NSF ADVANCE Catalyst: Equity in STEM at Miami University

This NSF ADVANCE Catalyst Award to Miami University, Equity in STEM at Miami University (ESTEAM), will support data collection and self-assessment to identify systemic inequities that impact STEM faculty related to gender, race, and international status. These inequities may be magnified during times of crisis, like the COVID- 19 pandemic. Miami University is an R2 public liberal arts university located on three local campuses in Hamilton, Middletown, and Oxford, Ohio. These campuses work to enhance the socio-economic, cultural, and racial diversity of the student body-something that benefits from diverse faculty. While Miami creates a vibrant learning community for students, the expectation for Miami faculty to be both exemplary teachers and research scholars creates demands on faculty that can lead to burnout. These demands may disproportionately impact faculty equity on the basis and intersectionality of gender, race, and international status. This project aims to identify and evaluate stressors both quantitatively and qualitatively through examination of institutional data on hiring and salaries; on institutional policies and practices on hiring, promotion and tenure, parental and family leaves, and research leaves; and on institutional tools used to evaluate teaching and research successes. Also, this project will evaluate how inequities may have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goals of this project are 1) to lay the foundation for strategic recruitment and retention of faculty across gender, race, and international status by identifying barriers and structural impediments that impact STEM diversity, and 2) to set the stage for institutional transformation beyond the grant period to reduce inequities that hinder these groups of faculty during and outside of a global crisis. The research team will examine institutional data, and conduct surveys and in-person interviews. The results of this assessment aim to help reshape policies that will support retention and recruitment of diverse faculty. The data acquired in this study will be reported using multi-media methods, including technical peer-reviewed journal articles; conference presentations; and an ESTEAM website. STEM faculty at Miami will have opportunities to be involved in two programs initiated by this project: 1) An ESTEAM Faculty Learning Community that will review and discuss literature on equity in higher education, identify potential solutions for successful recruiting, retention, and promotion of diverse faculty, and develop ESTEAM Presentation Modules on STEM-diversity that can be shared with administrators, faculty, and students; and 2) a "STEM-Equity" mentoring program, which will aim to improve the climate for all STEM faculty. Results from this mentorship approach will be documented and distributed to other universities through the university's ESTEAM website and through scholarly work.

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 "Catalyst" awards provide support for institutional equity assessments and the development of five-year faculty equity strategic plans at academic, non-profit institutions of higher education.

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.