Projects

ADVANCE Partnership: Joining Forces - Project Overview

people at table in hands stacked in team supportNSF ADVANCE has been instrumental in supporting institutional practices leading to the increased representation of women in STEM. However, research suggests institutional culture and practices have not evolved to create a collaborative and supportive work environment where women scientists, mathematicians, and engineers can thrive, particularly those in the intersectionalities of women of color and women with caregiving responsibilities. To address this issue, a midwestern partnership of four research-intensive institutions, three of which have received previous ADVANCE funding, has been created. This project is funded by NSF ADVANCE Partnership Awards 1935960, 1935942, 1935932, and 1935944.

  • Rger Green and Raj Raman

    Advocates & Allies enlists male faculty in on-the-ground forms of support for equity for women faculty and women with familial responsibilities and under-represented women faculty in particular, changing the locus of responsibility from lone actors to networks that listen, learn, and act in response to identified issues.

  • Adrienne Minerick (MTU) leads the CIMC initiative
    Contributors

    Cross-Institutional Mentoring Communities (CIMC) are designed to create networks of mentoring as a robust support and feedback mechanism for assistant and associate faculty that emphasizes problem-solving for career obstacles as well as enhancing a sense of belonging.

  • Two women scientists in lab

    The Cross-Institutional Women’s Caucus is intended to foster conversations and sharing of best practices focused on issues pertaining to STEM faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion.

  • Carla Koretsky, Patty Sotirin and Gul Okudan Kremer

    Department Chair Professional Development enables participating institutions to share best practices and lessons learned in departmental leadership, with a focus on empowering chairs and change agents and on mitigating traditional barriers to the success of under-represented women faculty and women faculty of color.

  • Integrated equity support
    Contributors

    The Integrated Equity Support (IES) package refers to the use of the diversity initiatives that make up the Partnership programming in a joint fashion so that they support each other.  This integration serves to more effectively improve department climate, culture, and related outcomes in a sustainable fashion. IES develops through a systemic expansion of professional support at the faculty, department, and university levels targeted at removing barriers and biases for under-represented faculty and faculty with caregiving responsibilities.

  • Lori Wingate and Ann Burnett
    Contributors

    Program evaluation activities for the ADVANCE Midwest Partnership have three foci: 1. Evaluation of the content and implementation quality of each of the  intervention components (CIMC, A&A, and DCPD, IES Caucus); 2. Evaluation of the added benefit due to adding components of the Integrated Equity Support package for each partner location (MTU, NDSU, ISU); 3. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the IES package as a whole at the WMU test site. 

  • Dr. Monica Cox

    CICPMCs are designed to create support networks for department chairs working to enhance climate and inclusivity of diverse faculty in their departments. The networks emphasize sharing of resources and strategies via peer-discussions to support diverse faculty success and enhance sense of community and belonging.