This paper will present the initial analysis of the ADVANCE-Purdue Institutional Ethnography Parental Leave Study. This study seeks to understand how Purdue University’s parental leave policy is working to meet the career and life goals of our STEM faculty and staff members. Through the analysis of the experiences of diverse participants, ranging from administrators, faculty, and staff members directly related to the enacting or administration of the leave, we seek to identify the disconnects between the policy’s procedures and the lived experience of the implementation and administration of it. The experiences of these key agents can be means of positive transformation for the success of other employees and the whole institution. Our data comes from 12 interviews of STEM faculty and staff members in the time period of 2009-2010. Interviews covered the participants’ experiences in comprehending and enacting parental leave policy, its procedures, and the effect of its implementation in their personal and career lives. We will present common themes we have identified and we will discuss it using the structuration theory and institutional ethnography. Structuration theory was developed by Anthony Giddens in the 1970s and explains the dynamics of complex social systems. Under this theory, social systems exist only because of the reproduction of their structures (rules, resources, and relations) by human agents. D. Smith’s institutional ethnography is a research method that helps us identify disconnects between policy documents, its rules, procedures, and the people who interact with them in order to support positive institutional change.

1. Institutional Ethnography as a Method to Understand the Career and Parental Leave Experiences of STEM Faculty Members February 18, 2011 Marisol Mercado Santiago, Alice Pawley, JordanaHoegh, and Dina Banerjee

2. Plan Introduction Institutional Ethnography Research Methodology Methods Demographics of the coded interviews Preliminary Themes Preliminary Recommendations

4. There is a need to understand how the organization of institutions structure policies and social relations that result in women and people of color’s underrepresentation in academia.Gibbons, M.T. (2010). Engineering by the numbers. Retrieved from http://wwwtemp.asee.org/publications/profiles/upload/2009ProfileEngOverview.pdf [NSF] National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. (2009). Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.

6. Identify the disconnects between peoples’ experiences of the parental leave policy and the structure of the policy.

7. Why our goal is important?

8. It will help the institution improve the policy and its procedures

9. It will help the institution see how these disconnects are related to gender and race

12. Lived experiences of employees help researchers identify:

13. how social relations structure the bigger institutional system

14. how policy structures affect employees’ career and life experiencesSmith, D. E. (2005). Institutional ethnography: A sociology for people. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Campbell, M, & Gregor, F. (2004). Mapping social relations: A primer in doing institutional ethnography. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

16. Semi-structured interviews conducted between 2009 and 2010.

17. Broad themes were identified first and then we compiled those that were equivalent (using NViVo).

19. Demographics of the coded interviews Eng = 3; Non-STEM = 4; Science = 4; University-Wide admins = 3 (A5 had 2 admins)

20. Preliminary Themes

21. Parental leave policy in semester context

22. Faculty members continue their work on leave

23. Faculty members continue their work on leave

24. Adjusting pregnancy timing to better manage teaching load

25. Adjusting pregnancy timing to better manage teaching load (Cont.)

26. The scientist is now a mom

27. The scientist is now a mom (Cont.)

28. Childcare facilities

29. Childcare facilities

30. Childcare facilities

31. Breastfeeding and Childcare Facilities

32. Policy-Related Recommendations Research about the labor of STEM academics need to inform policy development. Policy needs to cover the particular labor and semester context of faculty members. Explore other universities’ policies on modified dutiesfor faculty members. Sullivan, B., Hollenshead, C., & Smith, G. (2004). Developing and implementing work-family policies for faculty [Electronic version]. Academe, 90(6). Retrieved from http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/2004/ND/Feat/04ndsulli.htm

33. Other Recommendations Childcare facilities on-campus need to be expanded and mechanism in the policy should be included to ensurethat faculty members find these services before returning to work.

34. Thanks for your attention  Questions? ADVANCE Research Team Purdue Center for Faculty SuccessHall for Discovery and Learning Research207 S. Martin Jischke Drive, Suite 228West Lafayette, IN 47907 (765) 494-9335 Presentation prepared and given by the Research Assistant Marisol Mercado Santiago (mercado@purdue.edu)

35. Disclaimer This research is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD 0811194. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

38. Systemis “reproduced relations between actors or collectivities, organized as regular social practices” (p. 25).5