NSF Org:	RISE Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER)
Recipient:	UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA
Initial Amendment Date:	August 30, 2020
Latest Amendment Date:	October 14, 2020
Award Number:	2037455
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	Brandon Jones mbjones@nsf.gov  (703)292-4713 RISE  Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER) GEO  Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	September 15, 2020
End Date:	August 31, 2023 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$299,878.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$299,878.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2020 = $299,878.00
History of Investigator:	Megan Elwood Madden (Principal Investigator) melwood@ou.edu Gerilyn Soreghan (Co-Principal Investigator) Lori Snyder (Co-Principal Investigator) Elinor Martin (Co-Principal Investigator) Mashhad Fahes (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	University of Oklahoma Norman Campus 660 PARRINGTON OVAL RM 301 NORMAN OK  US  73019-3003 (405)325-4757
Sponsor Congressional District:	04
Primary Place of Performance:	University of Oklahoma Norman Campus 100 E Boyd St, Suite 710 Norman OK  US  73019-0001
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	04
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	EVTSTTLCEWS5
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s):	Integrat & Collab Ed & Rsearch
Primary Program Source:	01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):	7699, 7916
Program Element Code(s):	769900
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.050

ABSTRACT

This EAGER proposal aims to identify, empower, and reward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) champions within the geosciences by aligning hiring, promotion, award, and other evaluation systems with goals to promote diversity and inclusion within the field. The PIs will work with the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies (SWCHRS) to learn from and work with national leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education to revise and re-envision evaluation and reward structures within academic units that recruit and train the next generations of geoscientists. PIs propose the following workplan to achieve project goals: 1) Collect DEI data from geoscience departments nationwide to capture a baseline. 2) Interview faculty in focus departments and survey geoscience programs nationally to establish how faculty are currently evaluated in geoscience departments; determine how DEI efforts fit within evaluation, tenure, promotion, and award frameworks; assess faculty attitudes on the value of DEI work; and identify barriers to engaging in and rewarding DEI efforts. 3) Work with expert consultants to develop example evaluation and reward structures that explicitly value DEI work that can be adopted/adapted by other geoscience departments. 4) Work with SWCHRS experts to develop and distribute two webinars focused on helping academic units explicitly value DEI efforts within hiring and evaluation systems. These webinars will be offered at no cost to the geoscience community. 5) Evaluate the impact of the webinars and faculty perceptions of revised evaluation systems that explicitly value and reward DEI efforts.

This project proposes to employ social science methods to study barriers that hinder diversity in geosciences. Outcomes from the research will inform the production of resources that PIs will widely and freely disseminate, using a website highlighting 1- example questions, assessment rubrics, and decision trees departments can use to explicitly value DEI knowledge, skills, efforts, and impact in faculty hiring, tenure, promotion, and annual evaluation processes; 2- national geoscience faculty diversity data; and 3-webinars to help geoscience departments clearly and effectively value DEI knowledge and efforts in faculty hiring and evaluation processes. These resources will catalyze development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce and engage full participation of UR scholars in geoscience and positively impact URM/marginalized faculty and students by both valuing the knowledge gained through their lived experiences and encouraging more faculty from diverse backgrounds to engage in DEI efforts, thus dispersing the load and broadening the impact, while also rewarding those who engage in DEI work, including previously ?invisible? labor. The PIs will develop and share ways to reward faculty who engage in inclusive and active teaching practices, which have been shown to positively impact student learning across the board, while also closing the achievement gap for UR scholars and marginalized students.

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.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This project collected both qualitative and quantitative data through interviews and surveys of Geoscience faculty within the United States, to better understand how faculty perceive equity, inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) work within their departments. We found that across the full sample set, most faculty perceive that less than half of their colleagues are engaged in these activities and that they perceive that women, early career faculty, and members of historically underrepresented and minoritized (URM) groups are more likely to be engaged.  However, faculty working in primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), or those holding leadership positions in departments were more likely to report broader engagement in IDEA work. Across all types of institutions, most respondents perceive that this work is primarily voluntary. 

 The majority of respondents across all institutions also perceived that these efforts are not included or clearly valued in evaluation or reward structures; men and members of URM groups were more likely to report that these efforts are not valued compared to white women. URM faculty reported that clearer evaluation structures and more resources are needed to increase their engagement in IDEA work, while tenured faculty and those holding leadership positions cited the lack of time as the most frequent barrier. 

Based on the survey and interview results, we also held an open, collaborative webinar for faculty to come together and collaboratively develop example evaluation criteria that clearly value faculty member’s IDEA work in annual evaluations and other reward structures. 

This data and the collaboratively developed products from the webinar will allow geosciences (and other disciplines) to reflect on how their field supports and rewards IDEA efforts and the potential impacts this recognition, or lack thereof, may have on URM students and faculty.. This data allows geoscience faculty to critically evaluate their historical structures and envision change needed support IDEA labor across in all professional activities.  Indeed, the primary impacts of this work fall beyond science and technology; our results positively impact and inform efforts to strengthen the geosciences academic workforce and provide a potential model for other academic STEM disciplines to follow.

 

Last Modified: 11/14/2023
Modified by: Megan E Elwood Madden

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