$1M NSF ADVANCE project to promote equity for STEM faculty at Illinois

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has won a three-year, $1 million ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to mitigate barriers that impede the advancement of underrepresented STEM faculty across the Urbana-Champaign campus.

Those barriers were identified in an institutional self-study conducted by the Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA Institute) in The Grainger College of Engineering. The Illinois ADVANCE (I-ADVANCE) project seeks to reduce disparities that were found in recognition and rewards for faculty work; to increase capacity, resources and accountability for equity-minded decision-making by department leaders; and to help faculty foster an equitable and inclusive departmental climate.

Ellen Wang Althaus, Assistant Dean for Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Grainger Engineering, is the principal investigator. She explained that the goal of NSF’s ADVANCE program is to broaden the implementation of evidence-based systemic change strategies that promote equity for faculty in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.

“They’re not looking for band-aid fixes that will cease when grant funding runs out,” Althaus said. “Identifying issues and root causes focuses the development and implementation of change strategies that are lasting and sustainable.”

NSF’s ADVANCE program is designed to support faculty in all fields of STEM research supported by NSF, including the social and behavioral sciences. I-ADVANCE will involve 43 STEM departments across the Urbana-Champaign campus, including 25 in Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS), 10 in Grainger Engineering, 6 in Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, 1 in Veterinary Medicine, and 1 in the School of Information Sciences.

The project has three components. The first is a “Faculty Workload Dashboard” application designed to help unit leaders mitigate service burden disparities that disproportionately impact underrepresented faculty.

The Dashboard will be developed in the Grainger Engineering Portal Framework to track faculty members’ service and teaching loads across campus. It will maintain centralized long-term records to show teaching and service workloads over time. It’s expected to help department leaders make informed decisions on personnel evaluations and workload distributions. Built on the campus IT framework, the Dashboard app should be easily transferable to non-STEM campus units, so that everyone on campus can eventually benefit.

A second activity will be a “Faculty Fellow” program that will engage 28 tenured STEM faculty to conduct equity work in their home units. Across one-year terms, the Fellows will provide input on the design, development and piloting of the Dashboard to suit unit needs. They will also participate in professional development to learn how to analyze departmental data and work to optimize unit processes for successful outcomes. They will receive recognition and compensation for their efforts.

The third component of the project will be an “Advocates and Allies” program that provides an avenue for faculty whose demographic groups are currently overrepresented in Illinois STEM departments to promote equity through peer-to-peer informal conversations and networks. The project team will conduct workshops and hold discussion groups that will offer guidance on how participants can cultivate an inclusive climate for all their colleagues.

“This is really a collective effort,” said Althaus. “The hope is to build enthusiasm and support across campus to leverage this opportunity we have to foster equity and inclusion for STEM faculty.”

Illinois and Grainger Engineering leadership have pursued ADVANCE funding for almost two decades, but this is the first success.

“Our journey toward an ADVANCE award has been a long one. I am grateful to all who remained committed to the process and to launching this important work at our university. At Illinois, our faculty and the diversity of our academic community are among our greatest assets. This investment in data-informed practices to foster a climate and culture of equity and inclusivity will elevate opportunity and impact at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,” said Provost John Coleman.

I-ADVANCE’s co-PIs include:

• Philippe Geubelle, Grainger Engineering Executive Associate Dean and a Bliss Professor in Aerospace Engineering.
• Wendy Heller, Executive Associate Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Area Centers in LAS, and a Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and Biomedical & Translational Sciences.
• Harley T. Johnson, Grainger Engineering Associate Dean for Research and a Founder Professor of Mechanical Science & Engineering.
• Alejandro Lleras, Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence in LAS and a Professor of Psychology. 

Eva Marie Pomerantz, Director of the Center for Social & Behavioral Science and a Professor of Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies, will serve as internal evaluator for I-ADVANCE.