ST. LOUIS — The University of Missouri-St. Louis has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program to improve gender equity in academic careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
UMSL's grant team also will put a focus on advancing the careers of African American and Hispanic women faculty, officials said.
"We are excited to be part of the national ADVANCE community of institutions taking the lead and foster gender equity in the STEM fields, and we look forward to making real change that can serve as an example for others in our region and across the country," UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik said in a statement. "Having the NSF's confidence in our ability to implement the initiatives in our proposal will serve us well as we begin this work."
Sobolik will serve as the principal investigator on the grant, while UMSL Provost Marie Mora is the lead co-private investigator. Other co-private investigators include Andrew Kersten, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Matthew Taylor, associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Bettina Casad, associate professor and director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Program.
UMSL will adapt initiatives that have been tested and proven successful at other institutions that also sought to foster gender equity, officials said.
"Given where we are as an institution, we did not envision necessarily having to reinvent the wheel," Mora said. "Looking at our student and faculty demographics, it became clear that there are areas we need to examine with respect to our faculty recruitment and retention policies and practices to build gender equity. A lot of other institutions have done work in that area."
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