ADVANCE Stevens: Creating a Sustainable Culture that Facilitates Recruitment, Retention and Advancement of Women Faculty in STEM

ADVANCE Stevens: Creating a Sustainable Culture that Facilitates Recruitment, Retention and

Advancement of Women Faculty in STEM Stevens Institute of Technology located in Hoboken, NJ, was founded in 1870 as an all male, mechanical engineering degree granting institution, situated in a diverse urban area ten minutes from New York City. Stevens has three Schools, all of which will participate in the project: Charles V. Schaefer Jr. School of Engineering and Science; Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management; and School of Systems

and Enterprises. Stevens is a primarily technological university with a diverse student body (2549 undergraduates include 25% women and 11% underrepresented minorities-URM).

ADVANCE Stevens utilizes a social ecological perspective, which views the interaction between organizational and individual factors as collectively influencing recruitment, retention and advancement of majority, minority and URM women STEM faculty. The literature on change

management informs the process by which the strategies are implemented. Specific activities

are based on the conceptual framework and successful ADVANCE best practices adapted to a

predominantly technological university. A unique component of ADVANCE Stevens involves adapting ADVANCE mentoring models and network enhancing models to build professional relationships between tenured/tenure-track (T/TT) women STEM faculty and full-time non-tenure track (FTNTT) women STEM faculty, to the benefit of both. While we are applying best practices demonstrated to increase hiring, retention and advancement of majority, minority and URM T/TT women STEM faculty, this novel and ground breaking component examines how building relationships between T/TT and FTNTT women STEM faculty can contribute to these desired outcomes. In light of the national pattern of a decreasing proportion of tenure-track faculty positions available and increased hiring of FTNTT faculty, understanding more about the potential benefit of building relationships between T/TT and FTNTT is of growing importance.

ADVANCE Stevens has the potential to impact nationally, the persistence and advancement of T/TT women STEM faculty, and the career stability and advancement of FTNTT women STEM faculty from all backgrounds. By facilitating relationships between T/TT and FTNTT women STEM faculty, and tracking and assessing subsequent networks, successful strategies that benefit both groups will be identified. Locally, ADVANCE Stevens will impact undergraduate and graduate women of all racial/ethnic backgrounds who will have the opportunity to be taught by, mentored and collaborate with women faculty of all backgrounds.