Advancing women in STEM: institutional transformation

Despite decades of efforts aimed at equity, women continue to be underrepresented among STEM faculty at research-intensive universities, where they experience structural barriers to access, promotion, and retention. Funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE programme, Oregon State University researchers intentionally recruited high-level, influential administrators and faculty to engage in institutional transformation work, through the attainment of deep, nuanced, and emotional understandings of how barriers operate at both the individual and institutional level. The innovative portion of OREGON STATE ADVANCE involves an intensive immersion seminar modelled on the university's longstanding seminar for curricula transformation. The ADVANCE seminar, with a curriculum based on Systems of Oppression theories, enables participants to construct and implement action plans that apply their new knowledge to transform institutional policies and practices within their sphere of influence.