Collaborative Research: AGEP ACA to Engage Leaders to Improve Diversity among STEM Faculty

NSF AGEP催化剂联盟项目正在试行一项具有广泛国家意义的制度变革战略，其重点是动员STEM领导人的参与和承诺，为STEM中历来代表性不足的博士生、博士后研究员和教职员工扩大机会。由新墨西哥大学、亚利桑那州立大学和俄勒冈大学在促进多样性方面拥有相当专业知识的领导人组成的NSF AGEP催化剂联盟团队正在扩大对这些博士生、博士后研究员和STEM领域教师面临的共同和具体挑战的了解，并为促进公平和包容的机构转型的最佳实践做出贡献。NSF AGEP催化剂联盟正在确定挑战，吸引领导者参与，制定战略计划，并整合三个合作机构之间的有效工作团队。合作伙伴是公立高等教育机构，拥有卡内基博士大学分类：非常高的研究活动，位于西部各州，并共同致力于促进具有历史上在科技企业中代表性不足的背景的人的成功。项目组在项目期间重点开展四项主要活动。首先，该小组通过调查和个别访谈，在每个伙伴机构开展机构评估研究。其次，该团队正在创建由STEM管理人员和教职员工组成的领导者参与委员会，以分析研究结果并审查国家最佳实践菜单。这些委员会正在从参与者那里产生一种买入和主人翁的感觉。第三，合作伙伴正在制定一项五年股权战略计划，其中概述了领导人参与委员会提出的改革战略。最后，该团队正在通过每周会议完善三所合作大学的项目负责人之间的合作关系，同时咨询由杰出STEM领导人组成的外部顾问委员会。改善公平和包容性对于提高STEM教师队伍、教育美国未来的STEM劳动力、培养个人机会和促进美国经济繁荣至关重要。因此，NSF AGEP计划为促进和加强支持公平和包容性的系统性因素提供赠款，从而缓解学术专业和工作场所的系统性不平等。国家科学基金会AGEP催化剂联盟设计和实施一个或多个组织自我评估(S)，以收集和分析数据，以确定影响博士生、博士后研究员和教师的不平等现象，这些学生和教职员工是历史上在STEM中代表性不足的种族和民族群体的成员。NSF AGEP催化剂联盟还试验股权战略，并制定五年股权战略计划。这些赠款为类似的高等教育机构提供资金，以产生长期体制转型所需的基础工作。最终，促进机构公平并将其纳入教师招聘、保留和晋升政策和实践中，将增加STEM中历史上代表性不足的种族和民族群体的教师数量。NSF AGEP催化剂联盟正在使用一种交叉分析来研究在STEM中历史上代表性不足的种族和族裔群体成员的经历和面临的挑战的差异。这种分析包括考察群体内部和群体之间的相似性和差异性。该团队还在调整Frank Dobbin和Alexandra Kalev的管理参与方法，以及Shelley Correll的“小赢”变革模式，以实现提高STEM教师代表多样性的目标。这些方法结合在一起将有助于项目的成功实施和成果。项目工作的内部评价将由新墨西哥州统计分析中心主任克里斯汀·德曼进行。对NSF AGEP催化剂联盟工作的外部评估将由来自Cornelius Management Group的Lynn Nordstrom领导。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliance project is piloting an institutional change strategy of broad national significance, which focuses on mobilizing STEM leader engagement and commitment to expand opportunities for doctoral students, post-doctoral research fellows, and faculty who are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM. Consisting of leaders with considerable expertise in diversity promotion at the University of New Mexico, Arizona State University and University of Oregon, this NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliance team is expanding knowledge about the shared and specific challenges facing these doctoral students, post-doctoral research fellows and faculty in STEM fields and contributing to best practices to promote equitable and inclusive institutional transformation. This NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliance is identifying challenges, engaging leaders, developing a strategic plan, and consolidating an effective working team between the three partner institutions. The partners are public institutions of higher education, have a Carnegie classification of Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity, are located in Western states, and share a commitment to advancing the success of people with backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in the science and technology enterprise. The project team focuses on four primary activities during the project period. First, the team is implementing institutional assessment studies at each partner institution through surveys and individual interviews. Second, the team is creating leader engagement committees of STEM administrators and faculty to analyze study results and review menus of national best practices. The committees are generating a sense of buy-in and ownership from participants. Third, the partners are developing a five-year equity strategic plan, which outlines change strategies suggested by the leader engagement committees. Finally, the team is refining a collaborative relationship between project leaders at the three partner universities through weekly meetings, while consulting with an external advisory board of distinguished STEM leaders.Improving equity and inclusion is critical to advancing STEM faculty, educating America’s future STEM workforce, fostering individual opportunity and contributing to a thriving U.S. economy. The NSF AGEP program, therefore, funds grants that advance and enhance the systemic factors that support equity and inclusion and, consequently, mitigate the systemic inequities in the academic profession and workplace. NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliances design and implement one or more organizational self-assessment(s) to collect and analyze data that will identify inequities affecting doctoral students, post-doctoral research fellows, and faculty who are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM. NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliances also pilot equity strategies and develop a five-year equity strategic plan. These grants fund similar institutions of higher education to generate the foundational work necessary for long-term institutional transformation. Ultimately, advancing institutional equity and inclusion in faculty hiring, retention and promotion policies and practices will increase the number of faculty who are members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM. This NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliance is using an intersectional analysis to study the variation in the experiences of and challenges faced by members of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM. This analysis includes examining within and between group similarities and differences. The team is also adapting the Frank Dobbin’s and Alexandra Kalev’s managerial engagement approach, and Shelley Correll’s “Small Wins” change model, to address the goal of improving diverse faculty representation in STEM. Together these methods will contribute to successful project implementation and outcomes. Internal evaluation of the project work will be conducted by Kristine Denman, the Director of the New Mexico Statistical Analysis Center. External assessment of this NSF AGEP Catalyst Alliance work will be led by Lynn Nordstrom from the Cornelius Management Group.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.