New Book Breaks Ground in Providing Guidance for Academic Leaders Who Seek to Shape Work-Life Culture
October 14, 2014
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education, a new book by Laura Koppes Bryan, dean of the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Baltimore, and Cheryl A. Wilson, associate professor and chair of UB's Klein Family School of Communications Design, provides a close look at the culture of American colleges and universities, and how life on these campuses can be improved by finding ways to create and maintain balance between work and life. The book provides concrete guidelines, recommendations, techniques and additional resources so that higher education leaders—from presidents to provosts, deans to department chairs, administrative vice presidents to office managers—can more effectively establish an environment in which the job on campus and the life beyond can function in harmony.
According to Bryan, a professor of work and organizational psychology in the Division of Applied Behavioral Sciences at the University of Baltimore and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the profession of higher education has lagged behind the modern corporate environment in implementing practices that foster diversity and a healthy work-life balance. This has led to a campus workplace that often can be unsatisfactory to many employees, including tenured professors and lifelong scholars. But Bryan and others in the field say there are signs of progress at universities across the country, especially in mission-critical segments of the operation such as teaching and research.
"As effective academic leaders, we must create and support a culture of support and excellence," Bryan says. "We can only lead when we understand and acknowledge the impact of work and life obligations and are proactive and creative in supporting our faculty and staff in meeting those obligations. A strong future for higher education depends on it."
At the University of Baltimore, work-life balance is an institutional priority.
In the book's foreword, William E. "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, says that higher education is making strides in the right direction, and points to the American Council on Education's 2013 challenge to college and university presidents to promote faculty career flexibility as an important sign of progress.
Bryan and Wilson "have provided all of academia with a valuable service: a literal 'guide'—written for administrators by administrators—to share empirical research findings, outline organizational level policies and programs, and highlight best practices," Kirwan writes. "Institutions cannot be successful today unless they have enlightened policies on work-life issues."
Bryan says that in the extensive research that went into the book, it's clear that higher education leaders require additional resources and approaches if they are to establish a reform agenda for work-life balance.
"Campuses that are recognized for their progressive work-life cultures have established infrastructures that promote and protect these policies and practices," she says. "It requires dedicated staff and administrators, and buy-in from the leadership. In general, our research confirmed that these institutions are more attractive, productive places to work. In turn, they experience more growth, higher student satisfaction, and overall better outcomes."
Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education makes the case that an effective organizational culture—whether it's on a university campus or some other type of workplace —is one in which managers and supervisors recognize that professional and personal lives are not mutually exclusive. The book outlines best practices for creating a beneficial work-life culture on campus, and documents cases of supportive department chairs and administrators.
"Creating a supportive work-life culture is part of the new competitive landscape of attracting top talent in higher education," says Robynn M. Pease, 2014 president of the College and University Work-Life-Family Association, in her review of the book. "Bryan and Wilson provide clear road maps and valuable resources for creating new structures that allow faculty, staff, and students to be productive and successful."
"Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education is an excellent, readable account of what you need to know about work-life to be an effective leader in an institution of higher education," says Carol Hoffman, associate provost and director of work/life at Columbia University.
Learn more about Shaping Work-Life Culture in Higher Education.
Learn more about authors Laura Bryan and Cheryl A. Wilson.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.