As part of the process that authorizes a department to fill a faculty position at a tenured or tenure-track level, the department determines the subfield(s) that the individual will be expected to fill (both in a research and teaching capacity). Tenure-track positions at the assistant professor level are advertised nationally in journals and at national conferences. Letters may also be sent to department chairs or faculty in a particular subfield notifying them of open positions. Efforts are generally made to make the hiring process for tenure-track positions appear open and equitable. Advertisements note that the institutions follow Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) rules, and many ads specifically encourage applications by women and minorities. At this point in the process, it is very likely male and female candidates are equally aware of most positions. That is, there is not likely to be a gender-based information gap.
In addition to national advertising, however, the hiring process for tenure — track positions also involves recruiting that could result in gender differences in application rates. For example, word-of-mouth recruiting practices by faculty may generate differences by gender, intentionally or not, in information about the position available to potential applicants. Search committees may try to overcome the limitations of established networks by making special efforts to increase the number of women applying for a given position.
The recruitment process for tenured positions may differ from the process for tenure-track positions in subtle ways. Although the advertising for tenured positions frequently mirrors the advertising for tenure-track positions, it is also common for a department to formulate a list of the leading candidates, based on its view of who is doing the most interesting and important research in that particular subfield, and to ask those on the list directly if they are interested in applying.