Department of Science and Technology Studies

A Report on Spousal Hiring Policies in Academe
 

Some Issues Regarding Dual Career Couples

The following is an itemized summary of issues related to the employment of dual career couples. Not all of the issues are relevant to the current circumstances at Rensselaer, however, they do all bear consideration in the setting of policy.
 

Bias Against Women

McNeil and Sher note a distinct bias against women within the issue of employment for dual career couples.

One type of bias is the result of marriage statistics. Within the realm of physics, 43% of married female physicists are married to physicists, while only 6% of married male physicists are married to physicists. Leaving aside the evident gender disparity in the field, this means that nearly half of all married female physicists will most likely be affected by in-house spousal hiring policies.

Another, more troubling, level of bias is a general tendency to not hire women if the employment of their husband appears to be an issue. McNeil and Sher note that women are, by self-report, more likely to be asked this question and be judged for appointment to a position than men are. This discrimination goes so far as to promote extremely discriminatory remarks from the members of search committees. Although some of these cut both ways, in McNeil and Sher's survey women report many of the following remarks from department representatives:

• Being told that if their husband is working, then there is no reason for them to be working as well.
• One husband received a suggestion that the way to solve the two-body problem was to divorce his wife.
• Being to that they should do volunteer scientific work since it was their husband's role to support the family.
• Being refused a raise because her husband was already a well-paid full professor.

Availability of Employment

Employment opportunities in many fields of academic employment is often outstripped by the number of applicants. This poses a problem for dual career couples as well as institutions attempting to hire one or both spouses. Finding a balance that does not discriminate against dual-career couples and does not engage in spousal favoritism is difficult. This grows increasingly difficult for a couple in the same field with different levels of competence.

McNeil and Sher note that a "buyer's market" may increase discrimination against applicants with spousal complications. However, they note that this solution will backfire once the market begins to tighten up and both spouses can find employment elsewhere. It also may cause the institution to be unable to appoint their top pick, who might opt for another less prestigious position where accommodations can be made for their spouse.
 

Differences in the Qualifications of the Partners

Partners will probably not be at the same level of development as each other. This is, of course, an issue in hiring if, for instance, one partner is hired for a faculty position while the other is not qualified to be hired by the institution. Such a disparity is doubly a problem if both parties feel they should be treated equally. However, if the couple is aware of the disparity, this may become an opportunity for the "trailing" partner to improve their credentials through postdoc work or through temporary or soft-money appointments. On the other hand, it must never be assumed that the "trailing" partner is less qualified than the partner being hired.
 

Nepotism

Some institutions have broad-ranging policies about nepotism. Other institutions merely have administrators who want to avoid having to do any extra work to accommodate a dual-career couple by hiding behind supposed nepotism rules which may not even exist. Candidates should know what the institutions policies are before asking for spousal issues to be addressed and before accepting a negative answer without question. Administrators should know institution policies before attempting to cite them.
 

Barriers to Implementation

Wolf-Wendal et al. present a list of barriers to implementation.

One is a feeling that it would cost to much in time or money to implement a formal program. Factors that have to be addressed are:

• developing a network of information in current job opening;
• cooperation and coordination between deans, directors, and department heads;
• working with search committees.

Other issues presented were:

• department autonomy
• concerns for equity
• legal / policy issues
• quality of trailing spouse or partner
• lack of resources
• fear of setting a precedent.