ADVANCE Adaptation: ASEE Engineering Deans Gender Equity (EDGE) Initiative

American Society For Engineering Education, Washington DC

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 American Society for Engineering Education's (ASEE's) ADVANCE Adaptation project will engage engineering deans across the country in the Engineering Deans Gender Equity (EDGE) Initiative. The EDGE Initiative leverages a pledge made by over 200 engineering deans to enhance equity and diversity in engineering started in 2015. The EDGE project will: 1) reduce institutional and system-level barriers to engineering deans' ability to advance the recruitment, retention, and professional advancement of faculty; and 2) conduct research to determine if reducing impediments promotes deans' capacity to effect positive change for faculty. The EDGE project will result in the creation of a National Gender Equity Indicators Database; and centralization and dissemination of evidence-based, faculty gender equity leadership resources and strategies. The ASEE EDGE Initiative will advance engineering deans' knowledge and understanding for making intentional, research-based changes to promote equity for faculty by addressing barriers to culture change. This work is grounded in three premises: 1) we know a great deal about engineering faculty cultures; 2) engineering faculty culture change is needed and can be accomplished; and 3) deans can provide leadership for changing engineering faculty culture. The EDGE Initiative will advance knowledge through the study of the impact of the EDGE project on engineering deans' actions. 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.