Expanding the Network of STEM Scholars through the ADVANCE Women of Color Summer Writing Retreat

Jackson State University, Jackson MS

Investigators

Abstract

The NSF ADVANCE Partnerships for Learning and Adaptation Networks - Institutions of Higher Education (PLAN-IHE) funding track is designed to expand the application of proven-successful gender-equity initiatives for STEM faculty through networked adaptation of a specific program or initiative. Careful evaluation is expected to expand understanding of such initiatives across institutions and institution types. This project will adapt the Jackson State University (JSU) ADVANCE Summer Writing Retreat (SWR) to six other minority-serving institutions. The resulting network will promote the scholarly activities of faculty women of color in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The partner institutions include: 1) Tennessee State University, a public Historically Black College and University (HBCU); 2) Tougaloo College, a private HBCU in Mississippi; 3) The University of Texas, Pan American, a public Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI); 4) Norfolk State University, a public HBCU in Virginia; 5) Winston-Salem State University, a public HBCU in North Carolina; and 6) The University of the Virgin Islands, a public HBCU. The objectives of this project are to: 1) Adapt components of the JSU ADVANCE SWR to six other minority-serving institutions; 2) Create a multi-institutional network that expands the resources that are available to faculty at the partner institutions; and 3) Develop a knowledge-building community that shares data and findings about the SWR adaptation process and the impact on scholarly productivity and career advancement. The study will also contribute to better understanding of the career-life balance challenges among women of color in STEM faculty from a variety of minority serving institutions that serve African American, Hispanic, and Caribbean students, and can help inform the ways in which universities and other agencies plan to support diverse women of color in STEM disciplines. This project will contribute a better understanding of the factors that contribute to, and those that inhibit the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women of color in STEM academic careers. Uniquely, this project focuses on women of color faculty at HBCUs and HSIs. This project will address well-documented challenges that women of color face in STEM related to scholarly productivity, publishing, securing of external grant funding, tenure, promotion into full professorships, and advancement into academic administrative leadership. The project will shed light on the ways in which writing and collaboration communities (both face-to-face and online) can be useful tools in promoting scholarly productivity and work-life balance among women of color at minority serving institutions. Through the adaptations, the objective is to learn which components of the SWR most effectively promote the participants' scholarly productivity while also giving attention to the role of scholarly identity and work-life balance in writing and research productivity among STEM faculty women of color. The Partnerships for Learning and Adaptation Networks program track supports projects that promote the adaptation and implementation of previously effective ADVANCE programs in new contexts and the testing of innovative strategies to promote the participation, success, and advancement of women in STEM academic careers. PLAN projects also contribute to the knowledge base on gender equity in STEM academic careers.