Skip to main content

UNO Receives National Science Foundation Catalyst ADVANCE Grant

The grant will support the study of organizational change and gender equity in the STEM academic professions on UNO’s campus.

  • published: 2024/07/15
  • contact: Sam Peshek - Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Henningson Memorial Campanile the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Dodge Campus at sunrise on Thursday, June 6, 2024, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

Henningson Memorial Campanile the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Dodge Campus at sunrise on Thursday, June 6, 2024, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.

Highlights

  • “We need all talent at the table here in Nebraska,” UNO Chief Diversity Officer A.T. Miller, Ph.D., said.

  • NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grants help institutions identify gender inequities impacting faculty.

  • UNO faculty and staff will have opportunities to share their experiences with a multi-disciplinary research team over a two-year period.


The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE program to study organizational change and gender equity in the STEM academic professions on campus, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion announced.

“We are proud to do our part at UNO to build a broader and more inclusive STEM workforce that will then provide more comprehensive insights and greater excellence across the board, as all studies show,” A.T. Miller, Ph.D., UNO’s chief diversity officer and principal investigator for the project, said. “We need all talent at the table here in Nebraska.”

Nationally and in Nebraska, women and other groups continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

According to a report released by the National Science Foundation in 2021, of the total workforce a greater share of men (29%) work in STEM occupations compared to women (18%).


Addressing Gender Inequity in STEM with NSF Funding

The $300,000 grant is designed to support institutions of higher education as they undertake data collection and engage in institutional self-assessment to identify the specific and systemic gender inequities impacting faculty at their institution. The grant will include all colleges and departments at UNO, with representation from college deans and research centers serving on the internal steering committee.

The ADVANCE Catalyst grant is a two-year award. Project activities will include thorough analyses of existing institutional data and university policies on recruitment, hiring, and promotion. It will also include secondary analysis from campus-wide culture and climate surveys, attrition interviews with faculty who have left UNO, focus group discussions with faculty in STEM, and site visits to other institutions with ADVANCE awards.


Multi-Disciplinary Team Leads UNO's Initiative for Inclusive STEM Workforce

Over the two-year award period, there will be numerous opportunities for UNO faculty and staff to share their experiences and feedback with the project team as it relates to gender inequities in STEM departments and the campus more broadly.

The research team is multi-disciplinary and brings together expertise in topics related to diversity, equity, access, and inclusion initiatives, STEM, organizational change and culture, mentoring, and public outreach and dissemination.

The research team includes Morgan Vogel, Ph.D., and Josie Schafer, Ph.D., from the Center for Public Affairs Research; Janelle Beadle, Ph.D., from the Department of Gerontology; Kathryn Cooper, Ph.D., from the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics; and Pedro Okoruwa from the Office of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion.