Enhancing Campus
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ADVANCE-Nebraska continues to improve UNL’s culture and ensure that all science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty thrive. UNL’s program focuses on recruitment, promotion and retention of women in STEM fields.
In 2010, Prem Paul, vice chancellor for research and economic development, was named principal investigator of ADVANCE-Nebraska, which was funded in 2008 by a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
"ADVANCE-Nebraska is transformational at UNL. We’re seeing enhanced collaboration and a stronger and more broadly inclusive culture. I’m proud that our faculty members’ engagement with this important program continues to grow," Paul said.
Mary Anne Holmes, the geoscientist who directs ADVANCE-Nebraska, added, "We’re delighted that ADVANCE-Nebraska has been instrumental in hiring six dual-career couples in STEM departments at UNL."
Sociologist Christina Falci leads a team that has applied social network analysis to explore connections in STEM departments at UNL, in a study funded by a seed grant from ADVANCE-Nebraska and the Office of Research and Economic Development.
Falci surveyed faculty in 15 STEM departments and found that women and non-white men tend to have fewer social connections within their departments than white men. Non-white males also are less likely to be connected to "well-connected" faculty in research and social networks. Being outside the networks can mean that females and non-white males have less access to information and less influence within their departments.
Falci and co-authors – sociologist Julia McQuillan, sociology doctoral student Megumi Watanabe and Holmes – have submitted their findings to the American Sociological Association. They will launch the second phase of their study in spring 2011.
