ADVANCE Partnership: Strategic Partnership for Alignment of Community Engagement in STEM (SPACES)

尽管使用社区参与研究 (CER) 方法的研究由多个联邦机构资助，但在更广泛的 STEM 学科文化中，CER 的价值仍然被低估，并且在 STEM 教员年度审查、任期和晋升过程中，它通常被归类为“服务”。该项目认为，对 CER 的系统性低估导致了许多女性和代表性不足的种族和族裔女性 (URMWF) 教员的流失，这些教员经常进入环境工程 (EnvE) 领域，以解决重要的社会问题。 这个名为“STEM 社区参与协调的战略合作伙伴关系 (SPACES)”的 ADVANCE 合作伙伴项目将致力于增强对严谨的 CER 研究及其对 EnvE 学科和社会的价值的理解和认识，特别是由 UMWF 开展的项目。 该项目是 11 个学术机构、EnvE 学科的主要专业协会（美国环境工程师与科学家学会、美国气溶胶研究协会、环境工程与科学教授协会、水环境联合会）以及 NSF 通过国家研究实习计划重点关注 CER 的倡议的共同努力。 SPACES 将利用 SPACES 伙伴关系的优势、EnvE 中性别代表性方面取得的成果，以及 EnvE 和公共卫生领域正在进行的正义、公平、多样性和包容性 (JEDI) 举措。 该项目旨在建立一个结构模型，作为机构记分卡进行操作，这将为那些进行 CER 的教师带来更大的成功和专业进步。该记分卡将纳入影响 UMWF 环境工程领域教职人员在个人、学科和社会层面的寿命和人员流失趋势的因素。 该记分卡有潜力用于其他工程学科。项目目标是：（1）增加URMWF在EnvE中的保留和推广； (2) 改变气候和基础设施，以支持和重视 EnvE 学术界的社区参与研究； (3) 增强对 CER 研究及其对 EnvE 学科和社会的价值的理解和认识，特别是由 UMWF 进行的研究。 NSF ADVANCE 计划旨在通过重点识别和消除阻碍学术机构多元化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、实践以及组织文化和氛围中。 ADVANCE“合作伙伴”奖为学术性、非营利性高等教育机构和非学术性、非营利性组织调整和采用基于证据的策略提供支持。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。

Although research using community-engaged research (CER) methods is funding by several federal agencies, CER is still undervalued within the broader STEM discipline culture and often it is classified as “service” during STEM faculty annual review, tenure, and promotion processes. This project posits that this systemic undervaluation of CER contributes to the attrition of many faculty that identify as women and underrepresented racial and ethnic minority women (URMWF) who frequently enter Environmental Engineering (EnvE) motivated to address societally important problems. This ADVANCE Partnership project titled “Strategic Partnership for Alignment of Community Engagement in STEM (SPACES)” will work to enhance the understanding and awareness of rigorous CER research and its value to the EnvE discipline and society, especially as conducted by URMWF. This project is a collaborative effort among 11 academic institutions, EnvE discipline’s primary professional societies (American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists, American Association for Aerosol Research, Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors, Water Environment Federation) and an NSF initiative focused on CER through the National Research Traineeship program. SPACES will leverage the strength of the SPACES partnership, gains made in gender representation in EnvE, as well as the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives underway in EnvE and public health. The project aims to produce a structural model, operationalized as an institutional scorecard, that will result in greater faculty success and professional progress for those conducting CER. The scorecard will incorporate factors that shape trends related to the longevity and attrition of URMWF faculty in EnvE at the personal, disciplinary, and societal levels. The scorecard has potential to be used in other engineering disciplines. The project goals are to: (1) increase the retention and promotion of URMWF in EnvE; (2) transform the climate and infrastructure to support and value community-engaged research in the EnvE academic community; and (3) enhance understanding and awareness of CER research and its value to the EnvE discipline and society, especially as conducted by URMWF. 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 "Partnership" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic, non-profit institutions of higher education and non-academic, non-profit organizations.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.