ADVANCE Institutional Transformation at Clemson University

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

The ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of women faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in areas such as policy, practice, culture, and organizational climate. The ADVANCE Institutional Transformation (ADVANCE-IT) track supports the development of innovative organizational change strategies within an institution of higher education to enhance gender equity in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. Clemson University will implement TIGERS ADVANCE (Transforming the Institution through Gender Equity, Retention, and Support): a set of policy changes, procedural innovations, and institutional programs to improve the representation and status of women in STEM at Clemson. TIGERS ADVANCE has five goals: (a) transform the culture and improve the campus climate, (b) increase the representation of women in STEM disciplines, (c) ensure equitable workload distribution, (d) enhance faculty mentoring and leadership development, and (e) implement family-friendly policies. The social science research project embedded in the project will focus on chairs' decision making related to service assignments and workload among faculty. Clemson University's ADVANCE-IT project is grounded in organizational identity theory. This is an innovative approach that envisions fostering individual identification with the university by creating the conditions for fair treatment of and improved institutional support for all faculty. Clemson is the leading STEM education institution in South Carolina, and will work through a regional network of institutions of higher education to communicate findings, provide policy recommendations, and share best practices to ensure recruitment, advancement, and retention of STEM women faculty.