What is your faculty service load?
After our fall 2016 survey, we’re collecting stories about UNM faculty loads. We want to hear from you about your service load.
Preliminary results from our fall 2016 survey of UNM faculty indicate that women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) are more likely to report higher service burdens than their male and non-URM counterparts. When asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement: “I feel burdened by university service responsibilities beyond those of my colleagues,” 44% of men agree compared with 51% of women and 46% of non-URMs agree compared with 60% of URMs (see Figure 1).
Further, we found evidence to suggest that these differences in perception of service loads may be driven by the pressures women and URMs face to represent people who share their gender or racial/ethnic identities. When asked to agree or disagree with the statement “My colleagues/co-workers expect me to represent the ‘point of view’ of my identity,” a higher proportion of women (45%) than men (29%) agree. Similarly, more URMs (63%) agree that they are expected to represent the point of view of their identity than non-URMs (31%) a difference of more than 30 percentage points (see Figure 2).
Charts for call (1)
We want to hear more about your experience in this area.
<br>Do you feel like your gender or your race/ethnicity means you are expected to carry a larger explicit or implicit service load? Has service been a positive experience for you? Whatever your experience, we’d like to hear it.
<br>Please send us your story either through our website, at our email address, or at our office – MSC03 2241 on campus. Your responses will remain completely anonymous.
<br>We will use this collection of stories to create a general narrative that we can present to decision makers to help start a conversation about how service loads are assigned, assessed, and counted. (Remember, we’ll be presenting sets of stories that can’t be attributed to any one person).
<br>Help us to understand current experiences of service load and shape the future of faculty service at UNM by sharing your story.<br>