The ADVANCE Program: Promoting Women’s Careers in Science and Engineering

A National Science Foundation Institutional Transformation Award

Barbara Silver1

Leanne Mauriello2

Helen Mederer1

Lisa L. Harlow1

1University of Rhode Island1Pro-Change Behavior Systems

Presented at 2007 Annual Meeting of the New England Psychological AssociationWestern Connecticut State University, October 20, 2007

Supported in part by NSF Institutional Transformation Award SBE-0245039

Less mentoring

Burden of token status

Less access to resources

“Ideal worker” norm

Chilly work environment

Fewer social networks

Stereotyped work expectations

Fewer professional networks

Fewer collaborations

Women in STEM experience . .

Resulting in:

Isolation and exclusion

Heavier workloads

More challenges balancing work and family

“Bias avoidance” behaviors

Salary and promotion lags

Less career satisfaction

Higher attrition

More part-time, non-tenure line work

National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program

• Launched 2001• 87 awards to date (another round 2008)• > $90 million• Various levels of awards

– Institutional Transformation Grants– Fellows Awards– Leadership Grants– PAID (Partnership, Adaptation, Implementation, Dissemination)

Grants

• Expanding criteria for future awards– Broader range of institutions– Wider target population

Develop & Share a Comprehensive Understanding of the Status of Women STEM Faculty

Increase the Number of Ranked Women STEM Faculty

Advance the Careers of Women STEM Faculty

Improve Available Networks of Support, Especially for Women STEM Faculty

Promote Organizational Change in Collaboration with University Leaders

URI ADVANCE PROGRAM GOALS

Evaluation

Recruitment

Faculty Development

Work-Life-Family

Climate Change

Recruitment

Faculty Development

Work-Life Initiatives

• Faculty Fellows Program

• Supplemental Start-up Funding

• Best Search Practices Training

• Incentive “mini-grant” Fund

• Topical Lunches

• Career Workshops

• Mentoring Program

• Parental Leave Policy

• Dual Career Hiring Program

• Creation of a Work-Life-Family Center

• Lactation sites, flexible work policies, & other initiatives

Program Components

Evaluation

Climate Change• Internal Advisory Action

Council

• Department Climate Workshops

• Public Events, Workshops, Literature, Manuals, etc.

• Chairs’ Discussion Forum

• Integrated Theoretical Model for Climate Change

• Academic Work Environment Survey (pre and post)

• Benchmark Data Collection

• Program Evaluation

• Dissemination

Successes . . .

• STEM recruitment now > 50% female• Best practices for all searches• New ad language required • Formal Faculty Mentor Program• Topical Lunches to continue• Dual Career Policy approved• Incentive Fund absorbed• Paid Parental Leave Policy in place• Lactation sites approved• Work-Life Center planned• ADVANCE Center approved• Inclusion in President’s 2006-2009 Strategic Plan• Many reports of warmer climate, more support, more networking,

etc., etc.

How does change occur? The traditional model:

Top Down(Formal policy change,

administrative leadership)

Bottom Up(Individual, grass roots)

Climate Changeor

“Institutional Transformation”

Top Down

Social Interaction

Bottom Up

Recruitment Program - $$

Parental Leave Policy

Lactation site established

Mentoring Program

Joining a diversity committee

Personal endorsements or complaints

Attending workshops

Talking about equity issues with colleagues

Acknowledging all comments in meetings

Scheduling meetings when all can attend

Offering to cover classes during leaves

Inviting new woman faculty to lunch

Openly discussing family responsibilities

Collaborating on grants

Encouraging use of leave policies

3-Level Structural Model

Are administrative offices in support of adequate leave

options for parents?

Are parents using the policy openly and without fear of

negative repercussions?Do non-parents endorse the policy?

Do Chairs, HR, etc., offer information andhelp proactively?

Does a culture of coverage existamong colleagues?

PARENTAL LEAVE

INSTITUTIONAL

INDIVIDUAL

INTERACTIONAL

Appreciative Inquiry Choosing the positive as

the focus of inquiry

Transtheoretical Model

People change when they are ready to

A vehicle for change

Change at all levels

Strategies for change

3-Level Structural Model

Meeting institutions and individuals in the middle

Creating an Integrated Change Model

Successful climate change is a strategic process

• Approach change from a variety of levels– Individual

• How does this benefit me, my department? (self- and environmental re-evaluation)• Accrue large cadre of individual supporters and liaisons (self-liberation)• Increase awareness and personal connections to issues – (consciousness raising)

– Interactional• Highlight key behaviors identified by colleagues – make it personal (dramatic relief)• Ensure equity issues regularly appear on all agendas (stimulus control)• Identify subtle behavioral contributions or deterents to a healthy climate (reinforcement management)

– Institutional• Support from Leadership crucial (self- and social liberation)• Commitment of funds and policy changes

• Interact with potential change agents at their level of readiness to engage– Precontemplation & Contemplation

• Awareness building talks, lunches, workshops, meetings, literature• Stress Universal Benefits - “A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats”• Stress Pecuniary benefits - $$$, grants, retention, etc.

– Preparation & Action• Obtain and widely advertise public, formal endorsements from administration• Celebrate, reward, acknowledge all forward movement• Collect data and show results often• Secure commitments for institutional funding

– Maintenance• Ensure institutionalization – permanence of initiatives through policy change, mainstreaming of

initiatives in culture, permanent committees, etc.