ADVANCE Adaptation: Project SAGES: Striving to Achieve Gender Equity in STEM

The University at Albany is a doctoral institution with a strong commitment to research excellence. It boasts a highly diverse undergraduate population and strives to excel as a diverse and inclusive campus community; yet, women and women of color are underrepresented in the faculty ranks of STEM departments. The goal of Project SAGES is to create an environment in which women of all backgrounds and identities can thrive and develop their careers to their fullest potential.

To accomplish this goal, Project SAGES seeks to increase the number of women scientists in STEM fields through proactive recruitment and unbiased hiring procedures and retain them by creating a climate and culture in which women feel supported, thrive, and advance in their careers from assistant to associate to full professor.

The aims of Project SAGES are threefold: Aim 1 seeks to increase the diversity of applicant pools for faculty searches in STEM through a postdoctoral visitation program to identify competitive candidates for job vacancies and by education of search committees and decision makers on inclusive, unbiased search processes. To promote diverse applicant pools, search chairs will receive real-time feedback about pools to permit proactive measures if diversity does not meet national norms for the field.

Aim 2 seeks to improve the campus climate by subtly shifting departmental norms and cultures. Departmental interventions will comprise awareness training for chairs, the formation of department climate committees, and ally training for men and women, all with the goal of creating a more inclusive environment. In addition, consistent and transparent policies and procedures will be implemented that meet the needs of a diverse faculty.

Aim 3 seeks to support women’s research success. A networking program for women faculty and women of color and a pilot funding program will allow women in STEM to build collaborative research teams. Additional support is provided with a novel external sponsor program in which female assistant professors are paired with a prominent expert from another university who will provide ongoing guidance on best strategies for networking, funding, publishing, and achieving tenure.

Through these interventions, Project SAGES aims to bring about sustained institutional transformation at the University at Albany with the goal of achieving inclusive excellence in STEM that better reflects the university’s highly diverse student body. The interventions will lead to a more nurturing and family-friendly environment for women scientists of diverse identities and maximize their success through comprehensive professional support structures and an equitable tenure and promotion process.

Outcomes from Project SAGES will be disseminated through multiple outlets including a website. 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.