Assessing Climate at a Minority-Serving Institution

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Assessing Climate at a Minority-Serving Institution

Zakiya Wilson,1 Stephanie Luster-Teasley,2 Goldie Byrd,1 Robin Coger,2

Maya Corneille,1 _{and Anna Lee}1

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

Contributing factors and institutional dynamics

•

Chilly climates

•

Sexual harassment

•

Isolation

•

Exclusion by male colleagues

•

Wage disparities

•

Delayed promotions

•

Inequitable teaching and advisory roles

•

Limited resource allocation for conducting

research

•

Limited visibility for awards and

recognitions

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

What do we need to catalyze the transformation of our institution?

What specifically are our challenges?

How does institutional culture contribute to our needs for

catalyzing institutional transformation?

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu



a doctoral, research university



Largest HBCU in UNC System; Largest in US in 2014

2 Colleges: Arts and Sciences, Engineering

6 Schools: Education, Nursing, Business and Economics

Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, Technology, and the Graduate School 10,700 Students

9 PhD programs – 2 pending



US News and World Reports ranked as top public HBCU in 2013



Within the UNC System, ranks 3

behind UNC Chapel Hill and NC State, in

sponsored research funding with $52.7 million in 2014



NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC)



Largest producer of African American women engineers at the BS level in the

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

HBCU-UP Supplemental

Advancing Gender Equity and Faculty Success at North

Carolina A&T State University

SPONSOR: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION PI: Goldie S. Byrd

Co-PI: Stephanie Luster-Teasley

Period: 09/2012 – 08/2014

Funds: $200,000

OBJECTIVES:

» Conduct an analysis of the campus climate for faculty

» Increase opportunities to improve awareness about existing and improve policies that directly impact all faculty advancement

» Increase the number of targeted opportunities for women in STEM and SBS to be competitive in the academy

» Increase contributions to the growing body of knowledge associated with barriers, perceptions, strategies and best practices that improve gender equity and faculty success at NCA&T

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

Climate Studies



Surveys

»

Internally designed instrument, measuring experiences of STEM and

Non-STEM women and men faculty

»

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education

(COACHE), Harvard University School of Education



Focus Groups



Proof-of-Concept activities and assessments of what faculty

wanted for professional development

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

Experiences of Women Faculty at NCA&T

 77% Women reported that promotion from assistant to associate not a problem

»Women (73%) were more likely than men (59%) to know how they would be evaluated for decisions of promotion and tenure

 Women indicated greater ambiguity about promotion to full professor  Obstacles related to promotion from Associate to Full

» Difficulties in finding appropriate collaborators

• Difficulty in demonstrating leadership in research collaborations that have been established (chilly climates)

»Heavy teaching loads

»Lack of role models and a perceived lack of research prioritization

• Lack of access to graduate students, equipment and space

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

University Strategic Plan

 Position NCA&T as a national, premier research-intensive, doctoral, science and technology-focused learning

institution

Teaching Institution

Research Institution

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

Women (56%) more likely than men (48%) to spend majority of time on teaching and service

11

Profile of Faculty Efforts in Teaching, Research, and Service

• Advising of 30+ undergraduate students per semester

• Build and sustain a research laboratory

• Train teaching assistants

• Mentor undergraduate researchers in extramural funded programs, e.g. LS-AMP, HBCU-UP, MARC, RISE, S-STEM, etc.

• Serve on department, college, and university committees

• Peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and other published work

• Research dissemination and participation in professional societies

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu 12

Findings from Climate Study

 Women were disproportionately advising, directing programs, supporting student organizations, and participating campus-wide committee work –

not necessarily RPT committees!

 Women more likely than men to spend their time primarily on teaching and service  Men (45%) were more likely than women (25%) to teach smaller class sizes

 Women (39%) were more likely than men (25%) to teach 10 or more credit hours  Women (65%) more likely than men (37%) to view publishing technical research as an

obstacle

 Women (72%) less likely than men (90%) to have submitted a proposal as lead PI  14 of the 52 federal STEM grants > 100K were won by women

 Women indicated challenges

 Lack of seed funds to obtain preliminary data for grant proposals

 Lack of mentoring

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

Program Design

 Strategy 1.1. Increase the number of women in tenured/tenure-track faculty role

» Train Search Committees in Implicit Biases

» Expand the Pool of STEM/SBS Candidates

 Strategy 1.2. Create and empower a networked community of scholars at all professorial levels

» ADVANCE IT Scholars

» Professional Development Workshops

» Research and Writing Skill Development

 Strategy 1.3. Leadership and Mentoring Symposium

 Strategy 2.1. Create a faculty resource center that supports research and scholarship  Strategy 2.2. Prepare women for roles in academic leadership

» External Leadership Development

» Preparing Future Chairs (PFC)

 Strategy 2.3. Mentoring at the departmental level

 Strategy 2.4. Create a web-portal for faculty development

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

www.ncat.edu

ADVANCE Institutional Transformation

Catalyzing Gender, Leadership, and Scholarship Equity through

Institutional Change for All (

Award Number:1409799)

SPONSOR: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

PI: Joe Whitehead

Co-PIs: Goldie S. Byrd, Robin Coger, Stephanie Luster-Teasley, & Zakiya S. Wilson

SBS Study: Maya Corneille and Anna Lee