T Lee Gilman, Ph.D. - US grants

Counting is a powerful tool for achieving gender equity because it: (1) motivates organizational change; (2) dispels myths that “gender bias doesn’t happen here”; (3) identifies institutional change targets; (4) creates accountability; and (5) documents the efficacy of change efforts. Our goal is to build upon previous ADVANCE initiatives by transparently quantifying self-identified intersecting gender and racial/ethnic identities (IGRE identities) to track STEM women faculty’s retention and promotion at Kent State University (KSU). Women complete more high-workload/low-status service tasks, which can be an obstacle to their upward mobility in academia. Therefore, transparently quantifying disparities in service workload is imperative. Relative to men, women are disproportionately more likely to hold service positions with little visibility or prestige. We have empirical evidence that women engage in more service work than men at KSU: A 2017 KSU climate survey found more women (47%) than men (34%) faculty reported feeling burdened by service responsibilities, and women disproportionately comprise undergraduate research mentors. Our proposed online dashboard will aggregate service burden by NSF-recognized STEM fields, rank, and IGREs. We will measure subjective perceptions of the prestige, workload, and fulfillment associated with faculty members’ service activities to identify those STEM fields with the greatest service workload inequities. We will analyze exit interview data collected across the last decade from faculty who separated from the university to determine whether/how their IGRE identities and service burdens contributed to their departure decision. Finally, we will establish a STEM Women’s Support Network to promote community building and mentorship pertaining to service workloads. A key strength of our project is its focus on making institutional change to remedy structural inequities.

Our project addresses service burden, a specific upstream cause of gender inequity, to improve retention and advancement of STEM women faculty at KSU. The specific aim of our project is to transparently quantify inequities in service commitments by intersecting gender and racial/ethnic identities (IGRE identities) while maintaining faculty anonymity. Our approach builds on previous NSF ADVANCE work (NSF Grant #1463898) reporting such transparency is an efficacious intervention for reducing gender disparities in service. The timing is perfect for our project, which will involve quantitative (i.e., online anonymous surveys about service commitments and perceptions) as well as qualitative research methodology (e.g., secondary data analyses of exit interview responses and merit review materials), because it dovetails with KSU's recently released strategic DEI plan. KSU, an eight-campus, doctoral-granting public institution with ~42,000 students, which was recently granted the highest research Carnegie Classification (i.e., R1), is an ideal ADVANCE award recipient. Our diverse research team has strong institutional support. Our central repository of KSU STEM faculty service data will transparently track service commitments by self-identified IGRE identities to improve upward mobility of women STEM faculty through tenure/administration ranks, chipping away at macro-level gender inequalities in the STEM professoriate. Moreover, our approach can be readily adapted to address IGRE inequalities in university and institutional contexts across the world. Other broader impacts include continued transparency in record-keeping beyond the “life” of the grant, amplification of women’s voices, and interdisciplinary research training and dissemination opportunities for trainees at various career stages.

The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Catalyst" awards provide support for institutional equity assessments and the development of five-year faculty equity strategic plans at academic, non-profit institutions of higher education.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.