MIT, in collaboration with 35 higher education institutions and affiliated teaching hospitals, including 12 of the region's largest employers, has announced the launch of the New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (New England HERC).
New England HERC's web site, www.newenglandherc.org, is a free database of all job openings at member institutions. Opening with more than 3,000 job openings for faculty, staff and hospital personnel, the site also includes relocation resources, making it one of the most comprehensive dual-career resources available.
Dual-career couples are becoming a dominant trend in academia; studies have shown that 80 percent of faculty members have spouses or partners who are working professionals. Thirty-five percent of male faculty and 40 percent of female faculty are partnered with scholars who are faculty members.
Lotte Bailyn, professor of management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-director of the MIT Workplace Center, described the HERC search engine and site as an innovative way to address recruitment challenges that arise as couples, both working in academia, seek jobs for themselves and daycare and school information for their children.
"Historically, universities have competed with each other for top talent. The reality is that as a region, we are much stronger if we work together to address these recruitment challenges," Bailyn said.
The HERC search engine includes listings for all jobs, both faculty and staff, at all 35 member institutions; it is available at no charge to anyone seeking employment in higher education.
"As many deans who work on these issues at institutions throughout the country would say, we're no longer recruiting individuals, we're recruiting families. When university recruitment efforts fail, the spouse's situation is the most often-cited reason," said Evelynn Hammonds, senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity at Harvard University, the host institution for New England HERC.
"By responding to the needs of couples in which both partners are highly qualified academic professionals, HERC will help support diversity in faculty recruiting," Hammonds said.
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In addition to MIT and Harvard University, area HERC members include Babson��College, Bentley College, Berklee College of Music, Beth��Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston College, Boston University, Brigham and��Women's��Hospital, Brown University,��Children's Hospital Boston, ��Clark University, Colleges of the Fenway, Dartmouth College, Emerson College, Fitchburg State College, Keene State College, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Merrimack College, Middlesex Community College, Mount Wachusett Community College, Northeastern University,��Suffolk University, Tufts University, University of Vermont, University of Massachusetts at Boston, ��Wellesley College, Wheaton College, Worcester State College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 18, 2006 (download PDF).
