Ivory Towers Have Glass Ceilings

A must-read for higher education leaders committed to equity, Ivory Towers Have Glass Ceilings examines faculty members' experiences in promotion to full professorship. This volume discusses how structures, practices, processes, and policies pertaining to promotion from associate professor to full professor both presume and reproduce racialized and gendered inequity.

Women's teaching and service loads are often quantitatively and qualitatively different from white and some Asian men's experiences, which only serves to reinforce the status quo. This also extends beyond teaching and service to the types of intellectual contributions that are considered important, which often excludes the hands-on, engaged work that underrepresented faculty are more likely to perform. Contributors point out the unwritten rules that serve as hidden hurdles for promotion for women and underrepresented minorities. Additionally, what counts as professionalism is typically in favor of white, cisgender men. Inequities in assessment and value of scholarly output impact the promotion of gender diversity and underrepresented faculty.

This book asks what can be done at the institutional level by analyzing the policies, interactions, and everyday practices in the promotion process. Lessons can be learned from forward-looking institutions that have adopted policies to recognize and reward the broader contributions that women and gender diverse faculty make to academia. Any leader hoping to employ a truly representative faculty will want to consider which practices could work in their institutional context and culture.