The proposed ADVANCE PAID project from the Texas Engineering Experiment Station at Prairie View A&M University will create a well-designed program focused on assisting women faculty in successfully navigating and advancing through the professoriate ranks and entering into academic administration at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) in Colleges or Schools of Engineering and Technology. The multi-faceted project will offer an array of activities including professional development and leadership workshops, mentoring/networks, professional Coaches, seed grants, and a female faculty repository. Participants will be provided with customized and relevant materials aimed at promoting professional development through the academic pipeline.
Intellectual Merit. The quintessential goal of this ADVANCE PAID project is to generate a toolkit for the different stages of an academic career path and provide a new base of information regarding effective strategies and promising practices for women faculty at HBCUS. The specific objectives of the proposed project are: 1) to develop a continuum of activities that will assist women faculty in their professional development and growth while retaining them within the academic and administrative ranks at HBCUs in Colleges or Schools of Engineering and Technology, 2) to establish Professoriate Affinity Communities (PAC); 3) to explore the perspectives of key stakeholders (i.e. Deans, Department Chairs/Heads, etc.); 4) to establish communication mechanisms for life-long engagement; and 5) to disseminate Best Practices to HBCU Engineering Administrators.
Broader Impacts. The project will increase the retention and advancement of women engineering faculty at HBCUs which will provide more women and minority role models at HBCUs and potentially increase the pool of women and minority graduates at HBCUs. Also, the emphasis on women engineering administrators at HBCUs will change the institutional culture by changing the face of the decision-makers. In addition, the findings from the project will be disseminated as recommendations to HBCU administrators on best practices for advancement and retention strategies for women engineering and technology faculty at HBCUs.
The ADVANCE-PAID: Advancing Women Faculty in Engineering and Technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities project at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) received National Science Foundation funding from September 2009 through August 2014. Thorughout the duration of the project, four key activities were implemented targeting women faculty in HBCU Colleges or Schools of Engineering and Technology: (1) annual workshops held in Houston, Texas; (2) SEED Grants to support research efforts; (3) Career Coaching; and (4) Writing Group. The project conducted three workshops, and 55 women faculty from 14 HBCUs have attended at least one of the three workshops. Thirty-four of the 55 women (62%) attended at least two of the project’s workshops. The 14 HBCUs represented at the workshops were Alabama A&M University, Alcorn State University, Florida A&M University-Florida State University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Southern University, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, University of District of Columbia, and Virginia State University. The project awarded nine individual SEED Grants in 2011, four more in 2012, and one collaborative SEED Grant in 2012. The fourteen women faculty who were SEED Grant recipients represented the following nine HBCUs: Alabama A&M University, Florida A&M University-Florida State University, Hampton University, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Tuskegee University, and University of District of Columbia. The project also provided Career Coaching for eleven women faculty from the following nine HBCUs: Alabama A&M University, Florida A&M University-Florida State University, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, Tennessee State University, and University of District of Columbia. Each of these eleven women faculty participated in individual Career Coaching sessions conducted by a professional coach through regularly scheduled telephone calls over a period lasting from one year to eighteen months. Five of the Career Coaching participants also were SEED Grant recipients. The project’s Writing Group was designed to help participants do regular writing that would result in a proposal or article. The group was conducted weekly from July through October 2012. Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact: The project had a definite positive impact, both professionally and personally, on the women faculty who participated in project activities. Participants who participate in the one or more of the project activities reported being more knowledgeable, more skilled, and better equipped to navigate the academic ranks and move into administrative positions and other positions of leadership. They self reported as being more productive with their research efforts, conference presentations, and publications. They were more successful in getting external funding to support their research. They reported having a better understanding of the importance of networking and have expanded their own professional networks. They are more confident in their skills in communicating with other faculty in their departments and with their department heads or supervisors. Finally, they reported having created a better work-life balance for themselves. Additionally, some project participants emphasized that the learning opportunities provided by the project also needed to be shared with women graduate students, especially those seeking a career in academia.
