International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

July, 2011

ADVANCE – Recruitment and Retention of Women in STEM – Accomplishments of The University of Illinois at Chicago’s (UIC)

Women in Science and Engineering

System Transformation (WISEST)

http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/wisest/

Manorama M. Khare, PhD; Mo-Yin Tam, PhD

Outline

• WISEST Goal

• WISEST Strategies

• Recruitment

• Retention

• Evaluation

WISEST at UIC addresses:

• Underrepresentation of women in STEM fields▫ Recruitment - unconscious gender bias, pipeline▫ Retention - isolation, work-life balance

• Lack of STEM women in leadership ▫ Insufficient mentoring and networking opportunities▫ Pipeline

• Overall climate

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Goal of WISEST

To increase the number,

participation, and

leadership status of

women - minority and

majority, in academic

science and engineering

through institutional

transformation.

• Strategy 1: Warm the climate & decrease the isolation of women STEM faculty.

• Strategy 2: Pilot initiatives to attract and recruit women minority faculty.

• Strategy 3: Transform STEM departments to foster diversity and women’s leadership.

• Strategy 4: Promote STEM women scholarship and teaching.

• Strategy 5: Improve the ability to track and report on gender equity in STEM.

WISEST Strategies

Warm the climate - Increase in number of women in STEM

• Number of STEM women faculty increased from 33 in Fall 2005 to 51 in Fall 2011

• WISEST supported through start-up monies 14 of 18 women hires 3 of 5 URM women hires

• TT women faculty in STEM Increased from 31% in 2005 to 44% in 2010

Number in parenthesis represent the percentage of total STEM faculty that are women

Tenured & Tenure Track STEM Faculty at UIC

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

50

100

150

200

250

300

214 216 210 207 201 192

33 37 37 47 48 49

Females

Males

N

um

be

r of

Ma

le a

nd F

emal

e F

acu

lty

(13.4%) (14.6%) (15.0%) (18.5%) (22.4%)

(20.3%)

Advance Grant Year

• WISEST facilitators are tenured faculty

• Act as liaisons between STEM departments, WISEST leadership and broader UIC community.

• Grassroots voice in the department

• Implement initiatives

• Develop climate action plans for their department

• Work with STEM faculty to inform them about important WISEST issues and departmental meetings.

Decrease Isolation - WISEST Facilitator Model

Decrease Isolation - WISER Fund

Used to support research, travel, work during life cycle event

• 21 awards made between AY2006 –AY 2010 (total amount awarded $ 94,652)

• 6 awards supported faculty during periods of intense care giving.• 15 awards provided research support for conference travels and

lab supplies

Decrease Isolation - Mentoring Initiatives

• Designed to provide departmental support for STEM women through active mentorship by senior faculty by:

o Integrating the faculty member within the department

o Providing access to various learning opportunities

oReviewing publication submissions and presentations, and guiding the development of an independent research program

o Providing advice and feedback on the STEM woman’s teaching

• Range of mentoring initiatives, vary by department and needs of faculty

Implemented Work-Life Friendly Policies

• Automatic Tenure Hold Policy: Policy is automatic, no need for request nor approval, can opt out.

• Modified Teaching Duties Policy: Faculty members who have a new child will be granted a period of modified teaching duties without a reduction in effort or salary.

• Infant/Toddler/Child Care Resource and Referral Service: Provides referrals to confirmed openings for care (and emergency back up care) provided by consultants available 24/7, 365 days of the year.

• Strategy 1: Warm the climate & decrease the isolation of women STEM faculty.

• Strategy 2: Pilot initiatives to attract and recruit women minority faculty.

• Strategy 3: Transform STEM departments to foster diversity and women’s leadership.

• Strategy 4: Promote STEM women scholarship and teaching.

• Strategy 5: Improve the ability to track and report on gender equity in STEM.

WISEST Strategies

WISEST Postdoctoral Research Associates for Academic Diversity

• Unique 2-year pilot initiative designed to help STEM women post doc scholars, particularly Underrepresented

Minority Women (URM), prepare for faculty careers.

• Key features include:

• A research proposal written jointly with a faculty member • A strong mentoring team• Postdoctoral Institute

WISEST Postdoctoral Research Associates for Academic Diversity

5 URM women STEM postdocs selected from a pool of 28 applicants

At the end of the 2 year program

• 3 obtained TT positions in research universities• 1 obtained a research faculty position

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SUCCEED (Supporting UIC’s Commitment to a Community of Excellence,

Equity and Diversity)

Designed to train faculty on search committees to attract and retain talented and diverse women in STEM fields.

Training conducted by research-active senior faculty Create an awareness about unconscious gender bias in the

evaluation of candidates. Provides a toolkit Deans of the STEM colleges require the search committee’s to do

the training Has been expanded to include training of P&T committees

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• Strategy 1: Warm the climate & decrease the isolation of women STEM faculty.

• Strategy 2: Pilot initiatives to attract and recruit women minority faculty.

• Strategy 3: Transform STEM departments to foster diversity and women’s leadership.

• Strategy 4: Promote STEM women scholarship and teaching.

• Strategy 5: Improve the ability to track and report on gender equity in STEM.

WISEST Strategies

Includes: Leadership seminars, visiting scholars, informal drop-in lunchtimes, semi-annual networking luncheons

• reduces isolation

• provides opportunities to network with peers, interact socially

• creates a sense of community among women faculty colleagues.

Networking Initiatives

• Departmental support & nominations for awards

• In just one academic year, AY 2006-07 to AY 2008-09 STEM women received 8 (29%) of 28 prestigious external awards, including 5 CAREER and 2 Sloan Awards

Promoting Scholarship

WAPI (WISEST Assistant Professor Initiative) Seminars

• Modeled after the WISEST Postdoctoral Institute

• Mentoring seminar series tailored for early career faculty (Assistant Professors) • to provide information and skills to support faculty working towards

tenure

• Strategy 1: Warm the climate & decrease the isolation of women STEM faculty.

• Strategy 2: Pilot initiatives to attract and recruit women minority faculty.

• Strategy 3: Transform STEM departments to foster diversity and women’s leadership.

• Strategy 4: Promote STEM women scholarship and teaching.

• Strategy 5: Improve the ability to track and report on gender equity in STEM.

WISEST Strategies

Role of Evaluation

• The challenge of institutional data

• Data driven decision making

• Triangulation of qualitative & quantitative data

• Studies – salary equity, climate survey, child care survey

Questions??

For more information:http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/wisest/

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