ADVANCE Partnership: Kindling Inter-university Networks for Diverse (KIND) Engineering Faculty Advancement in the California State University System

The ADVANCE Partnership project called the “Kindling Inter-university Networks for Diverse Engineering Faculty Advancement in the California State University (CSU) System project (KIND)” will bring together four CSU campuses—CSU, Fresno; CSU, Los Angeles; San Jose State University; and California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo—to establish a system-wide program to develop, deliver, and test systemic interventions that support the hiring, retention, and promotion of women in the CSU engineering professoriate. The KIND project partners with the NSF INCLUDES ASPIRE Institutional Change Network, which uses a data driven self-assessment to identify inequities in faculty recruitment, retention, and advancement to support systemic change.

The goal of this project is to bring about organizational changes to address systemic gender inequities that impact faculty on the CSU engineering faculty, particularly women from racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in science and engineering in the US (women of color), and women that were born and/or trained in science and engineering outside of the US (foreign-born/foreign-trained (FB/FT) faculty). This work is significant as it will help to understand and address systemic gender equity issues that are similar and different for FB/FT faculty and for domestic racially and ethnically diverse faculty.

The KIND project will 1) create a secured dashboard containing currently unavailable demographic data related to faculty hiring, retention, and promotion in engineering colleges across the CSU system; 2) use the dashboard to review current policies/practices to identify barriers in the recruitment and retention of women faculty with attention to faculty of color and foreign-born/foreign-trained faculty, and to propose new policies/practices, and 3) create the first CSU-wide Inter-Campus Networking and Mentoring Program for engineering faculty. This work has the potential to impact a significant number of current and future engineering students as the CSU system enrolls and trains one out of every fifteen engineering students in the U.S.

In the CSU system about 25% of engineering students are of Hispanic origin, 20% are women, and 16% are Asian. The KIND project will advance understanding of research, practices, and policies that bring about systemic changes to support equity for all diverse groups in the CSU engineering professoriate.

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 "Partnership" awards provide support for projects that scale-up evidence based systemic change strategies to enhance gender equity for STEM faculty regionally or nationally. This project is also supported by the NSF Directorate for Engineering's Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) program.

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.