Gannon University is a private, Roman Catholic, primarily undergraduate institution. The institution, through an ADVANCE PAID award proposes to implement strategies toward developing a teaching-research-advancement network to promote the retention and advancement of women faculty in the STEM disciplines. This approach is recognized by the institution as being essential since there exists a current shift in focus from teaching centeredness to research and scholarly productivity. It is envisaged that the proposed ADVANCE interventions will serve to prevent the marginalization of women faculty from the research enterprise at a critical time in the institution?s history. There are four objectives associated with this goal that include: recruiting and retaining women faculty, advancing women faculty through the professorial ranks, preparing women faculty for leadership positions and providing training for institutional leaders about gender equity issues. To achieve these objectives, the Gannon ADVANCE PAID project will utilize dual career services, initiate research awards and institutionalize leadership development programs.
Intellectual Merit The proposed project at Gannon University adapts several successful best practices from other ADVANCE institutions in a meaningful way. As such, the expected outcomes of this project are poised to serve as a model for other institutions of similar type and with similar goals of research accomplishment. Specifically, this project presents strategies for leadership, dual career hiring and research initiation for women faculty at a moderately sized institution.
Broader Impact The Gannon University ADVANCE PAID project will use traditional means of disseminating project outcomes and successes as well as innovative means, which include, but are not limited to conference manuscripts and newsletter articles to national organizations with interests in promoting gender equity in the STEM disciplines, and a postcard campaign summarizing grant activities and outcomes. Thus, this project will not only serve to ensure the broad participation of women faculty in the STEM disciplines, but also address the needs of a cadre of institutions that remain underrepresented in the ADVANCE award portfolio.
