ADVANCE-ENG Success at the intersection of formal and informal networks for women of color (WOC) engineering faculty

Abstract

Underrepresented Minority (URM) women engineering faculty are leading change in the academy through outstanding research and leadership endeavors. A 2005 ADVANCE Leadership award entitled, “Peer Mentoring Summits for Women Engineering Faculty of Color” convened the first ever set of summits focused on URM women engineering faculty. Using a “where are they now” approach, we will highlight the accomplishments of participants in this initiative started 12 years ago. While this group does diversify the faculty, their roles in the academy are not focused solely on issues of diversity. For example, as administrators, it is critical to recognize their intellectual contributions to academic policy, research and pedagogical advancements in higher education. Given the increasing number of workshops, summits and publications focused on Women of Color (WOC) STEM academicians, we will present experiential perspectives and summarize these efforts for WOC STEM faculty. The subsequent development of cross-cultural collaborations in a new multi-university NSF-ADVANCE project entitled, “Launching Academics on the Tenure-Track: An Intentional Community in Engineering (LATTICE)” will also be presented. While intersectionality defines unique issues at the intersection of race and gender, this paper explores the expansion of formal networks of our diverse LATTICE team building on the success of previous faculty development initiatives. The paper will also discuss how ongoing informal networks continue to incorporate mentoring and coaching to empower women engineering faculty.