ADVANCE at the Earth Institute Columbia University Summary of

ADVANCE at the Earth Institute, Columbia University Summary of Accomplishments to Date: Supporting Tables Table 1: Summary of how activities proposed in the original proposal evolved over time Original Proposal Work with Associate Provost for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Use self-study to investigate barriers to women scientists and engineering applying for jobs at Columbia University Marie Tharp Fellowships – support for 12-18 months Mentoring Initiative Current Situation Working with the Vice Provost for Diversity Initiatives This effort has stalled due to a lack of data. Explanation The position of Vice Provost for Diversity Initiatives, created after the ADVANCE proposal was approved, has significant influence over faculty searches, especially in the Arts and Sciences. We discovered that the University does not have a system for reporting the demographics of applicant pools. The most recent data is from a 2000 report from the Columbia Commission on the Status of Women. Vice Provost Howard has been working to develop an online application system that would provide applicant data for all faculty searches. We re-scoped the program to have a greater impact across the institution by supporting more fellows for less time. Our external evaluation found that the Lamont women’s forum has not generated as much mentoring as we anticipated. We are working with the LDEO Director on a seminar series that will encourage more institutional mentoring, for men and women, both at the peer level and at the junior / senior level. The May 2007 performance of “Faculty Advising Faculty” by the CRLT Players generated extensive discussions on the LDEO campus about the factors that are hindering effective mentoring. We have funded three of these awards to date. All of the workshops have been larger than we originally anticipated, with 30-100 participants. The award recipients have all secured additional funding for their workshop after receiving ADVANCE funding. As Deputy Director of the Earth Institute, ADVANCE CoPI John Mutter was able to extend the well-defined promotion process for LDEO scientists to two other EI units: CIESIN and the IRI. We learned that the status of women varies widely across the EI, and that interventions at the level of the EI are not always feasible. Recruitment, retention, and advancement are done at the unit-level. The EI also includes a large number of project scientists and adjunct faculty who are not eligible for promotion. We realized that the need to intellectually engage faculty (men and women) in the social and behavioral science research around issues of gender and race. 3-month fellowships ADVANCE PIs have begun to serve as mentors to junior women, particularly through the research productivity workshops led by Co-PI Stephanie Pfirman and the faculty development initiative within SEAS led by coPI Patricia Culligan. Mentoring-Through-Research Workshop Awards Mini-Conferences Hosted by Junior Women Transparency Initiative Promotion criteria have been standardizes across all of the Earth Institute units This initiative was dropped. Annual Equity Report Assessing the Status of Women in the EI Women in Earth and Environmental Science workshops Two alternative events were held: “Women, Work, and the Academy” and “The Science of Diversity Symposium” 2 Original Proposal Outreach to Minority Women at CCNY and UTEP Current Situation Working individually with departments and research centers to develop minority alliances with HBCUs that serve the mission of each unit The STRIDE committee under the direction of Co-PI Stephanie Pfirman investigated university policies and procedures that might improve the environment for interdisciplinary scholars. In the fall of 2007, Pfirman will chair a workshop on “Women, Minorities, and Interdisciplinarity: Transforming the Research Enterprise” The baseline interviews have been completed. Explanation We have learned that in order for partnerships with minority-serving institutions to be sustainable, they have to be formed organically through scientific collaborations, and they have to be supported by individual departments and research centers at Columbia University. STRIDE realized that the links between gender and interdisciplinarity were not entirely clear. We also realized that we needed to engage other research centers across the university who do interdisciplinary work. Improve the environment for scholars who do interdisciplinary work, with an emphasis on women faculty at Barnard college Study of a sub-group of women and men over the course of the 5-year grant Family Field Pay Jump-Start Awards Expanded to support family care during all professional travel (meetings and fieldwork) Transition Support Awards Between August and October of 2005, the external evaluators conducted semi-structured interviews with five of the 17 female associate research scientists located on the Lamont campus and a match sample of 5 of the 44 male associate research scientists. They plan to re-interview these scientists, if they are still working at Columbia, during the fifth year of ADVANCE to revisit their career progression during the interim period. We discovered that trips to the field were infrequent and that women had a greater need for childcare funding when they traveled to professional meetings. There was only one request during the first two years; demand has steadily increased to four requests in 2007. Each request has been different, and we have had to customize the awards for each applicant. The overall purpose of the awards has stayed the same: to ensure that women can maintain their research productivity during major life transitions. 3 Table 2: Progress to Date Goal Initiative: Change the Demographics Increase the number of women hired on to the science and engineering faculty and on to the research staff at the EI (Lamont, CIESIN, and IRI) Marie Tharp Visiting Fellowship 1) Increase the faculty and research staff’s awareness of up-and-coming women scientists and engineers 2) Increase the pool of women who would be identified as recruitment targets 3) Provide role models for women already at Columbia Provide an incentive for divisions and departments to expand their efforts to recruit and retain women scientists. These awards also provide an opportunity for ADVANCE to learn more about division/ departmental search practices. Involved Groups Chairs, Deans, Search Committee Chairs, Faculty, Research Staff, EI Leadership Assessment Measures Change in the % women among new hires over time Outcomes to Date - % women among new hires has increased from 17% to 50% in engineering and applied sciences from 17% to 25% in the natural sciences. - % women on the junior staff at LDEO increased from 14% to 20% - DEES attempted to hire one of the Tharp Fellows. - Number of applicants has fluctuated: 15 in 2005, 16 in 2006, 8 in 2007 - 1 letter of internal support received in 2005; 7 letters of internal support received for 5 candidates in 2007 - Seven awards have been granted to four departments and three Lamont divisions - After increasing the number of women in their seminar series, Applied Physics and Applied Math (APAM) attempted to hire one of the women speakers. - After receiving an ADVANCE award, several departments (APAM, Ecology, Evolution and Environ. Bio) asked ADVANCE to help with other efforts to recruit women. ADVANCE staff have: - increased the number of candidates being considered for searches in Civil Engineering and Applied Physics and Applied Math - helped to find childcare accommodations for women being recruited by Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Visiting fellows (3 per year); faculty and research staff on LDEO and Morningside campuses - Efforts by departments and centers to recruit the Fellows - Number of applicants each year - Number of unsolicited letters of internal support for the candidates - Number of awards - demographic changes within the department/ division - Institutionalization of programs and activities by the department or division Division / Department Transformation Awards Department chairs, division directors, faculty, and research staff Staff Support for Search Committees Enhance the ability of search committees to identify and successfully recruit emerging and established women candidates. Search committees Number of searches impacted 4 Goal Search & Hiring Workshops for Department Chairs 1) Develop and disseminate best practices for recruiting women scholars 2) Provide information about resources available to help recruit women. Involved Groups Department chairs, search committee chairs Assessment Measures - Products developed as a result of the workshops - Number of attendees - Feedback from participants Outcomes to Date - Developed “Best Practices for Search Committees,” and a “Roadmap for Recruiting DualCareer Academic Couples.” - Disseminated UM “Candidate Evaluation Form,” which was later used by a DEES search committee - Over 30 faculty attended each workshop - Next year we will distribute an evaluation form following each workshop STRIDE’s recommendations were included in a proposal from the Vice Provost for Diversity to the Provost; some recommendations have been acted upon, others are awaiting action from the Provost. - Data collection for cohort analyses in progress - Little progress on increasing number of women in leadership positions at Columbia - Less than 20% of academic positions at the level of Dean and above are held by women at Columbia, compared to above 30%, on average, at other Ivy League Schools. - Four awards - Each workshop resulted in a new publication or proposal opportunity for the award recipient. - All 4 of the award recipients used ADVANCE funds to get additional funding from other sources - “Awardees clearly felt that organizing their workshop put them ‘on the map” in their field.” (external evaluation report) STRIDE Study policies and processes that increase the recruitment of women; make recommendations to the University leadership. Members of STRIDE, Vice Provost for Diversity and other University leaders Implementation of STRIDE recommendations Initiative: Attract, Foster and Promote Women Leaders Attract, retain and Directors, advance women on the Associate science and engineering Directors, Chairs, faculty and on the Deans, Search research staff at the EI Committee Chairs, (Lamont, CIESIN, and Faculty, Research IRI) Staff - Cohort analyses - Number of women in leadership positions at Columbia Mechanisms MentoringThroughResearch Workshop Awards Enable women scientists to demonstrate leadership by convening a workshop with a senior colleague Workshop chair and senior cochair, workshop participants - Number of awards - Matching funding - Feedback from the awardees (internal and external evaluation) - New collaborations between the awardee and senior people (i.e., new publications, proposals, etc). 5 Goal Childcare / Eldercare Support Awards Encourage women to travel to professional meetings and / or to the field by defraying the cost of child and/or elder care Involved Groups Award recipients Assessment Measures - New collaborations and products that the awardee develops as a result of attending conferences or going to the field Outcomes to Date - Six awards to five women - All of the award recipients reported new collaboration opportunities as a result of the meetings they attended. - As of fall 2007, the award will be institutionalized through the University’s new childcare backup plan, which will cover up to 100 hours of family care - 3 awards to date; one was awarded in 2006; the other two were awarded in 2007 (assessment in progress) - Pilot test completed with 3 of the ADVANCE PIs Transition support awards Enable women to maintain research productivity during life transitions Provide women with career guidance and leadership development skills 1) Provide women at Lamont with professional development and leadership skills 2) Encourage social networking among women scientists Provide women faculty, research scientists, and graduate students with the skills necessary to negotiate academic positions Executive Coaching Lamont Women’s Forum Award recipient, others at the institution who may provide costshare Coach, participants, colleagues and associates providing survey input Women research scientists at Lamont - Number of awards - Research productivity during the transition (internal and external evaluation) Surveys with women participants before and after coaching - Number of attendees - Feedback from the women who attended (semi-structure interviews – external evaluation). Number of attendees - 10-20 women attended each meeting Negotiation Workshop Workshop participants (faculty, research scientists, graduate students) - Each workshop was RSVP only (max of 30 attendees per workshop). After hearing about the workshop the 1st year, grad students requested their own workshop in the 2nd year 6 Initiative: Institutional Culture Shift Using Social Science Research Attract, retain and Directors, - Cohort analyses advance women on the Associate science and engineering Directors, Chairs, faculty and on the Deans, Search research staff at the EI Committee (Lamont, CIESIN, and Chairs, Faculty, IRI) Research Staff Mechanisms Climate Survey 1) Provide a diagnostic Survey Improvement in the assessment of the work respondents; climate as measured by a environment for men and administrators and change in the results women at Lamont, SEAS, institutional between the 1st and 2nd Barnard, and SPH leaders that can survey (to be conducted 2) Use results as a implement survey in Y5) baseline to measure future recommendations progress 3) Raise awareness of climate issues through the dissemination of survey results CRLT Players Use theater to convey the Directors, Feedback from the climate for women Associate audience after each scientists Directors, Chairs, performance Deans, Search Committee Chairs, Faculty, Research Staff, Post-Docs, Students ADVANCE Presidential Lectures Engage University leaders and the faculty in diversity efforts by bringing eminent scholars from peer institutions to campus. University leadership, deans, faculty, research staff - Number of lectures - Level of engagement from University leaders Data collection for cohort analyses in progress - 50% response rate - Lamont survey results presented at a campus-wide meeting hosted by the Lamont Director; SPH survey results presented at a SPH faculty meeting hosted by the Dean of SPH - SEAS survey results still under consideration by the SEAS Diversity Initiatives Committee - Over 100 people attended Lamont performance; performances at the main campus and at Barnard were not as well-attended (less than 20 people at each performance). - Working with CRLT players to compile feedback from the evaluation forms - The President of Columbia sponsored the first lecture with Shirley Tilghman, President of Princeton; the President and the Dean of Engineering sponsored the 2nd lecture with Chuck Vest, President Emeritus of MIT. - Average number of page views each week on the ADVANCE website increased 46% from 4,675 in October to 6,840 in Nov. 2007. - Plans are underway for the 2007 symposium - Over 200 faculty and staff attended the event. - the event also received coverage in the NY Times - Over 50 people have attended each event. - Lamont Director has hosted every event. Science of Diversity Symposium (Nov 17, 2006) Intellectually engage natural scientists and engineers in a discussion about the science behind diversity. Science of Diversity Seminar Series at Lamont University leadership, deans, faculty, research staff - Traffic to symposium website - Institutionalization - Number of attendees Faculty and research scientists at Lamont - Number of attendees - Institutionalization 7 Table 3: New Minority Outreach Strategy Partner Institution Xavier University Columbia Units / Departments NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Departments: Chemistry Mathematics Physics Earth and Environmental Sciences Academic Basis for Collaboration Overlapping research interests Long-term goal - Establishment of a Partnership in Research and Education in Materials (PREM) - Faculty Exchange program Spelman College Bennett College Natural science departments University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Mayaguez and Humacau St. Peter’s College (Hispanicserving institution) Lamont / DEES - Spelman is the only women’s HBCU with an environmental science department - Potential connections with scientists at Lamont and in SEAS (Earth and Environmental Engineering) - Bennett, a women’s HBCU, has a small natural science department - Bennett faculty would be benefit from connections to institutions such as Columbia and the Earth Institute Establish a link to the new Earth and environmental sciences PhD program at the University of Puerto Rico Overlapping research interests - Spelman faculty participate in the Marie Tharp Fellowship Program - Research collaborations between Columbia and Spelman scientists - Bennett faculty participate in the Marie Tharp Fellowship Program - Faculty exchange programs with a department in the natural sciences - UPR faculty participate in the Marie Tharp Fellowship Program - Faculty exchange programs - Faculty exchange program - Formal partnership with the Nanocenter Nanocenter (SEAS) Departments of Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics