UC ADVANCE PAID: Meeting the California Challenge - Women and Underrepresented Minority Faculty in STEM

University Of California, Office Of The President, Oakland, Oakland CA

Investigators

Abstract

The University of California is one of the largest higher education systems in the country and is comprised of 10 research campuses. In an effort to address its longstanding goal of diversifying the faculty, the UC system proposes an ADVANCE PAID project to promote the recruitment, retention and advancement of women and underrepresented minority women in the STEM disciplines. Specifically, this project will critically analyze key stages of the search and selection process as a means of informing system-wide decisions regarding women STEM candidates. This project will also support biennial meetings of faculty and administrators from all ten campuses to participate in roundtable discussions on various topics including, but not limited to cross-campus mentoring, incentives for diversity in hiring and assessment of institutional climate for Latina STEM faculty. The partnering of the UC campuses provides an ideal opportunity for assessing impact on underrepresented minority women who, at individual campuses, may be too few in number to report. Intellectual Merit This proposal is submitted from the central administration office of the UC system. The goal of this project is to analyze the search process across the 10-campus UC system. Additionally, beyond the analysis of search data, the project will host biennial roundtables for faculty and administrators that cover a range of topics including rewarding diversity hiring, mentoring, data development and building capacity. Broader Impact The UC Oakland ADVANCE PAID project includes the ten campuses within its higher education system. To that end, the project will impact nearly 10,000 members of faculty. Additionally, the proposed project will implement strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of Latina STEM faculty. As such, UC Oakland has the potential to enhance the representation in the academic STEM disciplines of women faculty and special populations of women faculty in a meaningful way. This project may also serve as a model for all institutions of higher education with similar interests in targeting women of color.