ADVANCE IT Start Award: Women of Western Washington University

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The College of Sciences and Technology at Western Washington University will undertake a comprehensive assessment of systemic institutional factors affecting recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in STEM disciplines. The project will conduct: a campus climate assessment; an analysis of hiring trends for women and minorities; a detailed retention study; an analysis of tenure and promotion outcomes; an examination of offers, including start-up packages; and a review of workload. After reviewing ?best practices? (including those at ADVANCE institutions) and policies, it will identify those that would lead to the most effective outcomes for this institution. Partnerships will be developed with institutions graduating large numbers of women and minority students who could be potential Western applicants, and pilot programs will be conducted including dissemination of information collected by the project. This work will inform Western?s subsequent development of an institutional transformation plan. Intellectual Merit: Much of the current data and knowledge on effective institutional ?best practices? to enhance retention, recruitment and advancement of women in STEM disciplines has emanated from Research 1 institutions. However, comprehensive institutions also employ a large number of faculty in these disciplines and play a critical role in this endeavor. Western, positioned well for such a project, has undertaken significant initiatives in promoting equity and advancement for women. With its Start award, Western will focus on precisely understanding institutional needs at and best practices appropriate for comprehensive universities. This will ?add value? to the body of knowledge that has already been produced by ADVANCE projects.Broader Impacts: This undertaking will have a positive impact on the greater university. Results from the two-year project may serve as a model for other comprehensives or even community colleges that share some of the same characteristics. Most importantly, institutional transformation that will eventually result from this project will enhance women?s representation and advancement in STEM disciplines at comprehensives.