Department Climate: A key to recruiting and retaining a diverse and successful faculty

A department climate is the set of factors that affect whether department personnel feel appreciated, safe to express opinions, and respected by their administrators and colleagues. A 2006 study conducted by The University of Wisconsin Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI) demonstrated that climate significantly impacts faculty members´ job satisfaction and effectiveness and their decisions to stay or leave. Research also shows that climate problems have the greatest impact on members of underrepresented groups. A project supported by the NSF ADVANCE-PAID program was carried out over a three-year period at a large public university. Heads of 25 departments (16 STEM, 9 non-STEM) participated in a series of workshops on the effects of climate on faculty recruitment and retention; faculty and staff from each department were surveyed using a variation of the WISELI Climate Survey; and the heads, faculty, and staff of each department formulated action plans to improve their climates. This paper summarizes and discusses the project implementation and outcomes, identifies the conditions that have the greatest positive and negative effects on climate, and suggests measures administrators and faculty members can take to improve their departments´ climates.