2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD)

External review letters for promotion and tenure decisions at research-intensive institutions: An analysis of the content of template letters for bias and recommendations for inclusive language

Presented at Session 4 - Track 1: External review letters for promotion and tenure decisions at research-intensive institutions: An analysis of the content of template letters for bias and recommendations for inclusive language

This presentation summarizes the preliminary results of the analysis of 75 publicly available templates for external promotion and tenure review letters. The study aims to identify potential sources of bias and share recommendations for best practices 1) for institutions creating templates for external review letters, 2) for letter writers who use such templates, and 3) for reviewers who consider external letters in their promotion and tenure evaluations.
The initial database includes templates from U.S. private and public research-intensive institutions, namely, R1 or Very High Research Activity institutions and R2 or High Research Activity institutions, randomly spread across the country. The focus on research institutions is based on the assumption that promotion and tenure requirements are more or less consistent across research-intensive institutions, allowing for a comparison of the language and requirements included in the external reviewer letter template. A study of more than 1,400 external letters for nearly 300 promotion and tenure candidates analyzed the presence of epistemic exclusion language and showed that language used in the letters might influence how the scholarship of women faculty and faculty of color is devalued (Edema-Sillo et al., 2022).
Templates in the database were coded based on the presence or absence of specific reference to aspects of the candidate’s performance that might bias reviews of women and faculty of color, such as the presence of a COVID-19 pandemic impact statement; explicit promotion and tenure criteria and expectations; extension of the probationary period for COVID-19, the arrival of a child, disability, etc.; request to only evaluate research or also teaching and service contributions; and state if the candidate would earn tenure at the external reviewer’s institution.
This presentation will share the summative results of the analysis and recommendations on avoiding language in the external promotion and tenure review letters that might lead to biased promotion and tenure reviews of women and faculty of color.

Reference
Edema-Sillo, Ebenezer; Torres, Francisco; Gu, Helen; Belle, Carolla; and Spitzmueller, Christiane (2022). "Epistemic Exclusion in Promotion and Tenure Processes: Implications for Diversity and Inclusion in Academia," Dismantling Bias Conference Series: Vol. 3: Iss. 3, Article 3. Abstract of a paper presented at the Dismantling Bias event, organized by E. E. Kossek & T. J. Merriweather. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Available at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgg/vol3/iss3/3

Authors

Prof. Cinzia Cervato http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4643-1466 Iowa State University [biography]

Cinzia Cervato is the lead PI of the NSF-funded ADVANCE Midwest Partnership project and Morrill Professor of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences. She has served as a faculty fellow for early career and term faculty in the Office of the Provost and faculty fellow for strategic planning in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

She earned a doctor of geology degree from the University of Padova (Italy), and a Doctor of Natural Sciences and Doctor of Science (Habilitation) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. Her geoscience research focused on geochemistry and sedimentology. She led the CHRONOS project, a collaborative NSF-funded geoinformatics project to connect stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochemical data.

A Fellow of the Geological Society of America, she has led numerous projects funded by NSF focused on reforming science education, especially in large enrollment introductory courses and labs. She was coPI of two Howard Hughes Medical Institute awards to transform math and science courses and embed research projects in introductory labs.
Dr. Canan Bilen-Green North Dakota State University [biography]

Canan Bilen-Green is Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement at North Dakota State University. She is also Dale Hogoboom Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and PI of the ADVANCE Program at North Dakota State University. She holds Ph.D. an
Dr. Adrienne Robyn Minerick http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2382-7831 Michigan Technological University [biography]

Adrienne R. Minerick is Immediate Past President of ASEE, Director of ADVANCE at Michigan Tech and Professor of Chemical Engineering. She has served as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the College of Engineering, Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Development, Dean of the School of Technology, founded the College of Computing and most recently served as Interim Dean of the Pavlis Honors College.

She has received numerous honors and awards, including the distinction of Fellow of AAAS and ASEE, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Raymond W. Fahien Award from the Chemical Engineering Division of ASEE, and Michigan Tech's Fredrick D. Williams Instructional Innovation Award. She and her students have published over 75 archival journal publications, book chapters, or proceedings articles and earned 23 best paper/presentation awards.

Adrienne previously served as the President of the American Electrophoresis Society and on the ASEE's Board of Directors as First Vice President and Professional Interest Council I Chair. She also chaired ASEE's National Diversity Committee. Her research and service interests regularly intersect and involve underserved individuals with an emphasis on research experiences to increase engagement and retention.
Dr. Carla Koretsky Western ichigan University [biography]

Carla M. Koretsky earned a B.A. degree in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 1993, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 1995 and 1998, respectively. She currently serves as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University and Professor of Geological and Environmental Sciences. She has previously served as Associate Dean and Dean of the Lee Honors College at Western Michigan. She is currently co-lead of the WMU Aspire Change Alliance and is the WMU lead of the NSF ADVANCE Joining Forces Midwest Partnership grant.

She has received numerous awards and honors including the Michigan ACE Network Distinguished Woman in Higher Education Leadership Award; the Geochemical Society Distinguished Service Award; the WMU Excellence in Diversity Rising Star Award; the WMU College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement in Teaching Award; the WMU College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Appreciation Award; and the WMU Emerging Scholar Award. She was named a 2019 Crain’s Notable Women in STEM, and is the recipient of numerous grants from state and federal agencies including the Department of Energy, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Science Foundation, including an NSF CAREER award. Together with her undergraduate and graduate students, she has published more than thirty peer-reviewed journal articles and over a hundred conference abstracts in the area of aqueous geochemistry and biogeochemistry.
Malia Cockrell ADVANCE Midwest Partnership - Joining Forces [biography]

Undergraduate research intern, Iowa State University

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