Dieser Vortrag findet online auf Zoom auf Englisch statt. | Zur Anmeldung
29.10.2025, 16-17 Uhr
Vortragsinhalt: Promotion and tenure (P&T) processes in academia are widely regarded as critical mechanisms for faculty career advancement. However, emerging evidence suggests that these processes may function inconsistently, undermining their validity and fairness. Christiane Spitzmüller’s work, grounded in quantitative social science research, examines how structural barriers in P&T decision-making processes impact faculty, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, despite formal evaluation metrics. Drawing on findings from a consortium study across ten universities, the research team demonstrates that factors such as external review letter writer characteristics, dual appointments, patent ownership, and career interruptions (e.g., extensions) contribute to unintended P&T outcomes. Furthermore, innovation and entrepreneurship contributions are undervalued, and joint evaluations, although beneficial for URM faculty, are not fully embraced by P&T committees. Their work further shows how external review letters are more strongly linked to who the writers are than to the candidate's productivity and accomplishments. They use the research on external review letters to derive recommendations on how external review letters can be crafted in support of promotion candidates. By examining linguistic features in recommendation letters, the impact of faculty characteristics and activity, and P&T decision-making, they identify intervention targets and elucidate evidence-based interventions to promote valid and reliable P&T policies and systems.
Referentin: Christiane Spitzmüller (Ph.D) is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Strategy at the UC Merced Office of the Provost. Spitzmüller’s research has focused on Occupational Health Psychology and workforce diversity and workforce development. She currently serves as the Project Director of a nine-institution $2M NSF-funded research consortium dedicated to examining validity and bias in promotion and tenure decision making.
Im Rahmen seines 25-jährigen Jubiläums greift das CEWS mit dieser Veranstaltung ein zentrales Thema auf, das es seit seiner Gründung begleitet: die Auseinandersetzung mit Bias als kontinuierlicher Herausforderung. Gleichzeitig spiegelt die Veranstaltung die internationale Ausrichtung des CEWS wider und unterstreicht die aktuelle Schwerpunktsetzung auf intersektionale Perspektiven auf Geschlechtergerechtigkeit.