Dual-career hiring is an increasingly important issue for universities. A study of 9,000 faculty at 13 leading research universities found that 72% of faculty have partners who work full time (36% of whom are academic partners, making them dual-career academic couples).[1] Women academics are disproportionately impacted in dual career hiring because more academic women than men have academic spouses (particularly in science and engineering) and women are more likely than men to refuse a job offer because they have not found a suitable position for their partner.[2] One challenge faced by dual career policies is avoiding the situation in which the non-recruited partner carries a stigma of being less qualified, and (in the case of a professor) being a financial and intellectual burden on their department.[3] 

Universities that get the dual career puzzle right find this an effective tool for “stealing the talent” and highlight their previous successes as a recruitment strategy. For example, the website of the Office of the Provost at Duke University prominently emphasizes four faculty couples in a series of videos as they describe aspects of dual career /partner recruitment, work-life balance and the benefits of working at Duke.

For additional information about dual careers, see the website of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research and their report, “Dual-Career Academic Couples: What Universities Need to Know.”

Develop and Publish a Dual Career Academic Couple Hiring Protocol

Issue
Developing and publicizing a clear academic couple hiring protocol creates transparency and fairness across departments. It also can increase the speed with which departments can recruit potential candidates.  Written protocols may also help cultivate departmental reciprocity in partner hiring.[4]

Examples of Published Dual Career Policies
University of California, Berkeley [5]
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign [6]
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor [7]
 

Use Wording that Minimizes Discrimination and Stigma

Issue
Dual couple policies can minimize the stigma attached to the second hire by using language that places both partners as professional equals.  Policies should avoid terms such as “trailing spouse” and “partner placement.” An alternative term is “accompanying spouse”[8] or “accompanying partner”.

Designate an Official within the Office of the Provost with Appropriate Credibility and Influence to Help Broker Dual Career Arrangements

Issue
Brokering dual career hires is time-consuming. Placements must be sought for a wide range of accompanying partners, including professors in the department of the recruited professor, professors in other departments, research and other non-tenure track positions, partners who are professionals other than academics, and partners who are nonprofessionals. This process requires a tremendous amount of networking and information gathering, negotiating across departments, as well as time and institutional support. Adding all this to the work load of someone who already has a full time job is not an effective solution. The alternative is to appoint a professional within the Office of the Provost to handle this work as part or all of his or her workload. 

Brokers
Both Princeton University and Stanford University employ faculty members as dual career brokers who act as special assistants to the Provost (Stanford) or the Dean of Faculty (Princeton). At Princeton, the Special Assistant to the Dean of Faculty spends 25% time supporting dual-career faculty and another 25% time supporting diversity in faculty hiring.[9]
 

Provide the Official with the Resources Necessary to Cultivate Opportunities Inside and Outside of the University

Issue
A dual-career broker should have the ability to secure resources from departments and the Office of the Provost. She or he should also have the ability to develop or use existing resources such as regional Higher Education Research Consortia (HERC). The position of the broker is further strengthened by funding from the university to cover the costs of dual career hiring, typically for a set period of years, after which the receiving department is expected to pick up the cost. Administrative support will also maximize the effectiveness of the broker’s work.[10]

Bridge Funding
To facilitate dual careers, Purdue University introduced the Bridge Program in 1992 to assist couples who both want to be on the faculty. This program is run by the executive vice president for academic affairs and can provide funding if a department cannot fund a full-time position for one of the spouses or partners. The program also assists accompanying spouses or partners who are not academics with contacts in the surrounding job market and help with relocation issues.[11] 

Coordination with Local Institutions
Duke University demonstrates its commitment to dual career hiring by working with regional campuses in hiring academic couples.  If Duke has taken the primary hire, Duke agrees to pay 1/3 of the salary for the secondary hire at two local institutions (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh).  The funding lasts for several years, and the other institutions have a reciprocal agreement with Duke should they hire the primary hire.[12]