For decades, national surveys have shown faculty report high levels of dissatisfaction with the distribution of labor in their departments, especially women and underrepresented minority faculty. Research suggests this dissatisfaction is warranted, as these groups are often engaged in more service, mentoring, and institutional housekeeping than their peers. Despite the ample work revealing workload inequities and their consequences, few studies have examined the backdrop of conditions and practices within which workload is perceived as more or less fair, especially within departments. Drawing on survey data from 30 academic departments in Maryland, North Carolina, and Massachusetts, we empirically test three propositions about the conditions under which faculty experience their department workloads as equitable. We found departments where faculty reported equitable work conditions and practices (e.g., transparency, clarity, rotations of time-intensive roles) were significantly more likely than departments where faculty did not report these conditions and practices to report satisfaction with workload distribution, and satisfaction with teaching and service activities. Department work practices and conditions had a small or insignificant effect on faculty intent to leave. Interestingly, faculty confidence in the ability to enact these practices and conditions, which we termed action readiness, was not predictive of faculty satisfaction with workload distribution or teaching and service activities. We outline implications for academic leaders seeking to make academic workloads more transparent and equitable, and for future research.
This report summarizes the authors’ findings and insights learned from the Faculty Workload and Rewards Project (FWRP), a National Science Foundation ADVANCE-funded action research project. The FWRP worked with 51 departments and academic units to promote equity in how faculty work is taken up, assigned, and rewarded, drawing from theories of behavioral economics and the principles of equity-mindedness. Using a randomized experiment with treatment and control groups, we found that there are actions that academic units can take to promote workload equity. The treatment groups participated in a four-part workload intervention that included training on workload inequity, creating a faculty work activity dashboard, developing an equity action plan, and individual faculty professional development on managing time-use.
Each year, national surveys show that many faculty members experience dissatisfaction with their workloads (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education, 2008; Hurtado, Eagan, Pryor, Whang, & Tran, 2012; Jacobs & Winslow, 2004). Several factors contribute to workload dissatisfaction, including perceptions of increased workload and challenges in work–life integration, among others (Bozeman & Gaughan, 2011; Callister, 2006). Dissatisfaction can lead to lower productivity, lower organizational commitment, and higher turnover (Callister, 2006; Eagan & Garvey, 2015; Mamiseishvili & Rosser, 2011). Colleges and universities therefore have a substantial interest in enhancing workload satisfaction to promote retention and achieve institutional goals.
This article highlights the disproportionate burden of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work placed on female faculty of color within academia, often without adequate compensation, recognition, or career advancement. Drawing on research and personal experiences, it argues that these faculty members are frequently tasked with extensive, unrewarded labor, including mentoring diverse students, serving on DEI committees, and addressing issues of bias, which detracts from time spent on research and publishing – activities crucial for tenure and promotion. The authors propose actionable solutions for universities to rectify this imbalance, such as formally acknowledging DEI work in tenure and promotion processes, providing compensation or course release for such efforts, investing in dedicated DEI staff, and distributing this labor more equitably across all faculty. The paper underscores the necessity of systemic change to ensure that valuable diversity work is both recognized and rewarded, fostering a more equitable academic environment.
This article examines how gender and race intersect to create significant workload inequities among university faculty, extending beyond the classroom and research lab into service and administrative responsibilities. It draws on existing sociological research to illustrate that women and faculty of color, particularly women of color, shoulder a disproportionate share of "invisible labor." This labor encompasses extensive student mentoring (especially for diverse student populations), committee work related to diversity initiatives, and emotional labor associated with navigating and addressing discrimination. The piece argues that these uncompensated and often undervalued contributions are rarely recognized in formal evaluation processes, leading to career penalties for those who undertake them. The author advocates for institutions to critically assess and redistribute faculty workloads, explicitly value and reward all forms of academic labor, and implement transparent systems that prevent the concentration of service burdens on marginalized groups, ultimately aiming for a more equitable and sustainable academic environment for all faculty.
Faculty workload inequities have important consequences for faculty diversity and inclusion. On average, women faculty spend more time engaging in service, teaching, and mentoring, while men, on average, spend more time on research, with women of color facing particularly high workload burdens. We explore how faculty members perceive workload in their departments, identifying mechanisms that can help shape their perceptions of greater equity and fairness. White women perceive that their departments have less equitable workloads and are less committed to workload equity than white men. Women of color perceive that their departments are less likely to credit their important work through departmental rewards systems than white men. Workload transparency and clarity, and consistent approaches to assigning classes, advising, and service, can reduce women’s perceptions of inequitable and unfair workloads. Our research suggests that departments can identify and put in place a number of key practices around workload that will improve gendered and racialized perceptions of workload.
This article provides actionable advice for individual faculty members on how to contribute to a more equitable and inclusive academic workplace. It outlines five key strategies: examining and addressing one's own biases, advocating for fair and transparent processes in hiring and promotion, actively mentoring and sponsoring underrepresented colleagues, challenging inequitable practices and policies, and fostering an inclusive classroom environment. The author emphasizes that while systemic change is crucial, individual faculty actions are also vital in dismantling inequities and promoting a culture of fairness and respect within higher education. The piece encourages faculty to move beyond passive support to proactive engagement in creating a more just academic community.
Faculty members experience a gap between how they would prefer to spend their work time and how they actually do so. In this article we report results from a four-week workshop called “The Terrapin Time Initiative.” It was guided by theories of behavioral economics and behavioral design, which suggest that small changes to the context, or “choice architecture,” in which individuals make choices can enhance decision-making. Results indicate that the workshop was effective in changing the “choice architecture” in which faculty made decisions about their time-use, thereby helping them to develop new strategies for managing their time.
The report proposes concrete reforms based on principles like transparency, clarity, and accountability. It recommends moving away from over-reliance on student evaluations of teaching and instead using holistic teaching portfolios to mitigate bias. It advocates for a broader, more inclusive definition of scholarship that values various forms of work, such as community-engaged or interdisciplinary projects, and suggests multiple ways to document scholarly impact beyond traditional citation metrics.
We conducted a randomized control study to improve equity in how work is taken up, assigned and rewarded in academic departments. We used a four-part intervention targeting routine work practices, department conditions, and the readiness of faculty to intervene to shape more equitable outcomes over an 18-month period. Our goal was to (a) increase the number of routine work practices that department faculty could enact to ensure equity, (b) enhance conditions within the department known to positively enhance equity, and (c) improve the action readiness of department faculty to ensure equity in division of labor. Post intervention faculty in participating departments were more likely than before the intervention to report work practices and conditions that support equity and action readiness in their department, and that teaching and service work in their department is fair. Participating departments were significantly more likely than control departments to report practices and conditions that support equity and greater action readiness to address issues of workload equity in their department. Finally, participating department faculty were more likely than control department faculty to report increased self-advocacy and were more likely than control department faculty to report that the distribution of teaching and service work in their department is fair.