Adaptation: Project CREST - Changing Research Experiences, Structures, and (in)Tolerance through the Adaptation of Promising Equity Practices

It is imperative that the U.S. have a thriving academic research community. Yet, women and minority faculty in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) and the social behavioral sciences (SBS) face significant barriers to their productivity, intellectual impact, and career progression. For the U.S. to remain competitive, innovative, and responsive to global needs, it is important for universities to support inclusive and equitable participation of diverse researchers. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) ADVANCE Adaptation program, named Project CREST, aims to significantly enhance the research capacity and opportunity of women faculty in STEM and SBS. Project CREST draws from proven strategies from previously funded ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Projects at Montana State University, West Virginia University, Seattle University, and Georgia Tech. The goal is to use these evidence-based strategies to build a responsive and inclusive research culture at UCCS, the largest university serving southern Colorado. Project CREST will focus on systemic reform efforts that aim to transform the culture of research at UCCS today and for the next generation of scholars. With these transformations, Project CREST aims to result in the sustained advancement of scientific knowledge, as more diverse voices contribute to the national research agenda.The specific aims of Project CREST are: 1) positively impact women’s research experiences and productivity; 2) change the research policies and evaluation structures at UCCS to support women’s research participation more fully; and 3) vigilantly mitigate biases within research spaces and processes. To advance these aims, Project CREST will focus on two initiatives that are grounded in past problem analyses and employ an intersectional approach. Initiative 1 focuses on building responsive and inclusive research infrastructure. Initiative 2 focuses on reshaping research policy, practices, and evaluation structures. Project CREST will employ sophisticated evaluation and assessment methods to make data-driven recommendations to other emerging high research activity institutions for how to mitigate research inequities that limit women’s career advancement. Project CREST provides a unique opportunity to test the replicability of existing evidence-based strategies while adapting to and addressing the short and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on women’s research. Project CREST has the potential to advance the national research agenda by including more women in the discovery of new ideas and new technologies. 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 "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic, non-profit institutions of higher education as well as 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.