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Browsing by Author "Hawley, Joshua D."

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    Effects of Government Spending on Research Workforce Development: Evidence from Biomedical Postdoctoral Researchers
    Hur, Hyungjo; Ghaffarzadegan, Navid; Hawley, Joshua D. (PLOS, 2015-05-01)
    We examine effects of government spending on postdoctoral researchers’ (postdocs) productivity in biomedical sciences, the largest population of postdocs in the US. We analyze changes in the productivity of postdocs before and after the US government’s 1997 decision to increase NIH funding. In the first round of analysis, we find that more government spending has resulted in longer postdoc careers. We see no significant changes in researchers’ productivity in terms of publication and conference presentations. However, when the population is segmented by citizenship, we find that the effects are heterogeneous; US citizens stay longer in postdoc positions with no change in publications and, in contrast, international permanent residents (green card holders) produce more conference papers and publications without significant changes in postdoc duration. Possible explanations and policy implications of the analysis are discussed.
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    Model-based Analysis of Diversity in Higher Education
    Andalib, Maryam Alsadat (Virginia Tech, 2018-07-03)
    U.S. higher education is an example of a large multi-organizational system within the service sector. Its performance regarding workforce development can be analyzed through the lens of industrial and systems engineering. In this three-essay dissertation, we seek the answer to the following question: How can the U.S. higher education system achieve an equal representation of female and minority members in its student and faculty populations? In essay 1, we model the education pipeline with a focus on the system's gender composition from k-12 to graduate school. We use a system dynamics approach to present a systems view of the mechanisms that affect the dynamics of higher education, replicate historical enrollment data, and forecast future trends of higher education's gender composition. Our results indicate that, in the next two decades, women will be the majority of advanced degree holders. In essay 2, we look at the support mechanisms for new-parent, tenure-track faculty in universities with a specific focus on tenure-clock extension policies. We construct a unique data set to answer questions around the effectiveness of removing the stigma connected with automatic tenure-clock policies. Our results show that such policies are successful in removing the stigma and that, overall, faculty members that have newborns and are employed by universities that adopt auto-TCE policies stay one year longer in their positions than other faculty members. In addition, although faculty employed at universities that adopt such policies are generally more satisfied with their jobs, there is no statistically significant effect of auto TCE policies on the chances of obtaining tenure. In essay 3, we focus on the effectiveness of training underrepresented minorities (e.g., African Americans and Hispanics) in U.S. higher education institutions using a Data Envelopment Analysis approach. Our results indicate that graduation rates, average GPAs, and post-graduate salaries of minority students are higher in selective universities and those located in more diverse towns/cities. Furthermore, the graduation rate of minority students in private universities and those with affirmative action programs is higher than in other institutions. Overall, this dissertation provides new insights into improving diversity within the science workforce at different organizational levels by using industrial and systems engineering and management sciences methods.
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    Recent trends in the U.S. Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) workforce
    Hur, Hyungjo; Andalib, Maryam A.; Maurer, Julie A.; Hawley, Joshua D.; Ghaffarzadegan, Navid (PLOS, 2017-02-06)
    While behavioral and social sciences occupations comprise one of the largest portions of the "STEM" workforce, most studies of diversity in STEM overlook this population, focusing instead on fields such as biomedical or physical sciences. This study evaluates major demographic trends and productivity in the behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR) workforce in the United States during the past decade. Our analysis shows that the demographic trends for different BSSR fields vary. In terms of gender balance, there is no single trend across all BSSR fields; rather, the problems are field-specific, and disciplines such as economics and political science continue to have more men than women. We also show that all BSSR fields suffer from a lack of racial and ethnic diversity. The BSSR workforce is, in fact, less representative of racial and ethnic minorities than are biomedical sciences or engineering. Moreover, in many BSSR subfields, minorities are less likely to receive funding. We point to various funding distribution patterns across different demographic groups of BSSR scientists, and discuss several policy implications.