UC Awarded NSF Advance Grant
This project aims to increase the percentage of women in engineering faculty roles
A team of researchers at the University of Cincinnati, led by an associate dean in the College of Engineering and Applied Science have been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to develop novel strategies to recruit, retain and enhance the experience of women-identifying faculty in engineering.
Whitney Gaskins is the associate dean of Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement at CEAS.
"This award is crucial because it aligns with our mission at UC to create an equitable environment where all faculty can thrive," said Whitney Gaskins, principal investigator for the project and associate dean of inclusive excellence and community engagement in the college.
The award supports a five-year project that is a collaboration between UC and external collaborators such as the Women in Engineering Proactive Network and the 10 institutions that comprise the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation.
"Our partners are going to be used as vehicles to share our project with their membership to get participants," said Paula Lampley, program director in the CEAS Office of Inclusive Excellence and Community Engagement and project co-principal investigator.
Having a diverse faculty population in engineering is essential. Diversity brings a wider range of perspectives, which is crucial for innovation and problem solving.
Whitney Gaskins, PhD UC College of Engineering and Applied Science
Split into five phases that coincide with each year of the grant, the first step is to gather data from faculty members (UC and external) regarding their recruitment, retention, and advancement experiences through semi-structured interviews and group level assessments. Once complete, the team will analyze the feedback they received, taking note of any common themes from which they can develop action items. The goal is to then implement a handful of interventions that can be adopted across institutions to enhance the experiences of diverse engineering faculty.
"We hope to identify the key barriers that faculty face, particularly those related to gender and minority status, and develop actionable plans to mitigate these barriers in order to create a more inclusive and supportive environment within engineering departments," Gaskins said.
According to federal labor records, women are underrepresented in most engineering fields, including faculty. However, in recent years, this gender gap has begun to narrow, with college enrollment in engineering and computer science among women more than doubling between 2011 and 2020. This new grant project is one of the ways CEAS is working to close this gap and foster a positive, inclusive environment in STEM and academia.
To disseminate the importance of this project, the team plans to develop and share a series of impact stories that will bring awareness to the challenges engineering faculty are facing in their work. Gaskins explains that these stories will highlight the lived experiences of diverse faculty members which will emphasize the importance of the interventions they are developing and proposing for implementation. Later phases in the project will include the evaluation of the methodologies once they're implemented to see how they can be improved and adapted to fit a multitude of institutions.
"Having a diverse faculty population in engineering is essential," Gaskins said. "Diversity brings a wider range of perspectives, which is crucial for innovation and problem solving. Diverse faculty also serve as role models for students from underrepresented groups, inspiring them to pursue and persist in engineering careers."
Featured image at top: University of Cincinnati campus. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand
Interested in sharing your experience?
If you are interested in sharing your recruitment, retention or advancement experiences by participating in interviews and/or group level assessments, please fill out the interest form. Please feel free to share this opportunity with your network and colleagues. Study participants are compensated for their time.
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