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THE PROMOTION & TENURE CONSORTIUM

Promotion and Tenure (P&T) is integral to the 21st-century science and education workforce, as promotion processes determine who gets ahead and who gets left behind. However, evidence points to existing systemic disadvantages detrimental to the career progression of individuals from underrepresented groups, such as women and faculty of color. To address these existing barriers and examine and improve the validity of P&T processes, our group forged a multi-institution, collaborative research consortium dedicated to P&T. Our member institutions represent a cross-section of American universities, ranging from HBCUs and HSIs to AAU institutions, R1s, and liberal arts colleges (University of California - Merced, University of Houston, Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Texas A & M University, Louisiana State University, Hampton University, Lehigh University, Rice University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, and Texas Southern University). Our project team comprises senior administrators representing our consortium institutions’ Provost offices, along with social science and STEM faculty.

The consortium is supported by an External Advisory Board consisting of leading diversity researchers and senior higher education administrators who have served as Provost, Chief Diversity Officer, Dean, and other positions.

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OUR TEAM

Principal Investigators

Dr. Christiane Spitzmueller, PI (UC Merced)

Dr. Spitzmueller serves as the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Strategy at the University of California at Merced. She is a Co-Principal Investigator for the P&T Project, aiming to shed light on systemic and structural issues preventing women and faculty of color from being promoted in academia. Through her research, Dr. Spitzmueller looks at the impact of diversity (or lack thereof) on student and research outcomes. She is further interested in work-family interface issues workers experience as they reconcile family and work demands. Her recently published book (edited with Russell Matthews) “Research Perspectives on Work and the Transition to Motherhood” examines these issues. Before transitioning to her current role at UC Merced in 2022, Dr. Spitzmueller received her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Bowling Green State University and joined the faculty of the University of Houston in 2003, becoming a Full Professor in 2017. She served as the Managing Director for the University of Houston’s NSF-funded Center for ADVANCING UH Faculty Success (ADVANCE) from 2017-2019. Over the past years, The UH Center for ADVANCING Faculty success has changed what UH scientists look like: The representation of women at the Full Professor level has increased by 43%, and the representation of African American and LatinX members among UH tenure and tenure track faculty has grown substantially. As part of UH’s ADVANCE team, Dr. Spitzmueller is a recipient of NIH’s 2021 HeroX award for advancing gender equity in academia. Recently, Dr. Spitzmueller also served as a committee member on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s consensus study on mentorship in STEMM, with a focus on increasing mentoring access for students from marginalized backgrounds. She currently serves on the editorial boards for Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and Organizational Research Methods.

Dr. Juan Madera, Co-PI (University of Houston)

Dr. Madera is a Professor of Global Hospitality Leadership who worked on the UH ADVANCE IT grant as a social science collaborator. Dr. Madera joined the faculty in 2008 as an assistant professor, earned tenure and promoted to associate professor in 2014, promoted to full professor in 2020; honored with the Curtis L. Carlson Endowed Professor in August 2021; author of more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, trade articles and book chapters; recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from such institutions as the National Science Foundation, USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Sloan Foundation and Ford Foundation; a fellow for the Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology and serves as an editorial board member of numerous peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Journal of Business and Psychology, Personnel Assessment and Decisions, and International Journal of Hospitality Management); serves as a research fellow for the Center for Advancement UH Faculty Success where he is involved in both research and policy work for the promotion and tenure process; and holds a joint teaching appointment with the Department of Management & Leadership at UH’s Bauer College of Business. On this project, he will provide expertise as a diversity researcher, and particularly in using LIWC as an analysis tool for linguistic characteristics of text, and in linking LIWC analyses with predictor and outcome data. Recommendation letters for women in academia have been widely cited and achieved a broad impact in university settings across the country.

Dr. Erika Henderson, Co-PI (University of Houston)

Dr. Henderson is an Associate Provost for Faculty Recruitment, Retention, Equity, and Diversity at UH. She spearheads innovative and evidence-based practices in the recruitment of diverse faculty that has resulted in a 46% increase in minority TT faculty hiring at UH over the last three years. On this project, she will lead national and local dissemination and change initiatives geared towards translating study findings into improved P & T practices with improved ERL validity.

Dr. Michelle Penn-Marshall, Co-PI (Texas Southern University)

Dr. Michelle Penn-Marshall is the inaugural Vice President of Research and Innovation at Texas Southern University (TSU). She joined the TSU community on March 1, 2022. She received the B.A. (scientific curriculum) and M.S. in biology with a concentration in environmental science from Hampton University (HU). She received her Ph.D. in community nutrition from the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Her grantsmanship spans a broad array of disciplines, with funding support from various federal agencies and corporations, such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Library of Medicine, Toyota, and Dominion Energy.

She has served as co-PI for the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) and the Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE), both designed to expand the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM who earn the PhD or MD/PhD. For the past eight years she served as the project coordinator for the Washington Baltimore Hampton Roads – Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (WBHR-LSAMP), with Howard University (lead) and Morgan State University. WHBR-LSAMP addresses the dearth of black, indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) in STEM by increasing the number of BIPOC undergraduate student researchers in STEM. As a result of this 25-year alliance, more than 30,000 WBHR-LSAMP students earned BS degrees, 3,335 earned MS degrees and 965 earned PhD degrees in STEM fields.

In addition to her work with undergraduate students, she is also a strong supporter of graduate education and faculty development. She served on the National Council of Graduate Schools Advisory Committee on Advocacy and Public Policy for the Council of Graduate Schools and served as the Co-PI for the Howard Hampton Morgan State (HHMS) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Alliance. Further, she serves as the Co-PI with colleagues from the University of Houston (lead) and nine other institutions, where external review letters are reviewed for validity and fairness in the promotion and tenure decision making process. Funding support for these projects are provided by the Sloan and the National Science Foundations.

Dr. Penn-Marshall partners with faculty, staff, students’, local, regional, and state industries to create and foster a culture of research and innovation. She is a strong advocate for the elimination of health inequities and works diligently to transform lives and provide educational opportunities and healthcare access for all. She provided visionary and transformational leadership while managing her former university’s research enterprise. Under her direction the total grant and contract funding awards increased by 78.3% in FY 2020-21 ($49.2M) compared to FY 2019-20 ($27.6M). She is an inclusive leader who practices collective wisdom and unity.

Dr. Penn-Marshall serves on the boards of the USRA HBCU Space Council and Springer Nature’s US Research Advisory Council. She is a member of numerous honor societies, civic and community organizations and is the proud mother of two daughters, Lauren and Ivana and a wonderful son-in-law, Trent.

Research Scientist, Research Assistants, and Project Coordinator

Theo Masters-Waage, Research Scientist (UC Merced)

Dr. Masters-Waage is a research scientist with the CEFA team. Theo completed his Ph.D. in 2022 from Singapore Management University focusing on the role of attention in social decision making. Since then, he has worked nomadically with institutions, including INSEAD, Rice University, University of Houston, and most recently the University of California at Merced. His research focuses on group decision making, specializing in applied experimental designs (e.g., field experiments, natural experiments, and virtual reality vignettes). His research has been featured in journals including Nature Human Behaviour, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychologist, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Psychological Science. As a psychologist, Theo strives to understand how humans navigate the messy social world and to use these insights to help address global challenges, while also having fun along the way!

Ally St. Aubin, Research Assistant (University of Houston)

Ally is an industrial and organizational psychology doctoral student at UH and has been a research assistant on the CEFA team since August 2022. Prior to joining the project, she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harding University and an education specialist degree in school psychology from Baylor University. She is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and has experience with special education evaluations and services, district-wide fidelity evaluations, and behavioral consultation within the public education system. Ally also worked in outpatient behavioral health, high-stakes professional testing, and academic support for at-risk university students. She served on the Harding University faculty from 2018-2024 and was promoted from instructor to assistant professor during that time. Her research interests include leadership, DEI, well-being, efficiency, technology, and educational organizations. She is passionate about creating efficient, effective, accessible systems that positively impact all stakeholders.

Maritza Gaytan, Project Coordinator (UC Merced)

Maritza recently joined our team as a Junior Specialist and Project Coordinator, where she supports the NSF grant by coordinating meetings, developing coding and data collection materials, assisting with analyses, creating presentations, assisting the undergrad research team, and helping with grant applications. She recently graduated from UC Merced with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Psychology this past Spring. Maritza plans to pursue graduate studies this fall. She is passionate about giving back to her community and supporting historically underrepresented groups. Her interests include public policy, economic inequality, immigration rights, women’s rights, and education policy.