Advance Adaptation

ADVANCE Adaptation: Evidence-Informed Promotion of Inclusive Climate (EPIC) at IU Indianapolis

The IU Indianapolis ADVANCE Adaptation project will improve institutional climate and promote inclusive leadership practices to address inequities in the representation, retention, and advancement of women, particularly women of color, in the STEM faculty. IU Indianapolis is an urban, public, research university in Indianapolis. The Evidence-informed Promotion of Inclusive Climate (EPIC) project will adapt evidence-informed equity practices to the unique context of the IU Indianapolis campus. The two project goals are: to develop strong, equity-minded leaders to foster authentically inclusive environments; and to transform department processes and practices to reduce inequities and improve climate. In order to accomplish these goals, the project team will implement various strategies including: quarterly half-day workshops that will become a STEM leadership learning community; departmental equity profiles based on quantitative and qualitative data and processes and practices to inform departmental enhancement activities; and accountability structures and practices to ensure that new practices addressing gender equity are implemented successfully and that positive change is sustained.

Project EPIC at IU Indianapolis strategically integrates best practices in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of the IU Indianapolis campus. The leadership training builds on the work of the University of Washington, which used quarterly leadership workshops to gather department chairs across the campus to discuss pertinent issues, capitalizing on the expertise of many individuals across the campus and providing a venue for the cross-pollination of ideas among colleagues in similar posts. This model will be expanded to include formal and informal leaders at multiple levels. The departmental enhancement activities build on the work of University of Colorado Boulder, where faculty work on departmental-specific challenges as a community of practice. The IU Indianapolis project will test existing ADVANCE models in a novel context. Specifically, IU Indianapolis is a core campus of Indiana University (IU), and the project team will share emerging best practices with the seven IU campuses, including the Schools of Medicine. IU Indianapolis is also engaged in the NSF INCLUDES project called ASPIRE which has a goal of diversifying STEM faculty and promoting inclusive teaching practices. The projects are expected to be complementary for IU Indianapolis but also provide an avenue for sharing project results with other institutions participating in the NSF INCLUDES community.

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 "Adaptation" awards provide support for the adaptation and adoption of evidence-based strategies to academic, non-profit institution of higher education as well as 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.