Citation
Buch, K., Huet, Y., Rorrer, A., & Roberson, L. (2011). Removing the barriers to full professor: A mentoring program for associate professors. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 43(6), 38-45.
Highlights
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- The objective of the study was to develop and assess a program to facilitate associate professors’ promotion to full professor, paying particular attention to female associate professors in STEM disciplines.
- The authors initiated the study in 2008 with a comprehensive needs assessment of University of North Carolina-Charlotte associate professors’ attitudes toward and perceptions of the promotion process. Based on the responses, they developed a series of peer and vertical mentoring programs, including a program focused on female associate professors in STEM disciplines. Two years after launching the needs assessment, the authors administered a follow-up survey to gauge the program’s progress.
- The initial needs assessment found substantial gender differences in associate professors’ perceptions of the promotion process. Women were significantly more likely than men to believe that departmental standards for promotion were unclear, that their department chair did not provide career support or guidance, and that factors such as race and gender would influence the promotion process.
- Responses to the follow-up survey marked a significant increase in the proportion of associate professors reporting having a mentor and lessening of gender disparities regarding perceptions of the promotion process. Those who indicated that they had a mentor were significantly more likely than those who did not to perceive incentives for promotion and to believe that promotion criteria were clear.
Reviewed by CLEAR
March 2016