Building Bridges: The Power of the Sisterhood

搭建桥梁：姐妹情谊的力量

• 批准号: 2035273
• 负责人: Crystal Emery
• 金额: $ 4.88万
• 依托单位: URU THE RIGHT TO BE INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-10-01 至 2021-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2035273&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Building; Bridges; Power; Sisterhood

National data indicates that women from varied racial backgrounds desist from pursuing STEM careers at a higher rate than white women. Because diversity categorization often separates individuals by race and gender, women of color bear an additional discriminatory burden of this divisive effect in ways men and white women do not. Consequently, women of color face a double ration of exclusion. This project seeks to build stronger bonds between women of color and white women by addressing the elephant in the room: the lack of trust. By addressing the historical mistrust between women of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, we can develop a safe space to build trust. Mutually understood trust can then facilitate collaboration, alliances, and advocacy to come together and can translate into a critical mass of women in STEM fields.This award will support two remote conferences on fostering dialogue between white women and women of color in engineering with the ultimate goal of increased retention of women in engineering. Groups of women from regions across the US will be convened for candid and open discussions about race, gender, and other social categories and how belonging to those categories shapes their experiences. Rather than focusing on best practices or tips and tricks, this project aims to deconstruct and reimagine these kinds of workshops to push participants to confront their own biases and ignorances. This project will bring together an unprecedented mix of participants to define research questions that can be further pursued and eventually lead to deeper understanding of how women in engineering, and then STEM, can become better allies to one another and make advancement toward their own representation. As the participants in this project return to their home institutions and offices, they will be able to share key takeaways with their circles and further increase the reach of this project. The results of the Building Bridges: Power of the Sisterhood pilot program have been shared in conference papers. Scaling the project will provide a greater opportunity to share knowledge via personal interactions, future conference proceedings, and publications for greater dissemination of critical information.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.

国家数据表明，来自不同种族背景的女性放弃从事 STEM 职业的比例高于白人女性。由于多样性分类通常按种族和性别将个体分开，因此有色人种女性因这种分裂效应而承受着额外的歧视负担，而男性和白人女性则不然。因此，有色人种女性面临着双重的排斥。该项目旨在通过解决房间里的大象：缺乏信任，在有色人种女性和白人女性之间建立更牢固的联系。通过解决不同种族和民族背景的女性之间历史上的不信任问题，我们可以开辟一个建立信任的安全空间。相互理解的信任可以促进合作、联盟和倡导，并可以转化为 STEM 领域的女性数量。该奖项将支持两次远程会议，以促进工程领域白人女性和有色人种女性之间的对话，最终目标是增加工程领域女性的保留率。来自美国各地的女性团体将聚集在一起，就种族、性别和其他社会类别以及这些类别的归属如何影响她们的经历进行坦诚和公开的讨论。 该项目不是专注于最佳实践或提示和技巧，而是旨在解构和重新构想此类研讨会，以推动参与者面对自己的偏见和无知。该项目将汇集前所未有的参与者来定义可以进一步追求的研究问题，并最终导致更深入地了解工程领域的女性，然后是 STEM 领域的女性如何能够成为彼此更好的盟友，并在她们自己的代表性方面取得进步。当该项目的参与者返回其所在机构和办公室时，他们将能够与自己的圈子分享重要成果，并进一步扩大该项目的影响范围。会议论文中分享了“搭建桥梁：姐妹情谊的力量”试点计划的结果。扩大项目规模将为通过个人互动、未来会议记录和出版物分享知识提供更多机会，以更好地传播关键信息。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。