About Us
Diversifying STEM
Nationwide, women represent only 17 percent of the faculty in academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and women of color are proportionally even less represented. The National Science Foundation is working to address this problem through its ADVANCE program, and Purdue is among the institutions that have received Institutional Transformation grants from the NSF to join the effort.
ADVANCE-Purdue
With its five-year, $4 million NSF grant, the University initiated ADVANCE-Purdue, a project focused on achieving three goals:
- Increasing the number of women of color in STEM tenure-track faculty positions
- Improving the success of all female STEM tenure-track faculty
- Engaging all faculty in transforming the institution
In pursuing each of these goals, ADVANCE-Purdue fosters a more diverse workplace where all faculty flourish. The goal is a faculty characterized by greater perspectives, broader experience, and a wider knowledge base.
Center for Faculty Success
To support the achievement of STEM faculty, ADVANCE-Purdue created the Center for Faculty Success. The center develops and implements programming to engage the faculty, such as mentoring and leadership development. The center reviews and contributes to campus policy and informs the Purdue community of policies related to women in STEM disciplines.
Insights through Discovery
ADVANCE-Purdue and the Center for Faculty Success conducts research exploring the causes of women's underrepresentation in the STEM disciplines. The results are used to develop programming that addresses these causes and improves the experiences of female faculty members.
