Oklahoma State University (OSU) proposes to adapt the MIZZOU ADVANCE mentoring plan in order to increase the retention and advancement of women in science and engineering. The long term goal of this is project is aimed at identifying and developing changes to university policies and practices to better serve and represent its changing academic workers in terms of gender and ethnicity. The goals of the program are to bring awareness of barriers to women?s and underrepresented groups? advancement across STEM fields. The data gathered in this effort will help to institutionalize positive changes at the university level and identify department-specific barriers in order to increase overall participation and advancement of women and minority faculty to senior and leadership ranks. Activities targeting the culture, practices and structures that impede advancement of women faculty can only be successful through the intervention of the faculty within STEM departments, who are best positioned to collaborate with university leadership to improve persistent organizational problems. Through its partnerships with regional institutions in Oklahoma, OSU plans to expand the network of institutions and individuals from other STEM underrepresented groups, such as African Americans and Native Americans, to equip them with knowledge in order to empower them to begin addressing the under representation of women in academic science and engineering.
Project activities will include (1) Mentoring and networking programs that span STEM departments, including a two-tier mentoring program to enhance career development for women and for faculty of color; (2) University-wide programs and workshops aimed at increasing career flexibility and culturally sensitive interventions; (3) Workshops for STEM faculty from OSU and regional institutions; and, (4) OSU ADVANCE website that includes best practices, research, electronic newsletter. Given OSU's partnership with a regional HBCU and three tribal colleges, this initiative will also contribute to the development of adapting these interventions to include underrepresented groups in removing barriers for women in STEM
The broader impacts of the OSU Advance Partnership are significant and wide ranging. In addition to addressing the under representation of women in senior faculty and leadership positions in STEM areas at OSU, we expect to enhance recruitment and retention of women in junior faculty positions as well. This program of actions and interventions will provide an important and tested model for wider applications in supporting and promoting the success and advancement of women in STEM fields. The scientific work force of the United States will be vitally enhanced by ensuring that women and people of color, two rapidly growing segments of the labor force, are positioned to assume positions of leadership in STEM fields at OSU and nationally. Students at OSU, both undergraduate and graduate, will be an important part of data collection and analysis. This will, in turn, both advance their academic experience and training, as well as providing them the opportunity to participate in transformational research and interventions. We are committed to ensuring the highest level of diversity in recruiting student researchers from traditionally under-represented groups. We would note that OSU has one of the largest Native American student populations in the United States in addition to other traditionally underrepresented student populations. The PI and co-PIs have worked closely with the Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program (OK-LSAMP), NABS (Native Americans in Biological Sciences), SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and similar student and professional programs.
The goal of ADVANCE OSU is to develop methods to better prepare women and other underrepresented minorities for academic careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The grant provided funding for workshops and other professional development opportunities for women and minorities who are currently in a tenure track position in science, technology, engineering or mathematics at Oklahoma State University. ADVANCE OSU programs provided information, skills development, mentoring and networking. Participation averaged 40-50 participants and 10-15 speakers per year. The ADVANCE OSU programs started by recruiting STEM faculty members into a mentoring program to assist minority faculty members become better mentors. There is a shortage of diversity in science and engineering fields and this mentoring program was designed to help retain women and other minority faculty in science and engineering careers. The mentoring program was open to both men and women from any discipline within STEM. Interested faculty members were provided training before they were matched with potential mentors and mentees. The mentoring pairs were provided with training, tools and materials developed by the Mizzou ADVANCE at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The mentoring program was designed using a cohort model, where the group was developed together, and a new cohort was recruited each year for three successive years. In addition to the mentoring program, ADVANCE OSU sponsored networking events and career developmental workshops each year on topics relating to the promotion to tenure process, gender and communication, work-life balance, and grant writing. To investigate the current perceptions about women and minorities in science and engineering, two surveys were conducted measuring faculty attitudes regarding their work environment. Findings from the 2009 survey found an interesting pattern of gender differences: women perceived there being gender issues within their department while men did not. For example, men were more likely than women to believe that the work climate for women was improving. Conversely, women were more likely to believe that women faculty members were less likely to be influential in the department, sex discrimination was a problem and faculty did not speak up when they saw discrimination. Women also thought that too few women were in any leadership positions. Findings from the 2012 survey found similar responses: women reported gender bias within their departments while men did not. Both surveys found that both men and women experienced significant mid-career burnout after being in the faculty ranks 15 years. In the final year of the grant, programming to increase diversity in the faculty ranks in engineering, math and science was developed by inviting faculty, administrators, staff and students from Langston University (a historically black college) and the following Oklahoma Tribal Colleges: College of the Muscogee Nation, Okmulgee, Oklahoma; Comanche Nation College, Lawton, Oklahoma and Pawnee Nation College, Pawnee, Oklahoma. From the findings from the climate survey and the experience of administering the mentoring program, ADVANCE OSU has influenced the development of other mentoring programs on the Oklahoma State University campus. The training and materials have been disseminated to two other campus stakeholders. Women’s Programs, housed within the Division of Institutional Diversity, is developing a mentoring program involving undergraduate students, staff, and faculty. The Women’s Leadership Academy @ OSU is sponsored by the Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ITLE), and was created to provide OSU women faculty the opportunity to obtain experiences in higher education administration through a unique mentoring program. Pairing OSU women administrators, this program is designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of the demands of higher education administration and the development of critical thinking and leadership skills necessary for effective administrators. Activities will include job shadowing, ongoing mentoring and networking opportunities for tenured women faculty. Suggestions going forward include continuing to recruit and retain a diverse faculty regardless of discipline. OSU ADVANCE demonstrates the importance of ongoing professional development for faculty. Finally, having a diverse faculty directly enhances an institution’s educational quality and better prepares its students to live and work in an increasingly global society.
