The University of South Carolina ADVANCE IT Catalyst project will develop an institutional transformation plan to increase the representation and advancement of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)disciplines at the University of South Carolina?s flagship campus in Columbia and the regional campuses of Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter and Union. Proposed activities include establishing baseline data on the demographic distribution of STEM faculty members and academic leadership, identifying institutional obstacles to the successful recruitment and advancement of women, identifying best practices that promote gender equity with the potential to work both across the university system and at each campus, and examining causes and effects of varying gender representation in different STEM fields and subfields. Activities to build institutional buy-in by involving faculty and administrator groups during the development of our institutional transformation plan are also planned.
Intellectual Merit. This project focuses on both a quantitative and qualitative study on what women working at different kinds of institutions experience in pursuit of career advancement. This project will also contribute to the overall understanding of the similarities and differences in barriers associated with the advancement of women faculty at different types of institutions.
Broader Impacts. The results of this project could serve as a basis for other two-year academic institutions such as community and technical colleges to develop plans that lead to the professional advancement of women in academic STEM disciplines.
OVERVIEW The ADVANCE IT-Catalyst: Advancing USC STEM Faculty project was designed to identify obstacles and propose solutions related to the advancement of STEM women at the University of South Carolina (USC). Project activities focused on the faculty located on USC’s flagship campus in Columbia, South Carolina and four Regional campuses: Lancaster, Sumter, Salkehatchie and Union. Information was obtained through faculty surveys and interviews, meetings with administrators, research of peer institutions, advice from gender equity specialists and analysis of USC faculty data. INTELLECTUAL MERIT An Executive Summary and Final Report were developed to inform USC’s administration of issues identified through the project to continue to address the career needs of STEM women faculty and to maintain gender equality within STEM departments. Nine topics were identified for improvement: institutional accountability, STEM women faculty recruitment, leadership development and compensation, research, networking, mentoring, tenure and promotion, family-friendly work environment, and childcare. Also, recommendations obtained from activities associated with this project were included as suggestions for institutional transformation. BROADER IMPACTS USC has attended to issues identified during this ADVANCE IT-Catalyst project by initiating policy and procedural changes, including but not limited to the following. Tenure and Promotion documents have been revised to have more consistent wording across the university. An Exit Survey was developed to track data affecting retention. Family Friendly policies were updated to provide an Extension of Post-Tenure Review. A Lactation Support Policy provides time, space and educational information for nursing mothers. Also, soft benefits for faculty families have been enhanced to include spousal/partner career assistance and additional access to campus facilities. In addition, the Provost Office has also addressed leadership and gender equity issues identified during the project by providing professional development workshops and public lectures to train and inform administrators and faculty. Efforts are ongoing to continue to address these obstacles.
