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 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.
Authors
- Christopher D. Wirz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8990-5505)
- Meghana Ranganathan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8099-4775)
- Mara Freilich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0487-8518)
- Lyssa M. Freese (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0944-2182)
- Liza Yasemin Barnes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5128-7329)
- Ellen Lalk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9843-9278)
- Julia Wilcots (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2395-7345)
- Margaret L. Duffy
Institutions
- NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Brown University (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- NSF NCAR Climate and Global Dynamics Laboratory (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Drexel University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Published
- 2025-01-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02052-3
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Career Development and Diversity
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.37
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Carnegie Institution of Washington
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- University of California, San Diego
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- Climate Program Office