Last summer, 91制片厂 received a three-year, $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to increase the number of women, particularly women of color, in STEM disciplines at the University. The project, entitled Re-envisioning Inclusive and Sustainable Excellence (RISE): Advancing Women in STEM at 91制片厂, explores barriers women faculty face in seeking tenure and promotion and has three goals:
- Increase the recruitment and hiring of women, particularly women of color, STEM faculty;
- Increase the tenure and promotion of women, particularly women of color, STEM faculty;
- Improve departmental climate to enhance inclusivity.
The grant recognizes the importance of the intersectionality of race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability and age in shaping social inequalities and focuses on the intersections of gender, race and international status to explore the experiences of women in STEM on our campus. The results of the grant, the lessons learned and the activities developed to improve the experiences of women in STEM on 91制片厂鈥檚 campus can be subsequently employed by other disciplines and colleges in the future.
Over the last year PI Austin Agho (Chief Integration Officer and Advisor to the President) and co-PIs Annette Finley-Croswhite (Academic Affairs and Arts and Letters), Shanda Jenkins (Academic Affairs), Vukica Jovanovic (Engineering) and Stacie Ringleb (Engineering) have confronted challenges common in the startup phase of many grants.
Staff changes and retirements required new faculty to be identified to lead the work. Holly Gaff, professor and chair of Biological Sciences, and Yvette Pearson, vice provost for Faculty Affairs and Strategic Initiatives, agreed to join the RISE team.
In December, Mahfoudha Sid鈥橢lemine was recruited as program coordinator. A 2023 Ph.D. recipient in International Studies at 91制片厂, Sid鈥橢lemine was born and raised in the country of Mauritania and said that she is the first woman in her country to ever receive a Ph.D.
Other aspects of the grant required further expansion of the team. One of the critical activities associated with increasing the tenure and promotion of women includes establishing 鈥淟aunch Teams鈥 in each of the four STEM colleges included in the grant: Sciences, Engineering, Business and Arts and Letters. The National Science Foundation determined that two disciplines in the Strome College of Business, Information Technology & Decision Sciences and Economics, and two disciplines in the Batten College of Arts and Letters, Sociology and Criminal Justice and Geography, fit their criteria as STEM disciplines.
Launch Team Coordinators were identified in each of the four colleges: Wayne Hynes in Sciences, Stacie Ringleb in Engineering, Soo-Hoon Lee in Business and Kristian Petersen in Arts and Letters. In the coming year, they will develop onboarding initiatives designed to help first-year tenure track faculty members thrive from the very beginning of their careers at 91制片厂. Similarly, Equity Advisors were established to work with co-PI Shanda Jenkins, director of the Office of Faculty Diversity and Retention. They are Dan Barshis (Sciences), Carol Considine (Engineering), Hua Liu (Geography) and Vanessa Panfil (Sociology and Criminal Justice). Equity Advisors will work with the PI and co-PIs on improving departmental climate to enhance inclusivity.听
Much of the first year was devoted to obtaining Institutional Review Board approval for a climate survey. Once approved, the survey was deployed to nearly 300 STEM faculty in April and will be launched again in the fall. 91制片厂鈥檚 internal evaluator on the grant, Joe Brobst with 91制片厂鈥檚 Center for Educational Partnerships, helped assess the data. In addition, the external evaluator, Sue Giancola from the University of Delaware sent a representative to campus to meet with deans, chairs and faculty to better understand the experience of women STEM faculty on our campus. Along with the 2023 Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) data, new data offered takeaways that will be used to design conversations, strategies and interventions.
The RISE team of PI, co-PIs and Program Coordinator Sid鈥橢lemine attended the 2024 ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, where they met the RISE External Advisory Board members. Board members will travel to 91制片厂 in September to discuss progress on the grant and offer advice to prepare for the second year.
The grant also has a Steering Committee inclusive of the PI, co-PIs, Gaff, Pearson, and Brobst along with Khan Iftekharuddin (Engineering) and Barbara Hargrave (Sciences). In addition, the deans and interim dean of the four colleges, Dean Gail Dodge (Sciences) Dean Jeff Fergus (Engineering), Dean Laura Delbrugge (Arts and Letters) and Interim Dean Erika Marsillac (Business) are briefed on the grant goals and activities and will join monthly meetings with the PI and co-PIs beginning this fall.
PI Agho is enthusiastic about the progress made thus far on the grant work. "Increasing the representation and advancement of women, particularly women of color, in STEM disciplines at 91制片厂 will not only increase diversity among the faculty and create greater gender equity on campus but will also contribute to a more diverse workforce in our nation,鈥 he said.
"I鈥檓 excited about moving into year two of the grant and look forward to tangible outcomes.鈥
For more information about the RISE at 91制片厂, visit their website.
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