Assessing Climate at a Minority-Serving Institution

Transcription

1 Assessing Climate at a Minority-Serving Institution Zakiya Wilson, 1 Stephanie Luster-Teasley, 2 Goldie Byrd, 1 Robin Coger, 2 Maya Corneille, 1 and Anna Lee 1 1 College of Arts and Sciences and 2 College of Engineering North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

2 Contributing factors and institutional dynamics Chilly climates Sexual harassment Isolation Exclusion by male colleagues Wage disparities Delayed promotions Inequitable teaching and advisory roles Limited resource allocation for conducting research Limited visibility for awards and recognitions

3 What do we need to catalyze the transformation of our institution? What specifically are our challenges? How does institutional culture contribute to our needs for catalyzing institutional transformation?

4 a doctoral, research university Largest HBCU in UNC System; Largest in US in Colleges: Arts and Sciences, Engineering 6 Schools: Education, Nursing, Business and Economics Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Technology, and the Graduate School 10,700 Students 9 PhD programs 2 pending US News and World Reports ranked as top public HBCU in 2013 Within the UNC System, ranks 3 rd behind UNC Chapel Hill and NC State, in sponsored research funding with $52.7 million in 2014 NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) Largest producer of African American women engineers at the BS level in the nation

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6 HBCU-UP Supplemental Advancing Gender Equity and Faculty Success at North Carolina A&T State University SPONSOR: PI: Co-PI: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Goldie S. Byrd Stephanie Luster-Teasley Period: 09/ /2014 Funds: $200,000 OBJECTIVES:» Conduct an analysis of the campus climate for faculty» Increase opportunities to improve awareness about existing and improve policies that directly impact all faculty advancement» Increase the number of targeted opportunities for women in STEM and SBS to be competitive in the academy» Increase contributions to the growing body of knowledge associated with barriers, perceptions, strategies and best practices that improve gender equity and faculty success at NCA&T

7 Climate Studies Surveys» Internally designed instrument, measuring experiences of STEM and Non-STEM women and men faculty» The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE), Harvard University School of Education Focus Groups Proof-of-Concept activities and assessments of what faculty wanted for professional development

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9 Experiences of Women Faculty at NCA&T 77% Women reported that promotion from assistant to associate not a problem»women (73%) were more likely than men (59%) to know how they would be evaluated for decisions of promotion and tenure Women indicated greater ambiguity about promotion to full professor Obstacles related to promotion from Associate to Full» Difficulties in finding appropriate collaborators Difficulty in demonstrating leadership in research collaborations that have been established (chilly climates)» Heavy teaching loads» Lack of role models and a perceived lack of research prioritization Lack of access to graduate students, equipment and space Inability to obtain extramural research support

10 University Strategic Plan Position NCA&T as a national, premier research-intensive, doctoral, science and technology-focused learning institution Teaching Institution Research Institution

11 Profile of Faculty Efforts in Teaching, Research, and Service Minimum of 8 hours of instruction with 2 laboratory courses Advising of 30+ undergraduate students per semester Build and sustain a research laboratory Train teaching assistants Mentor undergraduate researchers in extramural funded programs, e.g. LS-AMP, HBCU-UP, MARC, RISE, S-STEM, etc. Serve on department, college, and university committees Peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and other published work Research dissemination and participation in professional societies Grant-writing and grants management Women (56%) more likely than men (48%) to spend majority of time on teaching and service 11

12 Findings from Climate Study Women were disproportionately advising, directing programs, supporting student organizations, and participating campus-wide committee work not necessarily RPT committees! Women more likely than men to spend their time primarily on teaching and service Men (45%) were more likely than women (25%) to teach smaller class sizes Women (39%) were more likely than men (25%) to teach 10 or more credit hours Women (65%) more likely than men (37%) to view publishing technical research as an obstacle Women (72%) less likely than men (90%) to have submitted a proposal as lead PI 14 of the 52 federal STEM grants > 100K were won by women Women indicated challenges Lack of seed funds to obtain preliminary data for grant proposals Lack of mentoring 12

13 Program Design Strategy 1.1. Increase the number of women in tenured/tenure-track faculty role» Train Search Committees in Implicit Biases» Expand the Pool of STEM/SBS Candidates Strategy 1.2. Create and empower a networked community of scholars at all professorial levels» ADVANCE IT Scholars» Professional Development Workshops» Research and Writing Skill Development Strategy 1.3. Leadership and Mentoring Symposium Strategy 2.1. Create a faculty resource center that supports research and scholarship Strategy 2.2. Prepare women for roles in academic leadership» External Leadership Development» Preparing Future Chairs (PFC) Strategy 2.3. Mentoring at the departmental level Strategy 2.4. Create a web-portal for faculty development Strategy 3 Increase the knowledge of roles of gender and gender/race intersectionality within the academy

14 ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Catalyzing Gender, Leadership, and Scholarship Equity through Institutional Change for All (Award Number: ) SPONSOR: PI: Co-PIs: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Joe Whitehead Goldie S. Byrd, Robin Coger, Stephanie Luster-Teasley, & Zakiya S. Wilson SBS Study: Maya Corneille and Anna Lee