An evidence-based faculty recruitment workshop influences departmental hiring practice perceptions among university faculty

Purpose Many university programs seek to promote faculty diversity by reducing biases in hiring processes. The purpose of this paper is to conduct two studies to test the individual- and department-level impact of a faculty recruitment workshop (FRW) on faculty attitudes toward evidence-based, equitable hiring practices. Design/methodology/approach Study 1 included 1,188 faculty who had or had not attended an FRW. Respondents were surveyed about their attitudes and their intentions to use specific equitable search practices. The authors assessed the proportion of faculty in each department to test for the impact of department-level workshop attendance on individual faculty attitudes. Study 2 employed a similar design (with 468 faculty) and tested whether effects of workshop attendance are explained by changes in beliefs about social science research. Findings Faculty had more favorable attitudes toward equitable search strategies if they had attended a workshop or if they were in a department where more of their colleagues had. Workshop attendance also increased intentions to act on two of three recommendations measured, and led to greater belief in evidence-based descriptions of gender biases. Some evidence suggested that these beliefs mediated the influence of the FRW on attitudes.Research limitations/ implications - Because faculty were not randomly assigned to attend the workshop, no strong claims about causality are made. Practical implications - The present studies demonstrate that an evidence- based recruitment workshop can lead faculty to adopt more favorable attitudes toward strategies that promote gender diversity in hiring. Originality/ value - These studies provide evidence of the role of belief in social science research evidence in explaining the effectiveness of a program designed to increase faculty diversity.