A recently published study of tenure and promotion cases for nearly 1,600 faculty members across five universities didn't find racial disparities in either provosts' decisions or in department-level tenure and promotion committees' recommendations on which professors should advance. But the study, published earlier this month in Nature Human Behaviour, did find a divergence in the middle of the process-when collegewide committees weigh in. There, underrepresented minority faculty, defined as Black, African American or Hispanic, received 7 percent more negative votes from individual committee members than white or Asian faculty.
Learning that a portion of one's colleagues did not vote for your tenure or promotion is likely to lead to greater feelings of isolation and a lack of belonging. Second, even if they do not learn about the result of the vote, the other (senior) faculty members will know. Receiving more negative votes may therefore make other faculty members view underrepresented minority faculty as less competent academics, potentially affecting the likelihood of seeking collaborative relationships or advocating for colleagues.
Perhaps it shouldn't be a gold standard. Christiane Spitzmueller-one of the authors and a psychology professor and vice provost for academic affairs and strategy at the University of California, Merced-said a lack of unanimity only requires 'a single person who brings potentially negative attitudes towards marginalized individuals' to sway the entire committee, highlighting the potential dangers of this standard.
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