About

The Partner Hire Scorecard is a product of a larger research study on the challenges faced by academic couples: The Dual-Careers Project. The research team is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the project is funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

For more information about the Partner Hire Scorecard, please read our complete report.

What is the research project?

The Dual-Careers Project is a research study on the challenges faced by academic couples. It is funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation and is based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study has three major components:

1) a nationwide survey of academics’ perceptions and experiences of dual-career academic job searches;

2) systematic analysis of the partner hire policies, materials, or resources of every “R1” research-intensive university in the United States;

3) the production of this Partner Hire Scorecard, along with an accompanying report. Visit the project page here.

What are “R1” institutions?

As ranked by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the label “R1” signifies Doctoral Universities with “very high research activity.”

Why does the scorecard focus on R1 institutions only?

The Partner Hire Scorecard focuses exclusively on R1 institutions to foreground the top universities in the U.S. R1 institutions have also received the majority of National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE grants, which have been frequently directed toward the implementation of dual-career programs.

Why focus on academic couples?

Academic couples are commonplace. More than 1/3 of academic researchers are in relationships with other academics. Supporting them both contributes to family-friendly workplaces and is a powerful tool to recruit and retain top talent.

Who counts as a partner?

Institutions define partners differently. We found that most did not require people to be legally married. However, if they did, we specify that on the institution’s page.

How do equity and diversity factor into the situation?

There are strong equity issues at play with dual-career matters. When faced with the difficulty of finding university jobs in the same region, women are more likely to leave academia or accept temporary positions, which is a situation that exacerbates gender inequities in higher education. Such attrition can also have an outsized impact on underrepresented minority scholars, hurting their careers as well as hindering broader efforts to diversify academia. Same-sex couples can also face discrimination based on their relationship status, particularly in more conservative regions or at religiously affiliated institutions.

What are Perma.cc links, and how can one use them?

Perma.cc is an institutionally provided resource for archiving web documents for later viewing. It generates a permanent repository with persistent links, allowing researchers and others to consult the same documents even if websites go offline or are altered. On each institution page in our scorecard, the "additional resources" links will direct you to the archived files we graded. After clicking on these links, you can see details of when the web document was archived. You can also click "View the live page" to access the content currently found at that URL, which may differ from the Perma.cc archived pages or documents.

What additional resources are shared for each institution?

For our grading process, we reviewed thousands of documents. To increase the usability of this website, we provide links only to those documents with direct relevance for jobseekers, such as information about dual-career policies, programs, and job-placement services.

What other resources are available?

The Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) offers a job search function that is tailored to academic couples. The organization also offers a wealth of resources for institutions and jobseekers.
Stanford University’s 2008 Clayman Institute Report, “Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know” offers valuable historical context on the issues surrounding academic couples in higher education.
The National Science Foundation's ADVANCE program provides grants to assist universities in correcting gender disparities, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

What should universities be doing to support academic couples?

As we’ve outlined in this article, universities seeking to support academic couples could:

1. Develop and/or strengthen their dual-career policies

2. Circulate those policies widely

3. Provide training to administrators, search committees, faculty, and staff

4. Establish reciprocal arrangements with other institutions

5. Create “dual-career liaison” positions within units

6. Designate a dual-career point person (or office) at the university

7. Pursue tenure-stream appointments as the default

8. Fulfill promises made to couples

9. Treat retention as an ongoing process

10. Regularly evaluate the outcomes of dual-career efforts and the attitudes of university members

The many resources linked under our top-ranked institutions could offer examples for universities and colleges seeking to improve their efforts.

How can I find out more about the Partner Hire Scorecard?

Please read our complete report.