Dual-Career Symposium
Advancing Women in Academic STEM Fields Through Dual Career Policies and Practices
February 28, 2014
The University of Texas-Pan American
Edinburg, Texas
Featured Speakers
Dr. Beth Mitchneck,
National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Program Director
Dr. Lisa Wolf-Wendel, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
University of Kansas and co-author of The Two-Body Problem: Dual-Career-Couple Hiring Practices in Higher Education.
Dr. Andrea Rees Davies,
The Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Stanford University and co-author of Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know
The University of Texas- Pan American was pleased to host a 1-day symposium on Friday February 28th (following an evening reception the night before) on dual-career policies, practices, and outcomes in academia, particularly as they relate to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women faculty, including Hispanic women, in STEM academic fields. The program featured dual-career hiring experts and scholars from institutions across the country. The session topics included “Successes and Challenges in Dual-Career Hiring,” “Institutional and Regional Collaboration in Dual-Career Hiring,” and “Voices from the Field: Dual-Career Hiring Findings and Strategies for Success.”
The speakers and sessions were geared toward faculty, academic administrators, dual-career consultants, faculty recruitment professionals, and higher education professionals.
The goals of the symposiums included helping UTPA, and other participating institutions, in developing sustainable dual-career policies for faculty while raising awareness of the issues confronting women in dual-career couples. Indeed, later in the Spring 2014 semester, the Faculty Senate and the Academic Affairs Executive Team unanimously passed the first Dual Academic Career Hiring Program and Guidelines at UTPA, along with proposed changes to the corresponding HOP Policy to increase flexibility of hiring academic partners.
The symposium also fostered institutional collaborations at the regional/national levels and provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices in dual- career hiring and support services.
The event was sponsored by the NSF ADVANCE Program at UTPA in partnership with UTPA’s Women’s Faculty Network, the Faculty Senate, and the Council of Chairs.