ADVANCE Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

ADVANCE

Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers

A Cross-Foundation Program at

the National Science FoundationSlide2

Departure from prior programs with goals related to increasing numbers of women in academics (1980 to 2000)

Starting with passage of Science & Technology Equal Opportunities Act of 1980Visiting Professorships for Women in Science and Engineering (1982-1997)Research Planning Grants and Career Advancement Grants for Women Scientists and Engineers (1986-1998)Faculty Grants for Women Scientists and Engineers (1990-1991)Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (1997-2000)ADVANCE Fellowships (2001-2003)ADVANCE Institutional Transformation track represented a switch to a focus on the organizations within which academic careers are experienced – fix institutions of higher education rather than fix womenADVANCE Institutional Transformation (2001-present)

The ADVANCE ModelSlide3

To develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic STEM

careersTo contribute to and inform the knowledge base on gender equity in academic environmentsTo create positive and sustainable change in academic climatesADVANCE GoalsSlide4

Innovative systemic organizational approaches that include all STEM disciplines and are institution-wide designed to increase the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers.

All faculty, tenure and non-tenure can be includedProjects targeting the intersectionality of gender and race, ethnicity, disability, and LGBTQ are encouragedAll faculty and administrators – men and women should be involved in the project activitiesProposed activities must be based on and justified by:The institution’s data and identified issues in academic career outcomes at your institution; andThe relevant research on organizational change and barriers to participation and advancement in STEM academics. All projects must include an original research

component related to the project design and

goals.

Up to 5 year projects with appropriate budgets for the proposed scope

Institutional Transformation (IT)Slide5

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Institutional Transformation (IT)Baseline data is critical in an IT proposal.Numbers of faculty at various ranks in each department.Search and hiring data.Start up packages and salaries.Promotion and tenure data.National pool data.The data to be included in the proposal will depend on the types of activities that are proposed.

The IT data toolkit:

http://www.nmsu.edu/~advprog/data%20&%20toolkit.htm

Can

help identify important

baseline data to include in an IT proposal.

Developed

for reporting purposes by NMSU and other IT grantees.

Note that the

toolkit may not include all the data that should be included in

your

proposal.Slide6

Examples of IT Activities

Reviewing and revising policies such as recruitment, retention, career flexibility, promotion and tenureDeveloping work/life programs such as dual career hiring programsEstablishing, revising, formalizing mentoring programs for faculty at all career stages

Providing professional development opportunities for faculty

Training for departmental leaders and members of P&T and search committees

Conducting climate surveys and other data collection and analysis

Conducting related social science researchSlide7

How significant will the contribution of the study of the proposed innovative components and other IT activities be to

the institutional transformation knowledge base?How strong are the indicators of institutional readiness for institutional transformation and commitment to the project activities and goals?How well are the proposed activities linked to the institutional context and data?How well is the relevant literature (from evaluation, education, behavioral, social and economic sciences, as appropriate) inform the design of the proposed innovative components and other IT activities?If women from special populations are included, how likely are the proposed activities to target their unique circumstances?Are mechanisms planned that ensure long-term sustainability beyond the duration of the funded project?Is the current proposal devoid of significant budgetary overlap with previous ADVANCE PAID or PLAN funding (if applicable)?IT Additional Review CriteriaSlide8

Assessment activities to document and understand institutional problems and the development and implementation of strategies adapted from other ADVANCE projects or other effective strategies

Examples of project activities:Climate surveys to establish baseline dataData collection and analysisPlanning meetings with stakeholdersSite visits and research to identity potential strategiesLimited to institutions that are eligible for Title III and V of HEA funds from U.S. Dept of EdMostly MSIs, predominantly undergraduate institutions, and community collegesUp to 3 years and up to $250,000 total

IT-Catalyst ProjectsSlide9

Examples of IT-Catalyst Activities

Collection and analysis of baseline dataClimate surveys

Planning meetings with stakeholders

Training and development of proposal team

Reviewing social science literature and current IT site strategies

Site visits to exemplar institutions

Consulting experts on gender equity and organizational changeSlide10

ITC Additional Review Criteria

How strong are the indicators of institutional commitment to the project activities and goals?If women from special populations are included, how likely are the proposed activities to target their unique circumstances?How likely is this project to catalyze sustained institutional transformation at the institution?Are mechanisms and strategies included that ensure long-term sustainability beyond the duration of the funded project?Slide11

ADVANCE PLAN Track

Partnerships for Learning and Adaptation Networks:Adapt strategies that have evidence of effectiveness from the literature or from previous ADVANCE to enhance gender equity in STEM academics.Learn from the implementation in new contexts to determine what works, why, in what context(s), and for what populations.Networks are the proposed community of adaptors of the activity.PLAN D proposals focus on one

STEM discipline

Professional societies are eligible to participate as partners

PLAN IHE proposals focus on IHEs

Can focus on one discipline, subset of STEM, or all STEM disciplines

Up

to five years

up

to $750,000

total

Another PLAN competition is anticipated for 2016

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How well did the proposer demonstrate the effectiveness and/or lessons learned of the strategies and methods chosen

to be adapted?How well did the proposer establish the significance of adapting the strategies and methods to the proposed context(s)?How well did the relevant literature (from evaluation, education, behavioral, social and economic sciences, as appropriate) inform the design of the PLAN activity and knowledge-building?If women from special populations are included, how likely are the proposed activities to target their unique circumstances?Are mechanisms planned and explained that ensure long-term sustainability beyond the duration of the funded project?Are the resources maximally shared between/among partnering institutions?Is there adequate representation of all partner institutions in the leadership of the project?Is adequate attention paid to the unique institutional characteristics of all partner institutions; are these nuances addressed in the proposed strategies to be implemented?Is there balance between the adaptation and learning components to maximize the potential for adding to the knowledge base?

For PLAN D proposals, what is the likelihood of replication with other disciplines?

PLAN Additional Review CriteriaSlide13

Required Letters of Intent (LOI)

IT-Catalyst Due Date: October 5, 2015IT Due Date: November 5, 2015

Project Title

Synopsis -

Description

of proposed project (2,500 characters

max)

Other Comments

(2,500 characters max)

List of senior project personnel and proposed roles for each

List of partner institutions and organizations and description of involvement

Other information such as known conflicts and areas

of specialized

expertise pertinent for the review process can also be included

.

IT Catalyst Letters of Intent:

must

include a statement certifying that the submitting institution is in compliance with

organizational limits

Contact Information for:

Point of Contact (and an alternate) for NSF inquiries

PI for the projectSlide14

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Critical Components of ADVANCE ProposalsIT projects must include innovative components. Leadership commitment to the activities to be conducted and the personnel to be involved.Social science expertise is involved in developing the proposal and in the leadership team once funded.Includes a plan for formative and summative evaluation, including external evaluation Adequate management plan for implementationSlide15

Key Components of Successful Proposals

Understanding of the Problem

Leadership Commitment

Familiarity w/Prior

ADVANCE awards

Leadership Expertise

IT

x

x

x

x

ITC

x

x

x

x

Description of the institutional context

Basic faculty data

Issues for faculty to be addressed

Potential goals for future IT project (ITC only)

Activities consistent with

Institutional context

Project goals

Conceptual framework

Leadership team capabilities

Demonstrated commitment from

leadership (president, provost) to ADVANCE project and personnel to be involved.

Familiarity with strategies of

earlier ADVANCE awardees and relevant literature

Team with appropriate

mix of expertise

Junior and senior faculty involvement

Involvement of key administrative decision makers

Social science expertise involved in design and implementationSlide16

Key Components of Successful Proposals

Realistic Plans

Evaluation

Plan

Data

IT

x

x

x

ITC

x

x

x

Realistic

timeline, management plan, budget

Plan for formative

and summative evaluations (at minimum)

Most IT projects include internal and external evaluation components

See Online Evaluation Resource Library

See ADVANCE Evaluation Toolkit

Baseline data critical for IT

#

of faculty at professorial rank, academic department

Search/hiring data

Start-up package data

Promotion/tenure data

Understanding

of types of data to be collected

Relevant data on special populations, if proposed

See ADVANCE Indicators ToolkitSlide17

Innovation

Need for SupportIT

x

ITC

x

Convince

reviewers and NSF that project is innovative and important

Develop/study new transformational strategy

Provide unique contribution to understanding transformation, i.e.,

Different institution type

Different populations

Contribute to knowledge base on women in S&E careers

Strong social science research component (5 page supplement)

Convincing argument of

historical lack of resources

Key Components of Successful ProposalsSlide18

Common Problems in Proposals

DescriptionIT

ITC

Inadequate description of the roles and responsibilities of various members of the leadership team and other personnel.

x

x

A plan to develop materials and activities without using relevant existing resources.

x

x

Leadership team that is not sufficiently broad for the kinds of activities and goals proposed.

x

x

Underestimation of the time and human resources to set up and maintain an ADVANCE project.

x

x

No,

or inappropriate, data provided in the proposal

x

x

Not using/exceeding

fifteen page limitation

x

x

Lack of cohesiveness between social science

research and ADVANCE activities

x

Lack of an innovative dimension with a strong proposal to study the innovation.

xSlide19

Supplementary Documents

Letters of Commitment from key administrators Not letters of supportPostdoctoral mentoring plan NSF required if a postdoc is supported by project fundsData management plan (NSF required)External evaluator’s CV(s)

IT only

- five-page description of social science research:

the disciplinary and conceptual framework for the study;

a discussion of the theory and hypotheses grounding the research;

the proposed methods to test the hypotheses;

the expected findings; and

to what extent the results and data will be disaggregated for multiple characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, foreign-born or foreign-trained, in addition to gender. Slide20

Projects involving research with human subjects must ensure that subjects are protected from research risks in conformance with the relevant federal policy known as the Common Rule (

Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 690)All projects involving human subjects must either (1) have approval from the organization's Institutional Review Board (IRB) before

issuance of an NSF award or,

(2) must affirm that the IRB has declared the research exempt from IRB review, in accordance with the applicable subsection, as established in section 101(b) of the Common Rule.

Human Subjects ResearchSlide21

NSF ADVANCE Program web page

http://www.nsf.gov/ADVANCE ADVANCE Web Portal for access to materialshttp://www.portal.advance.vt.edu/Program Office – ADVANCE@nsf.gov Jessie DeAro – jdearo@nsf.gov Cynthia Douglas – cdouglas@nsf.gov

Learn More About ADVANCESlide22

Equitable Career Support For Individuals

Mentoring, leadership development, network development, research supportEmpowerment of Individuals & LeadersTools and resources to improve decision making, knowledge of social science research on barriers to gender equityImprovement of Institutional StructuresSystematic data collection, reviewing and revising policy, accountability mechanisms

Work Life Support Policies

Dual career hiring, flexible career policies, dependent care leave policies

Organizational Strategies that WorkSlide23

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Equitable Career SupportStrategiesEstablish formal mentoring structures and provide recognition of service for time and effort of mentorsDevelop mechanisms to recognize professional excellence of both female and male facultyProvide workshops, training, and coaching on the tenure and promotion processes to all facultyImplement leadership development, career coaching and network building programs Slide24

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EmpowermentStrategiesProvide tools and resources to address the gender equity barriers to faculty, department leaders, and institutional administratorsProvide training on effective strategies to reduce the stressors that result in a greater reliance on implicit biases when making decisions, especially in search committees and promotion and tenure committeesSlide25

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Institutional StructureStrategiesReview, revise, and increase the transparency and effective implementation of policies and procedures (particularly recruitment, promotion and tenure policies)Develop systematic and recurring institutional data collection and reporting of faculty data and climate surveys, disaggregated by demographics and rank for use in decision-makingIncorporate equity and diversity responsibilities and accountability into institution-wide administrative positions, departmental leadership, as well as faculty to ensure equitable distribution of resources, responsibilities, and commitmentSlide26

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Work-Life SupportStrategiesImplement flexible career policies that address the needs identified by the facultyDevelop career and life transition support programsEstablish dual-career hiring programs tailored to the institution and regionEncourage department and institutional flexibility and support for dependent-care responsibilitiesCreate institutional and departmental climates that encourage faculty to take advantage of work-life programs and ensure that there are no negative impacts on a faculty member’s career for participating in the programs