidelines for writing and evaluating COVID-19 impact statements. These guidelines were incorporated into our university's P&T guidelines. It is important that faculty and administrators understand that the impacts of COVID-19 will continue to affect scholarly records for years to come, and that those impacts will disproportionately affect women in STEM disciplines and faculty of color.  If no action is taken, universities are less likely to recruit or promote women faculty and faculty of color at the same rate that they recruit and promote other faculty. In other words, an already "leaky pipeline" will burst. Learn more here.