University first to grant automatic extensions
Princeton University has adopted a new policy that automatically
grants male and female faculty extra time to pursue tenure after
welcoming a new child.
According to the American Council on Education's Office of Women in
Higher Education, Princeton is the first university in the country to
adopt such a policy.
The University changed its faculty rules so that assistant professors
no longer have to request an extension of the standard six-year term
before tenure review to accommodate the birth or adoption of a child.
"What we're trying to do is make Princeton as family friendly a place
as possible," said Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin. "One thing we've
been working on here is helping people have work-life balance."
Princeton previously joined many universities in offering extensions to
eligible faculty who asked for them, but a survey of Princeton faculty
revealed a common anxiety that making such a request would be
stigmatizing.
"It was clear that assistant professors, and particularly women, were
ambivalent about using this policy," said Joan Girgus, a Princeton
psychology professor and special assistant to the dean of the faculty
on gender issues.
"On the one hand, they thought an extension would be helpful to their
careers in terms of getting their research done and preparing for a
tenure review," Girgus said, "but on the other hand, they thought
asking for an extension would be seen as a sign of weakness and might
harm them when being considered for tenure."
Under the new policy, assistant professors will automatically receive a
one-year extension for every child born or adopted during their tenure
pursuit. There is no limit to the number of extensions, and twins or
triplets would add two or three years to the tenure term.
Faculty who have received a tenure extension for childbirth or adoption
can request an early tenure review if they wish, just as any other
assistant professor can request an early review.
Altering the policy on extension of the tenure run for childbirth or
adoption was one of the recommendations of a report released in
September 2003 by the Task Force on the Status of Women Faculty in the Natural Sciences and Engineering at Princeton.
In the five years before the report was released, only 26 faculty
requested tenure extensions, Girgus said. The dean of the faculty's
office has already granted three extensions since the new policy took
effect May 16.
"The shift from having it as a benefit that's asked for to being a
benefit that's automatically given by the institution removes the
stigma to it," said Claire Van Ummersen, director of the American
Council on Education's Office of Women in Higher Education. "It's
saying that the institution understands."
Van Ummersen said "Princeton is out in front" in raising awareness that
extending a tenure term doesn't mean a university should have greater
expectations for the volume or quality of work produced during tenure
review.
"One shouldn't think of this as giving extra time for an individual's
scholarship, as much as we're giving extra time so you can care for
your broader life," Dobkin said.
The University will rely heavily on the leadership of its academic
departments to inform the dean's office when a faculty member qualifies
for the extension, Dobkin said.
Administrators think the new policy should be attractive to faculty
considering working at Princeton. Letters offering appointments will
outline the new policy to prospective assistant professors.
"We want them to think of Princeton as a place they're going to be happy intellectually and personally," Dobkin said.
