Academic Faculty Positions Research Articles

The Relationship of Residency and Fellowship Sites to Academic Faculty and Leadership Positions.

After completion of training, a physician's training institution has a lasting and meaningful impact on career trajectory. Training program influence on first job placement and academic promotions remain uncertain in academic plastic surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of training and internal bias in academic plastic surgery employment and promotion. Academic plastic surgery faculty were identified through an internet search of all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited residency training programs. Faculty demographics, training background, employment, and leadership status were gathered. The analysis examined the impact of internal recruitment bias on first job employment, the impact of training history on institutional leadership promotion (chair/chief, residency director, or fellowship director), and the impact of alumni effect on academic employment. A significant proportion of recent graduates (38.6%) are practicing at the same institution as where they received residency or fellowship training. Of the 229 institutional leaders, 31.5% of chairs/chiefs, 39.6% of residency directors, and 37.5% of fellowship directors were internal hires. Overall, 34% of plastic surgery faculty in the United States share a common training program with at least 1 colleague. The top 5 programs that have the most faculty who trained at their hiring institution are Harvard (30 faculty), University of Southern California (15 faculty), University of California Los Angeles (12 faculty), University of Michigan (12 faculty), and Albert Einstein (12 faculty). Overall, 54% of plastic surgery departments employ 2 or more faculty who share a common external training program. The top 5 programs that have the most faculty who share an external training program are (1) Methodist Houston, 8 faculty who trained at Baylor; (2) Hofstra, 7 faculty who trained at New York University; (3) Stanford, 6 faculty who trained at University of California, Los Angeles; (4) Wisconsin, 5 faculty who trained at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; and (5) University of Southern California, 4 faculty who trained at New York University. The study highlights that an internal bias exists in the recruitment for first jobs and leadership promotions. However, a clear bias of internal hiring exists at several institutions. In addition, an alumni effect was identified, where some programs have a bias of hiring faculty who trained at the same external institution.

US Psychiatry Faculty: Academic Rank, Gender and Racial Profile.

The gender and racial underrepresentation persist in academic psychiatry faculty appointments. Our study investigated the gender and racial distribution and its temporal trends in academic psychiatry faculty positions across the USA over a 12-year period. Using the annual reports of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), a retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Simple descriptive statistics analyzed the time trends and the distribution of gender and race across academic ranks, tenure, and degree types. Over the 12-year study period, the White race was the most represented at each rank. In the lower academic ranks, there was an increased representation of Asians, while the minority race/ethnicities experienced minimal increment. Similarly, males were overrepresented at higher academic ranks, with females increasing in proportion at lower academic ranks. Females and minorities remain underrepresented in academic psychiatry faculty positions, especially among senior academic and leadership positions. Differences in tenure tracks and degree types may contribute to the overrepresentation of White and male academic physicians.

Emergency Medicine Residents With Higher Levels of Debt Are Less Likely to Choose Academic Jobs, but There Is a Difference by Gender.

We sought to answer the following question: Does educational debt burden affect decisions by emergency medicine residents about whether to pursue academic versus community medicine jobs directly after residency? In this observational study, graduating residents across eight emergency medicine residencies were surveyed concurrent with their in-training examinations over 2years to assess levels of educational debt and demographic information. Job types chosen by residents upon graduation were obtained from their respective program directors. The impact of debt on type of job chosen was assessed through multivariate logistic regression with demographic controls and program fixed effects, with additional analysis of observed differences by gender. Information was collected on 159 residents from 14 graduating classes across eight programs representing six different states. Residents with higher levels of debt had lower odds of choosing an academic fellowship or faculty position upon graduation (odds ratio [OR]= 0.77, confidence interval [CI]= 0.60 to 0.98). On further analysis, higher debt predicted lower odds of choosing an academic position for men (OR= 0.59, CI= 0.41 to 0.82), but not for women (OR= 1.05, CI= 0.63 to 1.76). When male emergency medicine residents have higher levels of debt, they are significantly less likely to pursue an academic fellowship or faculty position after residency. This may not be the case for female residents. Results may reflect differences in the factors that affect men and women's decisions about jobs after residency, which merits further study.

Gender-Specific Conferences and Symposia: A Putative Support Structure for Female Physicians.

Objective: To determine the impact of gender-specific conferences or symposia as it relates to medical professional development. Materials and Methods: An online survey instrument was distributed nationally through social media and shared by respondents. The survey assessed participants' demographics, attendance at gender-specific conferences or symposia, motivations or barriers to attendance, and perceived benefits of attendance. Results: Of 792 respondents, 34% had attended a conference or symposia for women in medicine, whereas 66% had not. Attendees were significantly more likely to hold a leadership position (68% vs. 43%, p < 0.0001), an academic faculty position (74% vs. 56%, p < 0.0001), and have received a professional accolade within the past year (42% vs. 28%, p < 0.0001). Nonattendees were significantly more likely to be the primary caregiver for children or seniors (64% vs. 56%, p = 0.042). Respondents indicated that an interest in discussion topics, a sense of community, and growth of professional network were key motivators in attendance. The majority of respondents indicated that attendance improved their self-advocacy, self-image, and leadership skills. Of those who did not attend, 51% were unaware of such conferences or symposia. Those who were aware, but unable to attend, cited lack of time as the major barrier to participation. Conclusions: The results of this study provide preliminary data surrounding gender-specific conferences or symposia for women in medicine and highlight opportunities for increased engagement. While not causative, attendees share attributes of professional success and report personal and professional benefits. Lack of awareness and access to child/family care are likely major barriers to participation, which can be addressed through strategic initiatives.

Women in Soil Science: Growing Participation, Emerging Gaps, and the Opportunities for Advancement in the USA

Core Ideas Despite historic gains, women remain under‐represented in soils‐related careers. Women are under‐represented in soil science leadership positions. Women receive SSSA awards at lower rates than their participation in the society. Women face attrition more than men as they advance the soil science career ladder. Diversity and inclusion are important pathways to grow and innovate soil science. The soil science discipline has undergone significant changes since its establishment in the 1900s; from strong connections with agronomy to a broader focus on ecosystems, earth, and environmental sciences while also during this period experiencing a notable increase in diversity among soil scientists. In this review, we explore soil science from the perspective of gender demographics and disciplinary foci of soil scientists. We examine graduate student enrollment metrics; employment information in academia, the federal government, and the private sector; and membership data from SSSA to gain deeper insight into these changes and the implications for the future of soil science. Women earn nearly half of the advanced soil science degrees. The number of women pursuing soil science careers has also increased, albeit less markedly, as women now comprise 24, 26, and 20% of the soil scientists in academic faculty positions, federal agencies, and private industry, respectively. However, there is reason for concern that women linger in intermediate levels of employment, and further attrition occurs along the career ladder with only ∼18% of the highest employment levels held by women; even fewer reach executive leadership levels in any sector. The growing participation of women in soil science is further reflected in a nearly 45% increase in female membership and meeting attendance in SSSA over the past decade, but recognition of their accomplishments and their presence in SSSA leadership positions remains low. We provide recommendations toward greater inclusion and gender diversity as this represents an important pathway to grow and innovate our science.

Structured Curriculum Vitae Scoring as a Standardized Tool for Selecting Interview Candidates for Academic Neuroradiology Faculty Positions

Background and PurposeInterview selection of candidates for academic radiology faculty positions is variable and subject to unconscious biases. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively apply a quantitative curriculum vitae (CV) rubric as a screening tool to identify qualified candidates for further consideration in the hiring process. Materials and MethodsArchived CVs submitted by applicants between 2012 and 2017 for neuroradiology faculty positions at our institution were anonymized. One blinded reviewer scored resumes based on categories that included education, work experience, extracurricular/teaching experience, and research. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristics analysis were performed. This study was IRB exempted. ResultsOf the total 102 applicants, 17 interviews were conducted and 10 candidates were offered a position. Maximum score of the model was 24 points. Mean score was 14 ± 4 (n = 102, range 5-22). Higher total CV score (P = 0.01), medical school ranking (P = 0.03), and number of published manuscripts (P = 0.03) were significantly associated with interview selection. The area under the curve in the ROC analysis for differentiating interview selection based on total CV scoring was 0.69 (95% confidence interval 0.56-0.82). At a cutoff of 14, the model is 82.4% sensitive, and 54.1% specific. ConclusionStandardized CV scoring is feasible with a cut-off score of 14 points providing high sensitivity in identifying candidates eligible for interview. This tool can potentially be applied in the future to the hiring process as it is neutral to factors such as gender and race and provides an opportunity to address diversity in academic medicine.

Support structures for female physicians: Motivations and barriers to gender-specific conferences and symposia.

10518 Background: While nearly half of all medical school graduates are female, women remain underrepresented in the physician workforce. Conferences or symposia designed to address issues relevant to female physicians, such as gender-bias, sexual harassment, and work-life balance are one strategy to improve retention and advancement, yet, limited data exists surrounding their utility. To address this gap, we surveyed a multi-disciplinary group of female physicians to identify motivations or barriers to attendance. Methods: An online survey instrument was distributed nationally via social media and shared by respondents. The survey assessed participants ’ demographics, attendance at gender-specific conferences or symposia, motivations or barriers to attendance, and perceived benefits of attendance. Results: Of 792 respondents, 34% had attended a conference or symposia for women in medicine, while 66% had not. Attendees were significantly more likely to hold a leadership position (68% vs. 43%, p &lt; 0.0001), an academic faculty position (74% vs. 56%, p &lt; 0.0001), and have received a professional accolade within the past year (42% vs. 28%, p &lt; 0.0001). Non-attendees were significantly more likely to be the primary caregiver for children or seniors (64% vs. 56%, p = 0.042). Respondents indicated that an interest in discussion topics, a sense of community, and growth of professional network were key motivators in attendance. The majority of respondents indicated that attendance improved their self-advocacy, self-image, and leadership skills. Of those who did not attend, 51% were unaware of such conferences or symposia. Those who were aware, but unable to attend, cited lack of time as the major barrier to participation. Conclusions: The results of this study provide preliminary data surrounding gender-specific conferences or symposia for women in medicine and highlight opportunities for increased engagement. While not causative, attendees share attributes of professional success and report personal and professional benefits. Lack of awareness and access to child/family care are likely major barriers to participation, which can be addressed through strategic initiatives.

A SHORT TEACHING RESIDENCY SPANNING 1,657 MILES.

In scientific disciplines, most postdoctoral fellowships focus on research training. Postdoctoral fellows ("postdocs") develop research expertise and research projects that they will use in future independent faculty positions. This research focus often precludes opportunities for undergraduate teaching. However, most academic faculty positions require faculty to teach at the undergraduate level. The result is that many postdocs are exceptionally well-qualified to meet the research expectations of future faculty positions, but lack experience and training in innovative and evidence-based undergraduate teaching strategies. Training in evidence-based teaching approaches can result in two tangible outcomes. First, the quality of applications by the postdocs for tenure-track faculty positions at institutions with substantive teaching expectations can be improved. Second, we can anticipate stronger alignment of teaching and learning expectations between new faculty and their undergraduate students. There are many programs that provide training in teaching to early career researchers. We describe the design and implementation of a mentored teaching experience that faced some unique challenges, including a large geographic distance between the postdocs and the teaching mentor and teaching site. We describe how we addressed the challenges, what the benefits to various stakeholders have been, and the key elements that contributed to the success of the program.

Fellowship Training Programs in Radiation Oncology: A Snapshot From 2005 to 2017

Despite the proliferation of radiation oncology fellowship training programs over the last decade, limited data exist on their actual details. We present findings from a focused survey aiming to evaluate the experiences of fellowship-trained physicians. A customized 23-item questionnaire was systematically distributed to 127 board-certified or eligible physicians who had completed a radiation oncology fellowship in the United States between 2005 and 2017 and whose contact information was available. The survey queried motivations for pursuing fellowship and aspects of training pertaining to expertise, mentorship, salary, employment outcome, satisfaction, and regret. A total of 92 subjects responded. Five were still in fellowship and 3 failed tocomplete the survey in its entirety, leaving 84 (56 male; 28 female) eligible for analysis. Graduates of US residencies comprised 62% of respondents. The desire to build a career in a particular treatment modality was most commonly cited as the primary motivation for pursuing fellowship (58%), followed by the desire to secure an academic faculty position (16%) and the desire to secure a job in a specific geographic location (14%). Subspecialty fellowships were most often done in proton therapy (27%) and brachytherapy (24%). Among the 26 people who completed proton fellowships, only 10 were currently practicing using protons (38%). The majority of fellows (52%) were compensated between $50,000 and $75,000 annually. Seventy-eight (93%) and 72 (86%) physicians were satisfied with fellowship training and their jobafter fellowship, respectively. Six of the 52 US graduates (12%) and 0 of the 32 international graduates (0%) reported that they would not recommend fellowship toothers. The motivations for pursuing radiation oncology fellowships appear to be complex, and variability exists with respect to multiple aspects of training, including those related to satisfaction and employment outcomes.

Creating Pathologists From a Post-Sophomore Pathology Fellowship: 21 Years and 126 Fellows at an Academic Pathology Department

Medical student exposure to pathology is a continued concern for departments across the country as traditional pathology content is trimmed from medical school curricula. In a longstanding effort to recruit and expose more medical students to the practice of pathology, our institution has supported a year-long post-sophomore fellowship in pathology since the 1930s. The program employs 6 full-time medical students per year to function as junior residents, taking an active role in delivering surgical pathology and autopsy services, with additional opportunities for teaching, research, and electives. We evaluated residency specialty choices and current practice locations for our department’s former post-sophomore fellows (PSFs) who participated in the program from 1995 to 2016. We surveyed them about their reasons for pursuing the post-sophomore fellowship and the program’s effect on their clinical practice. From 1995 to 2016, our department employed 126 PSFs, 54 (43%) of whom pursued careers in pathology after completion of the post-sophomore fellowship. This represented 63% of our medical school’s graduates who matched into pathology during this time frame (1997-2018; 86 total). Thirteen former PSFs (32.5%) have held academic faculty positions in pathology. PSFs who chose another specialty affirmed the positive influence of the fellowship on their current practice. Our post-sophomore fellowship program is exceptional in the number of students participating each year, and our institution shows a higher percentage of former PSFs pursuing careers in pathology compared to similar studies. The post-sophomore fellowship is an effective tool for recruiting medical students to a career in pathology.

Navigating the path to a biomedical science career.

The number of biomedical PhD scientists undergoing training and graduating far exceeds the number of academic faculty positions and academic research jobs. This trend compels biomedical PhD scientists to increasingly seek career paths outside of academia. Prior studies have used quantitative methodology to determine trends and outcomes of single factors contributing to this shift, but there is a literature gap in studies considering multiple factors and in qualitative work focusing on biomedical PhD scientists’ experiences and their processes of career navigation. This paper draws on a social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework and incorporates case study data from a southeastern Tier 1 research university to explore a nexus of factors influencing PhD scientists’ employment sector preferences and job search processes. It simultaneously concludes that relationships with faculty, particularly the mentor advisor, are essential to the opportunities available to these professionals and to the career paths they choose.

Historical Analysis of Bibliometric Trends in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics With a Particular Focus on Sex.

Orthopaedics is the clinical discipline with the lowest percentage of female residents and faculty. Pediatric orthopaedics has a higher percentage of women than other orthopaedic subspecialties. It was the purpose of this study to examine bibliometric trends in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics (JPO) with a specific focus on sex. A bibliometeric analysis for the years 2015, 2005, 1995, 1985, 1981 was performed. The names of first and corresponding authors; corresponding author position; country of origin; number of institutions, countries, authors, printed pages, and references was tabulated. Author sex was identified for the first and corresponding authors using the "Baby Name Guesser" (www.gpeters.com/names/baby-names.php). A P<0.05 was considered significant. There were 746 publications; 68.7% were from North America. The average number of authors, corresponding author position, collaborating institutions, countries, and number of references increased, whereas the number of printed pages decreased. Asia had the greatest number of authors (4.4), with Australia/New Zealand the fewest (3.4). Sex was determined for 98.3% of the first authors and 98.5% of the corresponding authors. There was a significant increase in the number of female first authors over time (5.9% to 25.6%, P<10), especially in Europe and North America. There were significant increase in the number of female corresponding authors over time (5.8% to 17.6%, P=0.000009). There was a significant trend to have a greater percentage of both female first and corresponding authors over time (P=0.0005) with a reverse trend for both male first and corresponding authors (P<10). In this study, we noted that the number of female first and corresponding authors in Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics has been steadily increasing. This should result in more female pediatric orthopaedic surgeons in academic faculty positions.

Influences for gender disparity in dermatology in North America.

Despite constituting half the population, women represent a minority of active physicians and hold a small proportion of faculty leadership positions in North America. However, dermatology is one of the few specialties where women comprise a substantial portion of the workforce. This study explores extent and contributors to gender disparity in academic dermatology faculty positions, leadership, and research. We collected data on academic faculty including leadership from the websites of accredited U.S. and Canadian dermatology faculties. We used PubMed and SCOPUS to collect faculty research information including h-index, number of publications, citations, and years of active research. Although women constitute almost half of all dermatologists in the U.S. and Canada (47.9%), only one-fourth (26.1%) of all faculty heads are women. Furthermore, the proportion of women in higher faculty ranks (Assistant Professor, Associate Professors, and Professors) is much lower than males. Female dermatologists also have fewer publications, citations, and years of active research. Interestingly, having a female in a leadership position is associated with a higher proportion of female dermatologists in the faculty. Gender disparity exists in academic dermatology, and the current academics fail to account for the enormous social challenges that women face, which may put them at a disadvantage to career advancement. Among other factors, better representation of female leadership may encourage and inspire women joining academic faculties in the future.

A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780–1950 by Fahad Ahmad Bishara

Reviewed by: A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780–1950 by Fahad Ahmad Bishara Ned Bertz A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780–1950. By fahad ahmad bishara. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. 288 pp. $99.99 (hardcover); $34.99 (paper); $28.00 (ebook). In a 2007 book review in the Journal of World History of Sugata Bose's A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the Age of Global Empire [End Page 402] (2006), this author noted that Indian Ocean studies "suffers neglect in comparison to the rich literatures of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific" (p. 377). Decidedly, this is no longer the case. Since Bose's landmark book, appearing in tandem with Thomas Metcalf's Imperial Connections: India in the Indian Ocean Arena, 1860–1920 (2007), there has been a proliferation of groundbreaking publications reconceptualizing the Indian Ocean in history as a zone of dense interactions and cosmopolitan cultural productions. There also have appeared many publications that simply append "in the Indian Ocean" to the title in order to ride the cresting wave of a field that, while rarely institutionalized at the level of academic centers or faculty positions, has played a prominent role in the growth of transnational approaches to history. Fahad Ahmad Bishara's new book, A Sea of Debt: Law and Economic Life in the Western Indian Ocean, 1780–1950, is not in the latter category. It is an important scholarly achievement based on an impressive range of texts and archival records from East Africa, the Gulf, and India, connecting these areas in a vibrant portrait that illustrates another of the western Indian Ocean's colorful horizons, that of law. Bishara, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, persuasively argues in the prologue that Indian Ocean historiography, either with a focus on trade and trust in merchant networks, or with imperial lenses that "obscure the indigenous ties across the Indian Ocean" (p. 18), has overlooked the legal structures that gave the region its particular shape. As a corrective, Bishara sets out to write "a legal history of economic life" (p. 22), and reveal "an oceanic space bound together as much by law as by nature, empire, or trade networks" (p. 11) even as modern capitalism and British imperialism sank their tentacles deeper into a transoceanic world that had its own, if fluid and ever changing, legal traditions and inventions. He pursues this agenda by examining the intertwined political and commercial aspirations of a wide array of mobile actors, and the circulation of legal rights and obligations that underpinned them, as Omani dynasties and Indian moneylenders moved into East Africa in the nineteenth century, followed by colonial interventions emanating from British India, fusing together three critical nodes in the western Indian Ocean. At the center of Bishara's study is an innovative history of a legal document, the waraqa, across three distinct phases of history in the western Indian Ocean, beginning in the late eighteenth century with Omani expansion in East Africa, moving into the encounter with British Indian law as European imperialism accelerated, and concluding with the global depression and economic restructuring that ended [End Page 403] the life of this unique form of commercial contracting. Waraqas—literally, "papers" in Arabic—can be described as flexible and creative deeds of contract among individuals or firms, exchanging financing for property or commodities or rent in a specific arrangement, as recorded by scribes (katibs). The resultant debts created cross-generational obligations, but fresh capital also produced lucrative opportunities as the regional economy boomed in the first half of the nineteenth century. Features of the waraqa flowered at this time, mediated and approved by judges (qadis) and jurists who aligned them with Islamic legal thought while seeking to boost commercial expansion. As such, Bishara argues, the waraqa formed a "common Indian Ocean grammar of economic life" (p. 83), providing a legal foundation to credit networks spanning the region. This story is convincingly told in the first three chapters of the book, based on extant waraqas held in the Zanzibar National Archives and the fatwas of Omani jurist Sa'id bin Khalfan Al-Khalili...

On the Other Side of the Wall: The Miscategorization of Educational Developers in the United States?

Educational developers around the world are employed in a range of settings and under different working conditions, including academic (faculty) positions and administrative (professional staff) roles. Curiously, in a survey of 1,000 developers from 38 countries, the authors find that a full 51% of developers in the United States are on administrative contracts, while only 16% are on employed as faculty—figures that are markedly out of kilter with the overall international data. In this paper, the authors argue that the positioning of educational developers matters because of the “wall in the head”—the perceived division between faculty and staff in U.S. institutions; narratives of distrust along that dividing line pervade not only the higher education press but also the research, indicating the extent to which this metaphorical barrier could thwart educational developers' attempts to enhance teaching and learning at their institutions. Ironically, this is happening at a point when universities are increasingly choosing to appoint educational developers: the miscategorization of developers' work may be inadvertently undermining institutions' own investment. The authors seek to explain the U.S. anomaly in positioning developers as staff by mining their international dataset, focusing on developers' qualifications, academic experience, institutional contexts, and personal identities.

Preresidency Publication Number Does Not Predict Academic Career Placement in Neurosurgery.

It is unclear if preresidency and/or residency research work impacts academic neurosurgery placement post residency. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact that preresidency and residency research publication has on attaining academic faculty positions. Alumni information was collected from 65 of the 108 (60%) neurosurgery residency websites. Graduates from these programs between 2005 and 2015 (n= 949) were analyzed to determine factors associated with an academic career. Information on publications, citations, and H-index were obtained from Web of Science. Current position was designated as academic if the physician had a teaching position at a university hospital and private if the physician was not affiliated with a university hospital. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with academic faculty positions post residency. Of the 949 physicians included in the analysis, 339 (36%) were in academic positions, 518 (55%) in private practice, and 92 (10%) were still in training. More than a fifth (212, or 22%) of physicians performed a research fellowship (8.2%) or attained a Ph.D. (14.1%) during medical school. Among those who had completed training, an academic career was associated with having 2 or more publications during residency (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval, CI]: 3.87 [1.59-9.45]; P < 0.003), H-index ≥ 2 during residency (OR [95% CI]: 2.32 [1.40-1.69]; P < 0.0001) and having devoted research time before residency (OR [95% CI]: 1.56 [1.10-2.22]; P < 0.012). Notably, publications before residency were not an independent indicator of academic placement. These findings may help guide residency programs to identify and/or cultivate neurosurgeons to become academic neurosurgeons.

On the Other Side of the Wall: The Miscategorization of Educational Developers in the United States?

Educational developers around the world are employed in a range of settings and under different working conditions, including academic (faculty) positions and administrative (professional staff) roles. Curiously, in a survey of 1,000 developers from 38 countries, the authors find that a full 51% of developers in the United States are on administrative contracts, while only 16% are on employed as faculty—figures that are markedly out of kilter with the overall international data. In this paper, the authors argue that the positioning of educational developers matters because of the “wall in the head”—the perceived division between faculty and staff in U.S. institutions; narratives of distrust along that dividing line pervade not only the higher education press but also the research, indicating the extent to which this metaphorical barrier could thwart educational developers' attempts to enhance teaching and learning at their institutions. Ironically, this is happening at a point when universities are increasingly choosing to appoint educational developers: the miscategorization of developers' work may be inadvertently undermining institutions' own investment. The authors seek to explain the U.S. anomaly in positioning developers as staff by mining their international dataset, focusing on developers' qualifications, academic experience, institutional contexts, and personal identities.

The Mock Academic Faculty Position Competition: A Pilot Professional and Career Development Opportunity for Postdoctoral Fellows.

Medical educators face a dilemma in countries like Canada, where policy makers and strategic planners have prioritized highly qualified personnel and expanded recruitment of advanced trainees at a time when early-career specialists face prolonged job insecurity as they transition to professional employment. The University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine hatched the Mock Academic Faculty Position competition to test the school's existing capacity to address the pressing career development needs of highly trained graduates. The competition was piloted in May-June 2014. Approximately 180 postdoctoral fellows were invited to compete; 34 submitted portfolios. The Postdoctoral Program Office established a longlist of 12 applicants. Through reviews, a selection committee identified 3 finalists to participate in a daylong event consisting of a research presentation and committee interview. The event was followed by approximately 70 audience members at any given time who were invited to complete anonymous evaluation forms and/or exit interviews. The selection committee deduced a vast majority of applicants did not sell their skills effectively or demonstrate research programs independent from supervisors. Exit interviews conducted with 40 audience members indicated 36 (90%) picked the same finalist as the selection committee, 34 (85%) found the process "nerve racking," and 28 (70%) had no previous idea of what goes on inside an academic committee interview. A key recommendation for future iterations is early attention to systematizing feedback to ensure more direct impact for nonfinalists. Alternative initiatives for those gearing up for industry or public-sector work are being prepared.

Women's Careers in Biomedical Sciences: Implications for the Economy, Scientific Discovery, and Women's Health.

While women have been well represented in medical school and biomedical doctoral degree programs, they do not comprise half of academic medicine faculty positions. Furthermore, there is a significant paucity of women in academic medicine leadership positions, as evidenced by the fact that only 16% of dean positions at United States Medical schools are filled by women. In this commentary, the authors review the state of women in academic medicine and argue that increased representation of women in the academic workforce will lead to economic gains, increased scientific discovery, and improvements to women's health.

Ecological Media Studies and the Matter of Digital Technologies

In 2009 william pannapacker pronounced the digital humanities to be “the first ‘next big thing’ in a longtime” promising to reconfigure and reinvigorate the humanities. The same could now plausibly be said about the environmental humanities with the recent rise of dedicated academic centers (at, e.g., KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in Sweden; Princeton University; the University of California, Santa Barbara; and the University of Utah), grant-funded projects (like the Sawyer Seminar on the Environmental Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the consortium Humanities for the Environment), and faculty positions. If the digital and environmental humanities have been ascendant amid what Christopher Newfield describes as the “unmaking” of public higher education and what Richard Grusin terms the “crisis humanities,” such an assessment invites the question of whether the ecological digital humanities (EcoDH) might serve to combine the most saleable facets of the digital humanities and the environmental humanities for university stakeholders who promote applied humanities work outside academia or, alternatively, a hybrid method for researching, teaching, and designing cultural responses to structures of ecological and social precarity (Grusin 80).