Collaborative Research: ADVANCE PARTNERSHIP: STEM Intersectional Equity in Departments (SIEDS): A Partnership for Inclusive Work Cultures

The STEM Intersectional Equity in Departments (SIEDS) project brings three universities, Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, and Wayne State University into a partnership to develop, implement, and assess a Toolkit for Creating an Inclusive and Equitable Departmental Culture. The research literature indicates that all faculty thrive when they work in environments that support the “whole person.” The toolkit will help department leaders create and sustain positive departmental environments that lead to success for all faculty. The project will empower department leaders so that they can, create assessments that credit faculty for their work in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) (Inclusive Assessment), promote a “whole person” approach to recognizing and supporting faculty needs (Support across the Faculty Lifecycle), and cultivate future leaders with DEIJ-focused skills and strategies (Diversifying Leadership). The SIEDS toolkit will 1) identify and address biases during promotion, tenure, and other evaluation processes to create inclusive assessment; 2) recognize the ways that work- and life- tasks interact to build healthy department cultures; 3) expand conceptualizations and measurements of hidden and low-promotable work tasks to increase the recognition and valuing of these time-consuming tasks; and 4) create materials to support leadership development. The toolkit and lessons learned will be shared at the Great Lakes Consortium Convening annually. In project year four, the toolkit is expected to be adapted by the consortium members, reaching all the R1 and R2 universities in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. This adaptation will be evaluated in the final year of the project, which will help improve the toolkit for other institutions and identify implementation issues that may need to be addressed. The NSF ADVANCE program is designed to foster gender equity through a focus on the identification and elimination of organizational barriers that impede the full participation and advancement of diverse faculty in academic institutions. Organizational barriers that inhibit equity may exist in policies, processes, practices, and the organizational culture and climate. ADVANCE "Partnership" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic, non-profit institutions of higher education and non-academic, non-profit organizations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.