AGEP EAGER: Exploring Conditions for Systemic Equity Transformation that Advance Women and Minority STEM Faculty

West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV

Investigators

Abstract

The successful post-secondary education of tomorrow's STEM workforce is improved when women and historically underrepresented minority (URM) faculty are hired and promoted in our nation's universities and colleges. While there have been increases in the diversity of academic doctoral positions, the share of women and URM faculty is considerably less than their share in the U.S. population or in the number of undergraduate students enrolled in STEM. Addressing the barriers to STEM faculty careers is accelerated when organizational change initiatives are employed in the post-secondary education setting. This exploratory proof-of-concept study is examining which approaches and which types of leaders, in which institutional contexts, are advancing university and college faculty equity projects such as those funded by the NSF's ADVANCE and Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) programs. The project team is creating a toolkit that includes diagnostic rubrics and equity leadership practices checklists that universities and colleges can use to identify pathways to successful faculty diversity initiatives. The project includes pilot testing of the tools with institutions interested in implementing equity reform on their campuses. The study results and project outcomes will enable our nation's universities and colleges to identify key leverage points for systemic equity transformation and the requisite practices, policies, and cultural changes needed for achieving campus equity goals, providing a concrete means to on-board institutions into demonstrated successful equity approaches. This award is funded by the AGEP program, which supports the development, implementation and study of models to increase the number of URM faculty in STEM and STEM education research fields. It is also funded by the NSF ADVANCE program, which provides grants to develop systemic approaches to increase the participation of women in academic STEM careers. 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.