The ESCALATE program, in collaboration with the NSF-sponsored ADVANCE program at the University of Michigan, advances on two fronts, career development and climate change, by developing and implementing nine strategies to improve the advancement of women in academic science and engineering at Wayne State University. This project focuses on broad-based institutional change in sciences and engineering, departmental change in two engineering programs and career development activities for women faculty in sciences and engineering.
Infusing Institutional Climate Change: A Resource Team is formed from applicants interested in learning more about women's circumstances and strategies for institutional change, as well as willing to work for change in the campus community. The UM Theater Group will present interactive workshops to campus leaders that teach about equity in hiring and tenure processes, and about mentoring. WSU initiates and participates in a Joint Urban Presence intended to develop strategies for sharing skills known to be effective in working with urban students.
Departmental Transformation: Two engineering departments will engage in self-study and develop strategies for increasing women's numbers and advancement.
An Annual Women's Career Symposium is held where women faculty, advanced graduate students, and post-docs in the sciences and engineering meet to learn about practical solutions to everyday dilemmas, to network with others, and to guide the research team's efforts. Monthly Career Network Meetings focused on specific issues or disciplines will allow opportunities for women from UM and WSU to network. A Web Resource for Career Advancement will be developed that allows on-line networking of women faculty. Career Development Grants for women faculty in sciences and engineering provides funds to overcome barriers to career advancement, such as travel to funding agencies, childcare at conferences, and for speakers to come to the campus. Wider Horizons allows inviting women faculty and others from area colleges and universities to career network meetings, which will spread the networks of women.
Intellectual Merit: Built on a broad base of scholarship, the proposed activities remedy two central concerns: 1) that women become isolated from networks needed for success as scientists and engineers; and 2) that cultures of academic science and engineering are not aware of their impact on women and need transformation to take women's needs, interests, and desires into account. By explicitly teaching women about the range of experiences that other women report, developing strategies responsive to emerging dilemmas, and connecting women to networks where they can find support for being women and for being better scientists and engineers, the project improves women's social capital. Also, infusing change at the institutional level in hiring, evaluation, and tenure processes enhances women's chances of being hired, retained, and making lasting contributions to science and engineering.
Broader Impacts: The WSU efforts explicitly infuse information about women's circumstances into science and engineering academic settings, which integrates research and education. Through networking efforts, institutional change initiatives, and the Joint Urban Presence, this project takes seriously NSF's call for diversifying the academic science and engineering workforce. Innovative dissemination strategies and an interdisciplinary approach improve the applicability of findings to a wide range of academic communities.
