# The Dynamics of Faculty Hiring Networks

**Authors:** Eun Lee, Aaron Clauset, Daniel B. Larremore  
**arXiv:** [2105.02949](https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.02949)  
**Date:** 2021-05-06  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2105.02949v1/

## Key points

- Faculty hiring networks shape social and epistemic inequalities in academia
- Steep hierarchies in these networks perpetuate existing disparities and hinder diversification efforts
- Understanding the mechanisms driving these patterns is crucial for promoting inclusivity and understanding scientific discoveries
- A study used adaptive rewiring network models to investigate factors contributing to hierarchy and other network characteristics in faculty hiring
- Five distinct mechanisms were used to replicate observed structures, based on institutional prestige scores
- Global placement power mechanism explains structural inequalities and centrality patterns in actual hiring networks
- Local placement power mechanism captures biased visibility within the network
- Hierarchical structures arise from a combination of global and local preferences for institutional prestige
- Institutions' positions within the hierarchy remain stable due to dynamic competition favoring more prestigious institutions
- This research provides insights into how structural mechanisms contribute to hierarchies in faculty hiring networks and influence scientific discovery and knowledge production

## Summary

In academia, faculty hiring networks play a crucial role in shaping social and epistemic inequalities. These networks often exhibit steep hierarchies, which can perpetuate existing disparities and hinder efforts to diversify the academic landscape. Understanding the mechanisms that drive these patterns is essential for promoting inclusivity and shedding light on how scientific discoveries are made. To investigate the factors contributing to hierarchy and other network characteristics in faculty hiring, a study was conducted using adaptive rewiring network models. These models aim to replicate the observed structures of real hiring networks by reinforcing institutional prestige in five distinct ways. Each mechanism determines the probability of a new hire coming from a specific institution based on that institution's prestige score, which is inferred from the existing structure of the hiring network. The findings reveal that structural inequalities and centrality patterns in actual hiring networks are best explained by a mechanism called global placement power. This mechanism dictates that new hires are drawn from particular institutions in proportion to the number of previous hires from anywhere within those institutions. On the other hand, biased visibility within the network is better captured by a mechanism known as local placement power. Under this mechanism, new hires are selected from an institution based on the number of its previous hires already present at the hiring institution. These contrasting results suggest that hierarchical structures in faculty hiring networks arise from a combination of global and local preferences for institutional prestige. It is shown that each institution's position within the hierarchy remains remarkably stable due to dynamic competition favoring more prestigious institutions. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into how structural mechanisms contribute to hierarchies in faculty hiring networks and how these dynamics influence scientific discovery and knowledge production. By understanding these dynamics, efforts can be made to address inequalities and promote diversity within academia.