Discussion :
Application of Nondiscrimination Laws to Faculty Employment Decisions
Case Scenario:
The School of Engineering at Elite University, a private, non-profit university, has four departments: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering. Although the school has tried faithfully, it has been able to recruit only one woman faculty member â?" a third-year assistant professor of aerospace engineering, Dr. Gemini. Dr. Gemini has been offered a position at a prestigious university in a nearby state at a salary that is higher than that of several associate professors in Elite Universityâ??s department of
Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Gemini has implied that she would be willing to stay at Elite University if it can match the salary offer. Matching the salary offer will virtually exhaust the schoolâ??s merit pay increase funds for the new year. However, the school has been identified by the Universityâ??s affirmative action office as a unit in which women are severely underrepresented. In fact, the school will not be permitted to hire any male tenure-track faculty until more women faculty have been hired. The school must make a decision regarding Dr. Geminiâ??s request.
Response to the following discussion question:
what decision do you think the school should make? To what extent do you think the decision is based on legal considerations or on policy considerations?