Dual Career Couples
The UW-Madison has several policies designed to accommodate women in the academic system. These include: extensions on tenure clock for parental or other familial responsibilities; a program for hiring dual career couples; and support, expansion, and subsidies for campus childcare. There are two examples in the social sciences where the desire of two members of a couple to share one faculty faculty position was accommodated. It appears that these programs have had little impact on the number of women faculty in the biological and physical sciences. Therefore, as described in the Evaluation Plan, it is critical to examine them in detail and make modifications where necessary, especially in science and engineering. The findings will have policy implications locally and nationally.
Evaluation:
The Dual Career Couple Program run by the Office of the Provost is currently being evaluated by the WISELI Evaluation Team, and they will include in their longitudinal data system any existing data on this program, and will gather data on it in their in-depth impact studies (years one and five), campus-wide climate surveys, and, as determined by the Leadership Team, the Issues Studies.
Links of Interest:
- Greater Chicago Midwest Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
- National Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
- Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know" — This report, from Stanford University's Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, discusses the benefits and challenges of dual-career hiring and thoroughly describes common practices at thirteen research universities. Helpful policy recommendations are included.
- AAUP Recommendations on Partner Accommodation and Dual Career Appointments (2010)