Is the Clock Still Ticking? An Evaluation of the Consequences of Stopping the Tenure Clock

Transcription

1 Is the Clock Still Ticking? An Evaluation of the Consequences of Stopping the Tenure Clock 5/15/12! Colleen Flaherty Manchester, Lisa M. Leslie, and Amit Kramer "

2 Overview of Paper" Research Question: What are the career consequences of stopping the tenure clock (STC)? Approach: Administrative data from large research institution Annual data on STC use, salary, and promotion outcome Publicly available data on publications Test signal of low commitment versus lower productivity as explanation for career consequence Findings:" Using STC negatively affects salary (both sexes) No negative effect on promotion outcomes

3 Stop the Clock (STC) Polices" Allow tenure-track faculty to delay tenure review Available at 90 percent of research institutions Started in 1970s as policy for females; scope and eligibility expanded over time (both sexes) Birth/Adoption primary reason for eligibility Past research on STC Limited existing literature Available studies uncover hesitancy by faculty to use STC policy à suggests negative consequence from use Sources: Hollenshead et al. (2005); Thornton (2008), Mason et al. (2006)

4 What drives negative career consequence?" Hypothesize: Policy use viewed as signal of low commitment! Expectation that faculty meet ideal worker norm Using STC makes salient non-work responsibilities Career penalty from using flexible work practices for family reasons (outside of academia) operates through perceived commitment Commitment of faculty not readily observable, but STC policy use is à policy use serves as signal of lower commitment " Competing explanation: Faculty who use STC policy are less productive! Sources: Acker (1990), Blair-Loy (2003), Landers et al. (1997), Spence (1973),Williams (2000), Ward & Wolf-Wendel (2005

5 Differentiating Productivity from Signaling Explanation" Control for time-varying productivity! If due to productivity differences, there should be no effect of policy use once control for productivity (i.e. publications) Compare effect of STC by Sex" If due to non-research productivity, effect would be larger for females due to greater caregiving responsibilities Salary vs. Promotion" If due to productivity, effect present for both salary and promotion If due to inference of low commitment, penalty not likely to show up in promotion Sources: Drago (2009); Castilla and Benard (2010)

6 Setting and Data" Institution: Very High Research Activity (Carnegie Classification)! Research is of primary importance in tenure decision Promotion is centralized process; salary allocations decentralized STC policy eligibility Family: birth/adoption, caregiving Non-Family: contractual reasons, illness, leaves, extraordinary research delays" Annual data on tenure-track faculty (1998 to 2009)" Hired between 1998 and 2002 Administrative records on salary, position, and basic demographic information and STC use by year and reason

7 Pattern of Policy Use" Frequency Total Males Females Never Used STC Used STC Used 1 Time Used 2 or More Times By Reason (includes multiple spells) Family Reasons Non-Family Reasons Sources: Drago (2009); Castilla and Benard (2010)

8 Controlling for Productivity" Time-varying: Collected annual publications based on primary mode of publication" Books: Publication record from C.V. Articles: Publication record from ISI Web of Science Quantity: cumulative number of articles Quality: Quantity weighted by Impact Factor of journal; # of citations (annualized)" Time invariant (i.e. quality of PhD, ability)" Fixed effect regression analysis Identify effect of STC policy use by comparing change in salary of users relative to that of non-uses Sources: Drago (2009); Castilla and Benard (2010)

9 Effect of STC on Salary" One-year following use: " " STC policy results in 3.1% lower salary Does not differ by sex (females: ; males: ) Robust to controlling for publication quantity and quality Driven by STC use, not by having a child Implication: " Consistent with subjective evaluations (e.g., making inferences about commitment) Inconsistent with productivity explanation: penalty for both sexes makes alternative explanation more tenuous."

10 Effect of STC on Salary: Allowing for Persistent Effect" Second specification: Allow policy use to affect salary for up to four years" One-time penalty: Effect constant across lags Persistent penalty: Effect increases across lags Findings: Different pattern by sex" Find evidence of persistent effect for males One-time penalty for females

11 Salary penalty over time: By Sex" Effect of STC on Log Salary Over Time! Males! Females! 0! 0! 1! 2! 3! 4! 5! -0.01! -0.02! -0.03! -0.04! -0.05! -0.06! Years Since Used STC Policy!

12 Promotion Results" Positive relationship between STC use and Promotion" Robust to controls for publication quantity and quality Absence of penalty consistent with limited role of subjective factors in high-profile decisions Boost may stem from steeper publication trajectory, or favorable treatment due to litigation risk" Limitation: One-time outcome à cannot control for selection into the policy" Sources: Castilla and Benard (2010)

13 Is policy effective at leveling the playing field?" One-size fits all policy: one-year delay may under- or overcompensate for lost time" " Evaluate publications at tenure review " STC faculty compared to non-users: No difference Publications of STC uses under original clock relative to extended clock: Significant increase" à Suggestive evidence that STC policy adequately compensates (on average)" " Limitation: Cannot address selection into policy use"

14 Conclusions" Negative consequence of using STC policy on salary" Policy use opens door for subjective influences in salary setting Rules out alternative explanation of productivity differences Implications" Greater oversight of salary setting Higher take-up rates may mitigate consequences Penalties will follow as long as seen as deviation from norm Limitations" Data from single institution Promotion results limited by selection No information on STC eligibility