Professorial Advancement Initiative: A Cross-Institutional Collaboration to Increase Faculty Diversity in STEM

Area of Science:

• Higher Education
• Faculty Diversity
• Workforce Development

Background:

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) AGEP program funds initiatives to broaden participation in STEM.
• The Big Ten Academic Alliance universities recognized a need to increase faculty diversity.
• Minoritized faculty, including African Americans, Hispanic/Latinx, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders, are underrepresented in academia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the faculty diversity model developed by the Professorial Advancement Initiative (PAI).
• To evaluate the effectiveness of PAI in achieving its goal of doubling the hiring rate of minoritized faculty.
• To share lessons learned and best practices for enhancing faculty diversity in higher education.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of a comprehensive faculty diversity model across 12 universities.
• Focus on programmatic elements designed to increase recruitment and retention of minoritized faculty.
• Data collection and analysis of hiring rates for tenure-track positions.

Main Results:

• The Professorial Advancement Initiative (PAI) successfully doubled the hiring rate of minoritized faculty.
• Key programmatic elements and developed practices contributed to achieving the diversity goal.
• The initiative demonstrated a scalable model for increasing faculty diversity.

Conclusions:

• The PAI model provides a successful framework for increasing faculty diversity in higher education.
• Collaboration among institutions can accelerate progress towards diversity goals.
• Sustained effort and targeted strategies are crucial for recruiting and retaining minoritized faculty.