Skidmore, Union win $500K NSF grant for special career study

A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will support a three-year study by Skidmore and Union college researchers on recruiting and retaining female professors in the fields of science (including social science), technology, engineering and math—the STEM disciplines. 

Alice Dean

Alice Dean, professor of mathematics at Skidmore, and Brenda Johnson, professor of mathematics at Union, are co-principal investigators for the project, which is titled “Skidmore Union Network (SUN):  Supporting Women Faculty in STEM at Liberal Arts Colleges.”  Work begins this fall on both campuses.

Skidmore and Union were the only liberal arts colleges to receive grants from the NSF through this round of its Advance PAID awards program.  The NSF Advance Program is dedicated to increasing representation of women in academic science and engineering careers; the Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID) program encourages the use of existing innovative materials and practices that have been demonstrated as effective in meeting these goals. Skidmore and Union scholars will consider how successful programs at some larger, research-oriented universities could be adapted for use in the same disciplines on their own campuses, and also make recommendations specific to the unique concerns of female faculty at smaller, liberal arts colleges.

Brenda Johnson

Local analysis of national trend
Both Skidmore and Union mirror national trends, which show that women are underrepresented as teachers and scholars in the STEM fields, while men continue to dominate the higher faculty ranks.  At both colleges, women constitute slightly more than one-third of tenure-track and tenured faculty in the STEM disciplines.  One-fourth of STEM full professors at Skidmore are women; Union’s percentage of female full professors is one-third. The SUN project will target women faculty in theses disciplines at two specific career stages:  tenure-track (early career) and tenured associate professors who have been at the rank for seven years or more.  A central goal is to provide women with resources and support to achieve tenure and promotion.

Dean and Johnson are enthusiastic about developing a partnership between the two schools to analyze the situation and develop proposed solutions. Johnson said, “We’re hoping to learn more about where gender imbalances exist, and why.  Is there some inherent bias in our systems that leads to fewer women scholars in these fields?  Although it is hard to separate the personal from the systemic, our hope is to learn more about the systemic issues and make improvements.”

Key goals of the study are to learn more about the climates and biases on both campuses that affect hiring, development, and promotion of women in these fields, and to develop environments that will eventually result in a more balanced gender ratio for faculty in the STEM disciplines at each college. The researchers will share findings and recommendations with the larger community of liberal arts colleges.

Gender issues, said Dean, “are more of a problem in some areas than others.  However, there are certain responsibilities, including child care and family issues, that fall primarily on women.”  Juggling family and work responsibilities while following a career path can be challenging.  The researchers plan to develop a structure—including such tools as mentoring and other support—to enable new faculty to succeed in meeting these challenges. 

Such support is valuable to women who are starting their careers, said Dean, citing personal experience. While a young faculty member at Smith College, Dean met a colleague who strongly influenced her career.  Explained Dean, “She introduced me to the field of study—graph theory—that I ultimately came to work in.  She has encouraged and supported me and various other women students and colleagues over the course of many years, and I am forever grateful to her for her friendship and her scholarly advice and assistance.”

Muriel Poston, dean of the faculty and a professor of biology at Skidmore, believes that mentoring is essential to academic career success.  “Everybody needs support,” she asserted. “This is clear in the private sector. Why shouldn’t the academy have the same

	Muriel Poston

response?”  Poston added, “Mentoring helps faculty understand expectations both within the discipline and across the institution.  When it works well, it holds the key to faculty success.” Poston is a member of the SUN Committee, whose membership includes faculty and administrators from both colleges.  Committee members, under the direction of Dean and Johnson, will perform the research and evaluative tasks over the next three years.

Project activities outlined
Those tasks include activities that will provide information and training on recognizing and combating bias, as well as initiatives that will foster relationships among STEM women faculty to increase opportunities for mentoring, collaboration, and advanced training.  This year focus group interviews will be taken on both campuses, followed by climate surveys, training workshops for hiring and promotion, public events to raise awareness on each campus, and educational activities geared toward undergraduates.  Since many female faculty members in the STEM professions begin their careers with their choice of undergraduate major, scholars agree that students need to be aware of these issues.

Cherrice Traver

Mentoring networks and research collaborations, which have succeeded at large universities, will be developed to enhance promotion opportunities for mid-career female faculty.  SUN Committee member Cherrice Traver, dean of engineering and professor of computer engineering at Union, thinks this may be “the best part of the project.  Building relationships with another college through mentoring will offer opportunities for everyone to gain professionally,” she said.

Research outcomes will be shared via the web as well as through presentations and published reports.
 

Posted On: 9/18/2008

Tags: nsf, union college, alice dean, muriel poston, brenda johnson, cherrice traver