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1. Fostering the professional advancement of minority STEM faculty at HBCUs

   Qazi, M; Escobar, M. (January 2019, Peer review)

   Faculty of color are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and this underrepresentation is more evident in the higher ranks of the professoriate. This paper presents the rationale for developing the Pathways for Advancement and Tenure at HBCUs (PATHs) program which, with support from the NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program, seeks to provide underrepresented faculty at HBCUs with the tools to attain promotion and tenure. PATHs three interventions (grantsmanship, research publications, and quality of life) provide its participating Faculty (PATHs Fellows) with the tools to develop a competitive promotion and tenure application. The expectations and limitations to implementation of the program are discussed in the framework of the current status of HBCUs. 

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2. A New Effort to Diversify Faculty: Postdoc-to-Tenure Track Conversion Models

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.733995  

   Culpepper, Dawn; Reed, Autumn M.; Enekwe, Blessing; Carter-Veale, Wendy; LaCourse, William R.; McDermott, Patrice; Cresiski, Robin H. (November 2021, Frontiers in Psychology)

   Calls to diversify the professoriate have been ongoing for decades. However, despite increasing numbers of scholars from underrepresented racial minority groups earning doctorates, actual progress in transitioning to faculty has been slow, particularly across STEM disciplines. In recent years, new efforts have emerged to recruit faculty members from underrepresented racial minority groups (i.e., African American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and/or Native American/Native Hawaiian/Indigenous) through highly competitive postdoctoral programs that allow fellows the opportunity to transition (or “convert”) into tenure-track roles. These programs hybridize some conventional aspects of the faculty search process (e.g., structured interview processes that facilitate unit buy-in) along with novel evidence-based practices and structural supports (e.g., proactive recruitment, cohort communities, search waivers, professional development, enhanced mentorship, financial incentives). In this policy and practice review, we describe and synthesize key attributes of existing conversion programs at institutional, consortium, and system levels. We discuss commonalities and unique features across models ( N = 38) and draw specific insights from postdoctoral conversion models developed within and across institutions in the University System of Maryland (USM). In particular, experience garnered from a 10-year-old postdoc conversion program at UMBC will be highlighted, as well as the development of an additional institutional model aimed at the life sciences, and a state-system model of faculty diversification with support from a NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant. 

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3. Investigating Tenure Experiences of Foreign-Born Women Faculty in Engineering at the California State University System

   Oka, Lalita; Stillmaker, Kimberly; Rosser, Sue; Sadrinezhad, Arezoo; Nazari, Maryam; Park, Younghee; Abercromby, Kira; Amirkulova, Feruza (June 2022, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   The number of engineering doctoral degrees awarded to foreign-born (international) students has increased in the past three decades. It has resulted in an increase in the foreign-born professoriate across the USA. To address gender parity and address the needs of a diverse student population, many universities are increasingly recruiting foreign-born women faculty. While their immigration status is their transitional identity, they do have a distinctive racial/ethnic identity. Unfortunately, issues of foreign-born faculty, especially women, are understudied. A pilot study was carried out at the California State University System to assess the needs of women faculty. A survey was administered to the engineering faculty (all identity groups) across California State University System. This paper examines the tenure navigation of foreign-born women faculty to identify their needs to attain tenure and promotion successfully. Resource satisfaction between the populations based on gender and foreign-born status are compared. Based on the evidence presented, the authors argue that foreign-born status should be considered as one of the parameters in planning retention programs and addressing intersectionality for engineering academics. Some ongoing efforts at the California State University System are also reported. 

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4. Developing a State University System Model to Diversify Faculty in the Biomedical Sciences

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.734145  

   Cresiski, Robin Herlands; Ghent, Cynthia Anne; Rutledge, Janet C.; Carter-Veale, Wendy Y.; Aumiller, Jennifer; Bertot, John Carlo; Enekwe, Blessing; Golembewski, Erin; Medina, Yarazeth; Scott, Michael S. (March 2022, Frontiers in Psychology)

   Amid increasing demands from students and the public, universities have recently reinvigorated their efforts to increase the number of faculty from underrepresented populations. Although a myriad of piecemeal programs targeting individual recruitment and development have been piloted at several institutions, overall growth in faculty diversity remains almost negligible and highly localized. To bring about genuine change, we hypothesize a consortia approach that links individuals to hiring opportunities within a state university system might be more effective. Here we present a case study describing the progress of the NSF-funded Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) PROMISE Academy Alliance, a consortium within the University System of Maryland (USM) collaborating to develop, implement, self-study, evaluate, and disseminate a unique postdoc-to-faculty conversion model in the biomedical sciences. The initiative centers on diversifying faculty across five institutions in the USM, including teaching-focused institutions, comprehensive universities, research institutions, and professional schools. Components of this approach include (1) enhanced recruiting and hiring practices to attract outstanding postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented backgrounds, (2) multi-institutional networking and professional development, and (3) facilitated processes to transition (or “convert”) postdocs into tenure-track positions at their postdoctoral institution or another institution in the state system. This model is distinct from more deficit-based approaches because it goes beyond focusing on building the individual’s skills to enter the professoriate. This program restructures the traditionally short-term nature of postdoctoral employment and incorporates a pathway to a tenure-track professorship at the same institution or within the same statewide system where the postdoc is trained. This multi-institutional model leverages collaboration and distinct institutional strengths to create cross-institutional support, advocacy, and policy. Importantly, it uses a decentralized financial structure that makes this approach distinctly replicable. Recognizing the immediate need for more collaborative approaches to diversify faculty and a lack of literature about such approaches, this case study describes the development of, and potential benefits of, a state university system, as well as the qualitative lessons learned from self-study, internal evaluation, external evaluation, and NSF site visits. The AGEP PROMISE Academy can serve as a model for replication at other university systems hoping to diversify their faculty. 

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5. Barriers and Facilitators to Obtaining External Funding at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

   Escobar, Martha; Qazi, Mohammed; Majewski, Haylee; Jeelani, Shaik (September 2023, Journal of STEM education)

   Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were established to further the education of Black Americans and have a long history of service to minority, first-generation, and low-income students. HBCUs are also struggling financially, due to federal and state underinvestment, small endowments, low alumni giving, and decreasing enrollment. Financial constraints not only have a direct impact on physical facilities and resources, but also on human resources. Faculty at HBCUs are tasked with heavy teaching loads and, in research-focused institutions, high research expectations, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. However, HBCUs can provide only limited support for these research endeavors; thus, faculty at these institutions need to pursue external grants and contracts to support their research. In the present study, we surveyed faculty at five research-focused HBCUs to determine the major difficulties they encounter when applying for external funding (barriers) and the things their institution could do to facilitate this process (facilitators). Time constraints and difficulties with internal functioning and policies emerged as the most relevant barriers, whereas providing training and mentoring and improving internal functioning and policies emerged as the most relevant facilitators. The PATHs program is proposed as a model of faculty support anchored around mentoring and institutional awareness, and which could be adapted to different institutions to increase their faculty’s success in attaining external funding. 

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