ADVANCE

About Us

• The Working Group: Spotlights
• Principal Investigators
• Internal Advisory Board
• External Advisory Board
• Implementation Team
• Internal and External Evaluators
• Center Personnel
• Organizational Chart
• Proposal Abstract

WVU ADVANCE Summary

WVU, like many of our peer universities, struggles to retain and advance excellent female faculty in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Fortunately, we have recently secured an ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation. This grant is special because, unlike other NSF grants which focus on advancing the research agenda of a particular faculty member or group of faculty, it focuses on transforming the institutional culture to be more supportive and nurturing of these faculty to ensure that they reach their full potential. The approach to such transformation involves building greater understanding at the administrative level and at the departmental level, providing a climate that provides optimal work-life conditions for all members of the faculty within and outside of the STEM fields. Ultimately, success in this endeavor will lead to greater success of the faculty in research, teaching, and service that will in turn gain greater recognition for WVU, including recognition as a Carnegie very high research institution.

Eventually, the ADVANCE project will improve our understanding of barriers to large-scale organizational transformation. The model organization utilized is a large University and the transformational goal is the development of an institutional culture committed to diversity and equality in employee recruitment, development, retention, and promotion to leadership. That knowledge will be translated into more effective, systemic approaches to such change that can be applied in a variety of large-scale organizations be they in the academic, public, or private sector.