The proposed project includes two main professional development activities designed to address specific problems for the advancement of STEM women in the University of Wisconsin (UW) system. The first will provide opportunities for STEM female postdocs from the two UW PhD granting institutions to give seminars/practice job talks at one of the eleven comprehensive institutions in the UW system. The second initiative is a horizontal mentoring program for 50 senior women broken down into nine or ten disciplinary groups of four to six members each. The goal is to advance careers, reduce isolation, and energize senior women STEM faculty. The proposal intends to use the existing structure of the Women & Science Program housed on the UWO campus to administrate the new programs.
INTELLECTUAL MERIT
Although the two initiatives are not theoretically linked they both address identified needs on the UW campuses. The Women & Science Program has existed on the UWO campus since 1996 and has consistently provided programming for STEM women in the UW system as well as helped to administer MentorNet. Key personnel have the skills and support to carry out these two activities. Both activities are adapted from highly-successful exemplars in the ADVANCE community.
BROADER IMPACTS
The evaluation and dissemination plans are well conceived which contributes to the likelihood that they will be able to make a significant contribution to the literature. Furthermore, the PI has an excellent track record of disseminating her project findings. The programming across different institution types within a state system is a model that could be easily replicated if successful.
