Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US
Abstract Many geoscience departments in the United States (US) are working to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups. However, there is little information about how hiring practices are perceived by candidates. Here we address this gap by interviewing 19 geoscientists who identify as an underr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02052-3 |
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| author | Margaret L. Duffy Liza Y. Barnes Christopher D. Wirz Meghana Ranganathan Mara A. Freilich Lyssa M. Freese Ellen Lalk Julia Wilcots |
| author_facet | Margaret L. Duffy Liza Y. Barnes Christopher D. Wirz Meghana Ranganathan Mara A. Freilich Lyssa M. Freese Ellen Lalk Julia Wilcots |
| author_sort | Margaret L. Duffy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Many geoscience departments in the United States (US) are working to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups. However, there is little information about how hiring practices are perceived by candidates. Here we address this gap by interviewing 19 geoscientists who identify as an underrepresented race, ethnicity, or gender who recently declined a tenure-track faculty job offer in the US about their faculty job searches, with an emphasis on their decisions to accept or decline an offer. We find that many participants experienced hiring practices inconsistent with existing recommendations to increase faculty diversity, and some participants were subject to uncivilized, even potentially discriminatory, practices. Therefore, we leverage our results to provide actionable recommendations for improving faculty recruitment efforts. We highlight that departments may doubly benefit from improving their culture: in addition to benefiting current members, it may also help with recruitment. Overall, our findings emphasize the need for continued evaluation of faculty hiring practices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cb955014660346bcae5a58a288e1a6b0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-cb955014660346bcae5a58a288e1a6b02025-02-02T12:44:09ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352025-01-016111410.1038/s43247-025-02052-3Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the USMargaret L. Duffy0Liza Y. Barnes1Christopher D. Wirz2Meghana Ranganathan3Mara A. Freilich4Lyssa M. Freese5Ellen Lalk6Julia Wilcots7Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric ResearchLeBow College of Business, Drexel UniversityMesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Laboratory, NSF National Center for Atmospheric ResearchDepartment of Geophysical Sciences, University of ChicagoDivision of Applied Mathematics, Brown UniversityDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Geosciences, Princeton UniversityAbstract Many geoscience departments in the United States (US) are working to recruit faculty from underrepresented groups. However, there is little information about how hiring practices are perceived by candidates. Here we address this gap by interviewing 19 geoscientists who identify as an underrepresented race, ethnicity, or gender who recently declined a tenure-track faculty job offer in the US about their faculty job searches, with an emphasis on their decisions to accept or decline an offer. We find that many participants experienced hiring practices inconsistent with existing recommendations to increase faculty diversity, and some participants were subject to uncivilized, even potentially discriminatory, practices. Therefore, we leverage our results to provide actionable recommendations for improving faculty recruitment efforts. We highlight that departments may doubly benefit from improving their culture: in addition to benefiting current members, it may also help with recruitment. Overall, our findings emphasize the need for continued evaluation of faculty hiring practices.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02052-3 |
| spellingShingle | Margaret L. Duffy Liza Y. Barnes Christopher D. Wirz Meghana Ranganathan Mara A. Freilich Lyssa M. Freese Ellen Lalk Julia Wilcots Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US |
| title_full | Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US |
| title_fullStr | Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US |
| title_short | Factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists' decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the US |
| title_sort | factors influencing underrepresented geoscientists decisions to accept or decline faculty job offers in the us |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02052-3 |
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