HERS Leads the Way: Recent Thought Leadership and Research

Members of the HERS team have recently published work related to equity at different stages of the academic career, including hiring, tenure and promotion, and leadership development.

Dr. Lindsey Templeton, Associate Director of Programs and Research, coauthored two articles related to bias in faculty hiring:

O’Meara, K., Templeton, L. L., WhiteLewis, D. K., Culpepper, D., & Anderson, J. (2023). The Safest Bet: Identifying and Assessing Risk in Faculty Selection. American Educational Research Journal.

Culpepper, D., White-Lewis, D., O’Meara, K., Templeton, L., & Anderson, J. (2023). Do Rubrics Live up to Their Promise? Examining How Rubrics Mitigate Bias in Faculty Hiring. The Journal of Higher Education, 1-28. This work, centered on data from an ethnographic study of faculty search committees, interrogates existing hiring strategies and behaviors and provides recommendations for more inclusive search processes.

Dr. Templeton also coauthored two reports and an audit tool with the American Council on Education (ACE) focused on equity-minded reform of faculty tenure and promotion processes:

Equity-Minded Reform of Faculty Evaluation: A Call to Action

Translating Equity-Minded Principles into Faculty Evaluation Reform

Equity-Minded Reform of Faculty Evaluation Policies: Audit Resource

These reports are excellent resources for those leading or contributing to efforts to enhance equity in tenure and promotion policies at their institution.

Finally, HERS President, Dr. Gloria Thomas, and colleague Sherri Lind Hughes have coauthored an article as part of a special issue of Women and Therapy that is scheduled to be published later this spring. The work, titled “Women’s Leadership Development: The Need, the Impact, the Future,” examines both the history and current state of leadership development for women in academia. The authors explore offerings from HERS and American Council on Education (ACE) Women’s Networks and discuss the unique value of these programs for women.

All of these pieces mirror recent changes to the HERS Leadership Institute curriculum, centered on equity-minded leadership, and some of the goals outlined in the HERS strategic plan, like an increased emphasis on research. To follow up with the authors or connect on future opportunities for thought leadership, email ltempleton@hersnetwork.org

Do you have work related to equity-minded leadership or the HERS audience, mission, and values that you would like to share with the HERS Network? Email Director of Marketing and Recruiting Sophie Williams at swilliams@hersnetwork.org