Page 173 - Through the gate of the neoliberal academy • Herschberg
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deliberations. For example, assumptions about a candidate’s reason to apply for the position or a candidate’s motivation for certain career choices. Also, assumptions related to a candidate’s social category (such as gender, age, or nationality) were expressed and used as a justification for not selecting this candidate. Often, these candidates did not resemble the masculine norm or Anglo-Saxon norm present in Western universities. Assumptions were usually not voiced (as a question) during an interview with the candidate, but only afterwards during committee deliberations where a job offer is at stake. I have shown that assumptions can be harmful, as they can influence committee members’ decision making and be used as an argument to reject candidates without giving them a chance to refute the assumptions. I argue that hiring procedures can become fairer when being reflexive and transparent about one’s assumptions, when assumptions are questioned and challenged, and when assumptions are tested during job interview situations by asking candidates questions related to the assumptions.
Defining selection criteria
In this dissertation, I show that selection criteria at macro-, meso- and micro-levels often remain undefined and therefore are open for interpretation, and susceptible to inequality practices. I analysed how exclusionary practices surface when universal formal criteria are confronted with the narrow criteria applied by committee members. I show for example how the meso-level criterion of “experience abroad” remains unspecified at the micro-level, and therefore leaves room for committee members to decide whether or not applicants’ experience gained abroad is sufficient. Committee members’ preferences for certain universities and countries can create inequalities in hiring decisions, particularly because those preferences remain unknown to candidates. Chapter 3 shows that preferences can result in the exclusion of applicants who obtained postdoc experience in less prestigious institutes or peripheral countries.
I recommend that higher education institutions, departments and hiring committee members consider possible undesirable consequences that recruitment and selection criteria can have and how to eliminate those consequences. What are the (dis)advantages of using certain criteria (e.g., internationalisation)? For hiring committees, I want to encourage that they discuss before making a first selection, what criteria are most crucial for the position and why these criteria are important. Is it because ‘that’s how we do things around here’ or are they truly important for the job? Are there different interpretations of a certain criterion possible?
Furthermore, in order to reduce ambiguity, I suggest discussing before going
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