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Supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation, COACHE is a collaboration of colleges and universities committed to gathering the peer diagnostic and comparative data academic administrators need to recruit, retain, and develop the cohort most critical to the long-term future of their institutions.
The core element of COACHE is an electronic survey designed and tested in focus groups and a rigorous pilot study with twelve sites. The COACHE Tenure-Track Job Satisfaction Survey provides participating institutions with a management tool that can be used as a powerful lever to improve the quality of work life for junior faculty. Each section is built to generate a report of not simply "interesting" data, but actionable diagnoses.
The COACHE New Scholars Report has the potential to promote success on all fronts. In brief, each institution's report can lead to: (a) providing enlightened institutional leaders with data to leverage workplace improvements; (b) a reputation as a great place for faculty to work; (c) better questions from and more informed decisions by prospective and current junior faculty, on and off the tenure track; and (d) ideas and initiatives from junior faculty that enrich and expand the range of possible improvements.
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Background: The Study of New Scholars
The 2002-2005 pilot phase, The Study of New Scholars, had two overarching goals:
1) To make the academy a more equitable and appealing place for new faculty to work in order to ensure that academic institutions attract the best and brightest scholars and teachers; and
2) To increase the recruitment, retention, status, success, and satisfaction of women and minority faculty members.
Among the accomplishments of the Study of New Scholars were the following:
> Focus groups conducted
Six focus groups were conducted with a total of 57 full-time tenure-track faculty (including 24 faculty of color and 34 women) to learn how they view specific institutional policies and practices, structural and cultural barriers, work climate, the ability to balance professional and personal lives, current job satisfaction, and estimated likelihood of success in achieving tenure or contract renewal.
> Pilot study survey administered
Drawing from the focus groups and prior surveys of satisfaction among academics and other professionals, and from conversations with Harvard University experts, we developed a survey instrument for full-time, tenure track junior faculty to rate the relative attractiveness of the terms and conditions of employment at their institutions, and their level of satisfaction and fulfillment. The web-based, 30-minute survey was completed by 1,188 junior faculty members at 12 pilot institutions: Brown, Carleton, Duke, Morehouse, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, Smith, and the universities of Arizona, California-Berkeley, Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and Washington.
> Interviews
We conducted 66 follow-up interviews with full-time tenure track junior faculty who completed the survey at four of the pilot research universities (including 12 faculty of color and 35 women). Those interviews have provided a more nuanced and detailed picture of the work life of junior faculty as well as the factors that create a great academic workplace.
> Literature reviews
We conducted thorough literature reviews and preliminary analysis of data concerning tenure-track faculty in general, and women and faculty of color in particular; also a literature review on faculty job satisfaction has been completed.
> Publications and project reports
Study of New Scholars. Gender: Statistical Report [Universities]. By Cathy A. Trower and Jared L. Bleak. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2004. (Download here.)
Study of New Scholars. Race: Statistical Report [Universities]. By Cathy A. Trower and Jared L. Bleak. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2004. (Download here.)
Study of New Scholars. Institutional Type: Statistical Report. By Cathy A. Trower and Jared L. Bleak. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2004. (Download here.)
Trower, C. Is your campus a great place to work? Trusteeship. Washington, DC: Association of Governing Boards. Volume 12, No. 4, July/August, 2004: pp. 20-24.
Trower, C. Leveling the field. The Academic Workplace. Vol. 14(2). Boston: New England Resource Center for Higher Education, 2003.
Trower, C. Whither the traditional faculty. Trusteeship. Washington, DC: Association of Governing Boards. Volume 11, No. 1, January/February, 2003: pp. 34-35.
Trower, C. Why so few minority faculty and what to do? Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education. (Fall, 2002). Volume XVII, No. 2: pp. 25-27.
> Pilot site reports
Each pilot site received a report that provided a compilation of all quantitative findings from the pilot sites. Each report is over 100 pages, with question-by-question summaries that highlight major findings relative to peer pilot sites. Statistically significant differences by race and gender are also highlighted.
> Presentations
Twenty-one project-related presentations and workshops have occurred since the start of the project.
> Academic Leaders Meeting
SNS staff met with academic leaders from 10 of the 12 pilot sites in October 2003. The meeting had three primary purposes: 1) to learn what was happening on campuses as a result of the study; 2) to discuss data dissemination; and 3) to seek input about how to roll out the survey nationally.
The pilot sites are actively involved in producing changes on campus. As a direct result of the project, pilot sites have taken actions such as:
> Sharing the data with the Board of Trustees. One institution shared and discussed the survey results with its Board of Trustees and highlighted areas targeted for improvement.
> Data exchanges/shared learning. We learned of discussions among academic leaders who, in some cases, compete directly for faculty (e.g. Smith and Mt. Holyoke) to discover what each campus does well in order to better understand best practices.
> Using disconfirming data. When data indicated at two universities that "all is not as great as we thought," senior management decided to do in-depth analyses of what accounted for the disparities between the perception of administrators and the realities experienced by faculty.
> Using data to confirm good practice. Sites were able to see clearly from the data that certain policies were effectively implemented and produced desired outcomes.
> Stimulate enlightened discussion. Sites now have "data-driven dialogue" instead of "data-free debates." The pilot results have provided data to inform discussions and decisions about junior faculty satisfaction and measures of success. Exemplary departments can be analyzed and publicized, while less successful areas can be targeted for improvements.
> More careful examination of equity, gender, and race-based differences. Some sites were surprised to learn that issues of transparency and equity had still not been satisfactorily addressed despite past efforts. These data provide internal checks and the stimuli to do better.
Plans for the future at pilot sites include:
> Measurement against baselines. Pilot institutions now have a baseline for comparison to assess progress and to relate progress (or setbacks) to specific changes in policy and practice.
> A competitive edge. Participating institutions have a clearer picture of how to increase the satisfaction, fulfillment, and productivity among new scholars, and reduce voluntary turnover rates. Sites with high levels of satisfaction among junior faculty plan to use these data as a means to attract a stronger, more diverse pool of applicants and successfully recruit more first-choice candidates.
Today, COACHE is building on the positive developments of the Study of New Scholars to benefit campus workplaces everywhere. For more information about the Study of New Scholars, please visit the website at: ../newscholars.
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The Collaborative:
> Home
> Mission & Background
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> Optional Services
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> Downloads
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> Contact Us
Related Projects:
> Study of New Scholars
> Project on Fac. Appts
Send questions or comments to:
coache@gse.harvard.edu
"Participation in the Study of New Scholars has done more than help us understand the climate for junior faculty at Duke and in a comparative perspective. It has also given a boost to our efforts to attend to issues of importance for all our faculty."
-- Peter Lange, Provost, Duke University
"We are pleased that we will have the data from COACHE to inform our efforts to broaden and strengthen our faculty mentoring programs."
-- Richard Herman, Chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"The University of Arizona's future as a student-centered research university depends mightily on our outstanding assistant professors and our capacity as a university to provide an environment where they can do their best work. We want our assistant professors, who we work so hard to recruit, to thrive. Participating in COACHE helps us understand what is working well and what needs to be strengthened."
-- George H. Davis, Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Arizona
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