Urban University Blog

Nearly 50 years ago, the National Academies described postdocs as the “invisible university,” because their contributions to cutting-edge research often went unrecognized. Or, as Adam Ruben bluntly describes it in Science: the postdoc is “a time-honored tradition of academics, research, and stagnant purgatorial nonprogression.” Although the postdoctoral experience has improved quite a bit from years past, it’s still considered a particularly tough period in the journey from g

Whether you like it or not, everyone has bias. The way we perceive the world is influenced by the environments in which we grew up, cultural norms, and the people we surround ourselves with. Many of these factors act upon our behavior without our knowledge, leading us to do things that would appall our conscious mind, such as treat a colleague differently because of his race, or overlook a talented candidate for a job because of stereotypes about her ability. Unconscious bias

As the summer draws to a close, you and your colleagues may be contemplating how you will achieve your goals for the upcoming academic year, and it’s likely that improving student retention, graduation, and success is high on your agenda. If so, you may want to spend some time thinking about your adjunct faculty. Here’s why: more than half of faculty at U.S. 4-year colleges and universities are part-time, non-tenure track employees. Furthermore, the percentage of faculty who

The USU convened an advisory group of provosts and other experts on faculty hiring to conduct a qualitative research study. Now, after nearly six months of research, the advisory group has produced a report that examines cluster hiring across ten institutions, with particular focus on diversity and climate. The results show that cluster hiring can be an effective strategy for recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty body depending on how it is implemented. It may also impro