ADVANCE Adaptation: Creating a Destination of Choice at Missouri University of Science & Technology

The Missouri University of Science & Technology (S&T) ADVANCE Adaptation project aims to increase the representation of women, especially women from underrepresented racial-ethnic groups, across faculty ranks and leadership positions at Missouri S&T. The university’s considerable output of engineering graduates influences the diversity of the national engineering workforce.

Increasing the representation of women faculty at Missouri S&T has the potential to transform what it means to become an engineer to citizens in the region and make Missouri S&T a true destination of choice for all. The specific goals of the project are to address underlying barriers to women’s recruitment and advancement identified in a self-study, namely: (1) cultivate an inclusive climate, (2) interrupt and address gender bias, and (3) facilitate equitable access to and distribution of resources and opportunities.

The project aims to achieve these goals by adapting evidence-based strategies from prior ADVANCE projects to the unique STEM-focused and rural context of Missouri S&T. It will apply an intersectional lens by adapting activities and measuring outcomes in ways that consider the gender, race-ethnicity, and rank of program participants and beneficiaries.

These adaptions will allow tests of the generalizability of prior ADVANCE strategies to unique contexts and diverse identities.

The Missouri University of Science & Technology (S&T) ADVANCE Adaptation project will adapt three primary evidence-based strategies from prior ADVANCE projects to achieve its goals. The first strategy is to provide education and leadership development to engage current and aspiring leaders as equity-minded cultural change agents. Approaches to execute this strategy includes: implementing a distinguished lecture series with nationally recognized experts in diversity, climate, and gender issues; revising bias training for search committees; providing leadership workshops to equip campus leaders with knowledge and tools for cultivating inclusive climates and improving equity; and giving mentoring workshops for mid-career faculty.

The second strategy is to provide targeted support to individual units through Department Enhancement Grants. These grants will empower departments to develop their own strategies to address equity-related problems of their own choosing while receiving support, consultation, and resources to do so effectively. The third strategy is to transform institutional structures, policies, and practices, emphasizing accountability.

This strategy will be achieved by: implementing a Faculty Fellows program that provides aspiring leaders administrative placements to work on projects that will develop and enhance campus policies and resources; infusing accountability into leadership practices; reviewing and revising promotion, tenure, and workload policies; and creating an Ombud position in the Provost’s Office to amplify faculty concerns. The project is expected to improve climate, change key policies and practices, and ultimately improve women faculty representation, experiences, and outcomes, especially women from historically underrepresented racial-ethnic groups.

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 institution 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.