by Ann E. Austin and Sandra Laursen, Ph.D.
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In earlier blogs, we shared strategies and interventions designed to create more inclusive, equitable, and diverse academic workplaces, based on our study of universities that have had National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation ADVANCE grants. In this blog drawing on our book “Building Gender Equity in the Academy,” we share highlights from lessons learned about creating and sustaining organizational change. While our work has focused particularly on projects aiming to increase opportunities, support, and success for women and faculty of color, the research has highlighted lessons about fostering organizational change that we believe are relevant to a wide range of institutional change projects.
Major change projects require a systemic and comprehensive approach that also takes into account the particular context. The first step in successful change projects involves identifying and framing the problem. Choosing strategies or taking actions without identifying the problem is unlikely to be effective, efficient, or impactful. If the overall goal is to create a more inclusive and diverse academic workplace, the starting point is to consider what problem or problems need to be addressed. For example, the issue for some institutions may relate to limitations in the recruitment process; other institutions may recruit a wide diversity of candidates, and even hire them–but the environment within the institution may not foster a sense of belonging nor convey support for those recruited into the organization. A systemic change effort requires identifying the specific nature of the problem to be addressed in that context.
Second, we have learned in our research that understanding the context internal and external to the organization is another key component in designing a strategic and systemic approach to organizational change. Analyzing the context involves consideration of the institution’s history, location, values, and culture. Other relevant elements of context internal to the organization include demographic characteristics of the faculty and staff, governance processes, leadership practices, and policies and practices pertaining to recruitment, onboarding, professional development, evaluation, and promotion procedures. Context external to the organization may include geographical location, size of town or city, demographics of the region, and political or social features of the location. Why is analyzing context important? Such analysis can refine change leaders’ understanding of the problem to be addressed, and it can also highlight barriers or facilitators that may affect change efforts. Strategies to gather data on the context include review of institutional data, focus groups, interviews, and climate surveys. Effective analysis of the organization’s context should precede–and inform–the selection of change strategies and interventions.
Often change leaders are eager to select change strategies and may assume that replicating the approaches used at other institutions will result in success. However, as discussed, understanding the specific problem and context should precede decisions about change strategies. Decisions should be aligned with the particularities of the change goals and the institutional context. Effective change leaders often reference their use of theories of change. These may be well-articulated specific social science theories that explain aspects of human or organizational behavior, or they may be more informal working understandings of the problem and the factors that could encourage or thwart the problem. Theories of change help change leaders think about the nature of the problem and what would counter, diminish, or remove it, as well as why they believe particular strategies will be effective. Theories of motivation, for example, may lead change leaders to identify various intrinsic or extrinsic rewards, or to create opportunities for professional development, that contribute to better recruitment or retention of women academics or faculty of color.
Logic models are written frameworks that can help change leaders think through their plans and choices about change strategies and interventions. Drafting explicit logic models gives change leaders the opportunity to articulate their understanding of the problem to be addressed, the goals for the change initiative, their intended short- and long-term outcomes, and the interventions and strategies they intend to use to reach those outcomes. Explicit logic models can be used to encourage discussion of how selected interventions may be effective at advancing the organization toward the change goals. The key to choosing effective change strategies is to articulate a clear and compelling rationale for how they will address the actual problem of concern. Furthermore, effective change plans typically involve multiple strategies–not just one–that together create a systemic approach to addressing the problem.
After specifying the problem, analyzing the context, and choosing strategies and interventions, the fourth step is implementing the change. Our research has highlighted several important elements of the implementation process. Effective initiatives typically have committed and articulate leaders. Projects benefit from leadership teams that involve people with different but complementary skills and talents. Effective leadership teams often include people from different parts of the institution, occupying a range of roles, and with different sources of and connections to formal and informal power. Team members’ range of skills might include institutional knowledge, effective communication skills, experience at collaborating, attention to fostering collegiality, connections with different stakeholder groups (such as campus governing bodies or faculty situated in particular parts of the university), and diverse demographic features. A leadership team that includes these different skills and areas of knowledge is more likely to be effective at the process of developing and implementing systemic change.
Another important feature of successful implementation processes is to start small but stay persistent. Change takes time, and systemic change involves commitment over time to the use of the multiple strategies that organizational analysis has suggested will be effective: identify allies, establish buy-in, and communicate why the goals are important. Connecting with a range of stakeholders internal and external to the organization whose support is important, providing professional development to organizational leaders to ensure they understand the goals and strategies, and attending to symbolic messages that emphasize why the change goal is important are all useful strategies to use over time. Finally, our research has shown that gathering and tracking data, monitoring indicators, and evaluating the intended change outcomes–both short-term and long-term outcomes–are wise strategic activities as part of organizational change efforts. Sustaining the change process and ensuring long-term viability of goals involves embedding change goals and strategies into the organization’s structures, policies, finances, and practices. Significant organizational change takes substantial time.
The overall message is that organizational change to achieve significant goals–such as creating and fostering more inclusive and diverse academic workplaces–requires a systemic approach. This kind of approach requires analysis and understanding of the problem and the context, careful selection of strategies relevant to the particular situation, and ongoing attention to the challenges of implementation. The problems we face in higher education are complex and daunting; we need to be systemic, comprehensive, and committed in our efforts to achieve our goals and create the organizations we envision.
