The ADVANCE Resource and Coordination Network

The ADVANCE Resource and Coordination Network (ARC-Network), managed by the Association of Women in Science (AWIS), aims to connect scholars and practitioners committed to equity in STEM in an active and engaged stakeholder community. This project will address the need to collect, analyze, and broadly share the knowledge that has been created by the NSF ADVANCE program grantees since 2001.

The ARC-Network will become an easily accessible national resource on gender equity for faculty in STEM. The ARC-Network will facilitate the translation and adaptation of this knowledge through on-line resources and strategic meetings of stakeholders in STEM higher education.

The ARC-Network will facilitate the sharing of tools and resources, identifying opportunities for synergy with other organizations, and curating and synthesizing the body of knowledge on systemic change and gender equity. One goal is to empower the community to advance knowledge on systemic change and to adapt existing resources to their organization, department, and context.

The ARC-Network is made up of two main components: ARC-Network Research and the ARC-Network Community. As part of the ARC-Network Research, AWIS will: 1) Support Virtual Visiting Scholars who will conduct meta-analyses and analytics on key topics from the literature; 2) Organize and hold small workshops on emerging research in various topical areas to produce new research agendas and partnerships; and 3) Work toward community standards for research, evaluation, data, and metadata on STEM faculty equity and systemic change.

AWIS will build a diverse, multi-disciplinary, and cross-sector ARC-Network Community of stakeholders including STEM faculty and administrators from all types of institutions of higher education, and representatives from industry, government, and STEM professional organizations. The community will be supported by: 1) Strategic in-person meetings for scholars and practitioners; 2) A robust online platform with a rich curated resource library; and 3) Active community engagement and dissemination efforts.

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 women faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate.