ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award: Earth Institute of Columbia University

哥伦比亚大学（Columbia University）地球研究所（Earth Institute）的ADVANCE项目既基于对哥伦比亚大学女性地位的研究，也基于对其他地方女性在科学领域进展的研究。哥伦比亚大学ADVANCE项目的五个主要目标是：(1)通过明智的招聘实践改变女性的人口结构；(2)为女性科学家提供支持，帮助她们度过艰难的人生转变，包括照顾老人、收养或生孩子；(3)增加指导和交流机会；(4)实施透明的晋升程序和政策；(5)进行机构自我学习。这些努力的影响将由公共卫生学院的彼得·梅塞里和玛丽·克莱尔·列侬领导的评估小组确定。地球研究所ADVANCE项目解决的问题往往在地球和环境领域表现出来，比如扩展领域项目，为领导职位奠定基础，但对年轻教师来说可能很难。我们的策略是将地球研究所作为机构气候变化的试验台，然后将成功的项目适当地扩展到哥伦比亚大学的其他科学和工程部门。哥伦比亚大学的管理部门致力于改变政策，并在完成NSF拨款后支持成功的项目。地球研究所ADVANCE项目包括(a)一个自修项目，包括模仿1999年麻省理工学院研究的气候调查；(b)一个高级教师工作组，通过提供搜索、教师发展和保留方面的支持，促进招聘和保留；(c)旨在招聘和留住女科学家和工程师的内部资金竞争；(d)重点研讨会和会议。ADVANCE项目将在晨兴校区和拉蒙特校区设立办事处。通过这些和其他干预措施，地球研究所寻求在地球研究所内部建立一个科学社区，每个科学级别至少由30%的女性组成。ADVANCE计划的总体任务是通过增加女性在学术科学和工程职业中的代表性和进步来增加女性在科学和工程劳动力中的参与度。尽管在过去的几十年里，女性在理工科领域获得博士学位的人数有所增加，但女性科学家和工程师在某些科学和工程领域的代表性仍然明显不足，而且在美国的高校中，女性科学家和工程师在科学和工程领域的总体水平也相对较低。越来越多的人认识到，缺乏妇女充分参与学术高层往往是学术文化的系统性后果。这一机构转型项目通过机构实践、政策、气候和文化的转型，支持妇女充分参与各级教员和学术管理，特别是高级学术职位，从而促进国家科学和工程学术队伍的发展。该项目涉及实施一项协调的校园努力，以实现必要的制度改革，以增加受奖机构内科学、数学和工程学科的女教师的参与和晋升到高级和领导职位。在本项目完成期间和完成后，将提供、评价和传播新的知识，使学术界了解阻碍提高女教员地位的基本体制问题以及学术机构可以采取的解决这些问题的有效办法。

The Earth Institute at Columbia University's ADVANCE program is based both on a study of the status of women at Columbia and research on the progression of women in science elsewhere. The five major targets of the Columbia ADVANCE program are to (1) change the demographics of the faulty through intelligent hiring practices, (2) provide support to women scientists through difficult life transitions including elder care and adoption or birth of a child, (3) enhance mentoring and networking opportunities, (4) implement transparent promotion procedures and policies, and (5) institutional self study. The impact of these efforts will be determined by an evaluation team lead by Peter Messeri and Mary Clare Lennon of the School of Public Health. The Earth Institute ADVANCE program addresses issues that tend to manifest themselves in the earth and environmental fields, such as extended field programs, which lay the foundation for leadership positions, but which may be difficult for young faculty. The strategy is to use the Earth Institute as a test bed for institutional climate change, and then expand the successful programs to other Columbia Science and Engineering Departments, as appropriate. Columbia's administration is committed to changing policies and supporting successful programs beyond the completion of the NSF grant.Earth Institute ADVANCE programs include (a) a self study including a climate survey modeled after the 1999 MIT study, (b) a senior faculty working group that will facilitate recruitment and retention by providing support for searches, faculty development, and retention, (c) internal funding competitions designed to recruit and retain women scientists and engineers, and (d) focused workshops and conferences. The ADVANCE program will establish offices both on the Morningside and Lamont campuses. With these and other interventions, the Earth Institute seeks to create a scientific community within the Earth Institute that at each scientific level is comprised of at least 30% women.The overall mission of the ADVANCE Program is to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce through the increased representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. Despite increases in the number of doctorates earned by women in science and engineering over several decades, women scientists and engineers continue to be significantly underrepresented in some science and engineering fields and proportionately under-advanced in science and engineering in general in the Nation's colleges and universities. There is increasing recognition that the lack of women's full participation at the senior level of academe is often a systemic consequence of academic culture. This institutional transformation project contributes to the development of a national science and engineering academic workforce by supporting the full participation of women in all levels of faculty and academic administration, particularly at the senior academic ranks, through the transformation of institutional practices, policies, climate and culture. This project involves the implementation of a coordinated campus effort to achieve needed institutional transformation in order to increase the participation and advancement to senior and leadership positions of women faculty in the science, mathematics and engineering disciplines within the Awardee Institution. During and at the completion of this project, new knowledge will be made available, assessed and disseminated to inform the academic community of the fundamental institutional issues inhibiting the advancement of women faculty and of effective approaches academic institutions can implement to address such issues.