ADVANCE Adaptation: Targeting Equity in Access to Mentoring (TEAM)

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

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 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) ADVANCE Adaptation project is called the Targeting Equity in Access to Mentoring (TEAM). The project will promote a culture of effective and equitable mentoring programs. TEAM components include: mobilizing leadership by the Provost, training and support for deans and department chairs, training for faculty mentors, and additional programming including peer mentoring for mentees. Objectives for the project include: 1) Establish a senior-level faculty administrative position to ensure consistent mentoring implementation and accountability across the University; 2) Empower deans, chairs, and other senior leadership to establish mentoring programs in their departments; 3) Increase and improve senior faculty members' mentoring capacity by providing education and strategies; and 4) Provide cohort-based mentoring to junior and mid-career faculty. TEAM offers three key interventions that will advance current mentoring practices, drawing on work by the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) and the National Mentoring Research Network (NMRN) as well as ADVANCE projects at Oregon State University and Clemson University. The UNC project will: 1) Integrate intersectionality-informed materials into the NMRN curriculum to address the unique needs of women faculty in STEM fields; 2) Supplement formal, dyadic mentoring relationships with peer networks; and 3) Include the lived experiences and holistic well-being of women faculty in STEM fields as critical, measurable outcomes for faculty success. It is anticipated that the UNC Adaptation project will add to the knowledge base on faculty mentoring particularly mentoring targeting individuals with intersectional identities in the STEM fields. 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.