ADVANCE Catalyst: UCF Intersectional Self-Assessment as Catalyst for STEM Faculty Equity

本项目将研究STEM教职员工对自身目标和工作场所相关价值观（组织规定的目标和价值观）之间匹配的看法问题。该项目的重要性在于，妇女对部门和机构的赞赏和认可的看法对其工作满意度和留下来的意愿至关重要，这可能影响包容性招聘和留用。研究尚未确定女性和有色人种教师及其工作场所目标和价值观之间感知不匹配的原因，以及这与工作性质和更广泛形式的支持的不同经验之间的关系。然而，妇女的参与和成功对于满足未来国家科学和工程劳动力的需求至关重要。因此，本项目旨在通过借鉴组织公正和真实性的方法来创新地解决这些问题。虽然在其他情况下得到证明，这些理论框架还没有被应用到一个学术，跨部门的公平研究。UCF ADVANCE催化剂项目的主要目标是进行研究，通过具体确定交叉不平等的根本原因和相关的方案解决方案，为最大限度地减少不平等的战略提供信息。更具体地说，该项目将采用交叉的角度来研究STEM教师对与部门气氛和感知教师“适合”相关的问题的看法。该项目将借鉴组织公正和真实性框架，旨在通过UCF的STEM教师焦点小组获得所有STEM教师的系统定量调查数据和定性数据。调查结果将衡量教师对组织真实性和公正性的看法，确定这些看法是否以及如何在交叉方面变化（即，按性别、种族、年龄、父母身份和第一代身份分类）。然后，这些结果将被应用到可操作的项目，用于制度化的透明做法，旨在改善部门文化，教师满意度和平等，体现在一个为期五年的STEM教师公平战略计划。试点方案将包括部门气候讲习班，重点是公开，公平的部门对话，以促进包容性的气氛。此外，STEM指导教师社区将作为一个空间，讨论跨部门正在制定的做法和目标，沿着一个指导社区，以解决通过本项目的研究确定的需求。战略规划工作组和STEM Equity执行领导团队将分别为制定战略计划和监督规划过程做出贡献。研究结果将通过网站、演示文稿和同行评审的出版物与ADVANCE社区和其他人分享。NSF ADVANCE计划旨在通过重点确定和消除阻碍学术机构中不同教师充分参与和进步的组织障碍来促进性别平等。阻碍公平的组织障碍可能存在于政策、流程、做法以及组织文化和氛围中。ADVANCE Catalyst奖项为学术性、非营利性高等教育机构的机构公平评估和五年期教师公平战略计划的制定提供支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will examine the issue of STEM faculty members’ perceptions of the match between their own goals and workplace-related values (organizational stated goals and values). The importance of the project lies in the fact that women’s perceptions of departmental and institutional appreciation and recognition are critical to their job satisfaction and intent to stay, which can impact inclusive hiring and retention. Research has yet to determine the causes of perceived mismatches among women and faculty of color and their workplace goals and values, and how this relates to differing experiences in the nature of work and broader forms of support. Yet, the inclusion and success of women is vital to meeting the national science and engineering workforce needs of the future. Therefore, this project aims to innovatively address these issues by drawing from the approaches of organizational justice and authenticity. While proven in other contexts, these theoretical frameworks have yet to be applied to an academic, intersectional equity study. The primary goal for the UCF ADVANCE Catalyst project is to conduct research that will inform strategies for minimizing inequities by specifically identifying the root causes and associated programmatic solutions of intersectional inequities. More specifically, the project will adopt an intersectional perspective to examine STEM faculty members’ perceptions of issues related to departmental climate and perceived faculty “fit.” The project will draw from organizational justice and authenticity frameworks, aiming to obtain systematic quantitative survey data from all STEM faculty and qualitative data through focus groups with STEM faculty at UCF. Findings will measure faculty members’ perceptions of organizational authenticity and justice, determine if and how these perceptions vary intersectionally (i.e., by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, age, parental status, and first-generation status). These results will then be applied to actionable items for institutionalizing transparent practices that are intended to improve departmental culture, faculty satisfaction, and equality as embodied in a five-year STEM Faculty Equity Strategic Plan. Pilot programming will consist of departmental climate workshops that focus on open, equitable department dialogue to foster an inclusive climate. Additionally, STEM mentoring faculty communities will be held as a space to discuss the practices and goals being developed across departments, along with a mentoring community created to address needs identified through this project’s research. A Strategic Planning Working Group and STEM Equity Executive Leadership team will contribute to developing the strategic plan and overseeing the planning process, respectively. Findings will be shared with the ADVANCE community and others through a website, presentations, and peer-reviewed publications. 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 Catalyst awards provide support for institutional equity assessments and the development of five-year faculty equity strategic plans at an academic, non-profit institution of higher education.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.