Building a more supportive climate for women in STEM: Discoveries made, lessons learned

Abstract

Four years ago Louisiana Tech University established a program, with funding from the NSF ADVANCE Program, aimed at building a more supportive climate for women faculty in STEM departments in an effort to improve their retention and success. Officially managed out of the dean's office under the umbrella of the Office for Women in Science and Engineering, the program has utilized a multi-pronged approach and adapted best practices from NSF ADVANCE projects. Specific initiatives have included a distinguished external lecture series, engaging faculty and administrators in reviews of social science research, lunchtime seminars focused on gender issues, a faculty mentoring program, an allies program for male faculty, and a worklife policy effort. Some aspects of the program have been expanded to address issues of women undergraduate and graduate students through seminars for graduate students, training for freshman faculty, and workshops for undergraduate students. Program assessment to-date suggests that women faculty have made some gains in work self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Their perceptions of the quality of interactions with colleagues have also shown improvement. Survey data suggests that more than half of the women faculty report increased professional self-confidence as a result of the program. Women faculty were also less likely to report feeling isolated on campus and more likely to report having a voice in how resources are distributed. Program initiatives have extended outside the college to collaborations with faculty in human ecology, education faculty whose research focuses on gender and STEM, the faculty senate, as well as women faculty in entrepreneurship and social science who face many of the same issues as women faculty in STEM. This paper will review the programs, including feedback from external assessment, and make recommendations on aspects of the program that could be transportable to other campuses. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.