Xavier ADVANCE Adaptation - Supporting Transformation: Intersectional Directions to Engender Success (STrIDES)

Xavier University Of Louisiana, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

The NSF 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 diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic and non-academic non-profit organizations. The Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) Adaptation project will implement activities to address systemic inequities contributing to XULA's lack of female STEM faculty, particularly female faculty of color. XULA will implement the Supporting Transformation: Intersectional Directions to Engender Success (XULA STrIDES) project which includes two goals: 1) Create an equitable, inclusive, and energizing climate for STEM faculty members, especially those belonging to multiple marginalized groups; and 2) Identifying and eliminating organizational barriers that impede faculty inclusion. To accomplish these goals, a Faculty Administrative Fellow for Diversity will be appointed in the office of the Provost who will monitor and coordinate diversity efforts including potential policy changes. The project will also strengthen mentoring networks on campus and bring in national experts to provide evidence-based training for search committees, administrative leaders, and faculty. XULA is a primarily undergraduate STEM-focused Historically Black College/University (HBCU). The XULA STrIDES project will implement strategies adapted from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Washington State University, Oakland University, University of California Davis, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Colorado Boulder. XULA STrIDES will contribute to the knowledge of equity in STEM by adapting these strategies to their setting and evaluating the impacts at the HBCU. XULA STrIDES will have a national impact, through dissemination and communication of project results throughout the HBCU and STEM education communities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.