Building Gender Equity in the Academy

book cover, Building Gender Equity in the Academy

Ìý comes from over a decade of research studying the experiences of ADVANCE projects in the the US that have sought to heighten gender equity on STEM faculties in higher education. Authors Sandra Laursen and Ann E. Austin have distilled this research intoÌýa handbook and how-to guide for leaders in academic institutions—busy people who want to make evidence-based decisions on what to do to increase gender equity, and who need to know how to do it. ÌýAnd it is also for emerging leaders, young and old, who can nudge those in power and prepare to lead themselves someday.Ìý

The heart of the book is a collection of 12 research-based strategies, organized in four groups by what part of the gender equity problem they address. The authors offer a rationale for each strategy, a variety of models, and advice from experience and data about how an institution might choose, implement and evaluate them.ÌýThe opening section offers a succinct literature review—what is the problem, how is it gendered and grounded in STEM—and describes our research. And the book closes with a synthesis about how the strategies are context-sensitive and how to analyze your own organizationalÌýcontext to make choices about which of the strategies best fit for your particular institution. Ìý

WeÌýwrote this book to help peopleÌýmake change. ÌýWhile the research is based on institutions of higher education, we think the strategies are more broadly applicable to other workplaces that share some characteristics with academe, such as national labs, high tech,Ìýor R&D organizations.Ìý And, while the ADVANCE projects we studied were focused on gender, many of the strategies also readily adaptÌýto address other dimensions ofÌýequity, such as race, ethnicity, class, disability, Indigenous status, and more. Ìý

by Sandra Laursen and Ann E. Austin is published by the .

  • For video vignettes and other resources to complement the book, please visit the .Ìý
  • For book informationÌýand the publisher's discountÌýcode, please download this flyer
  • Press
    1. , 1/29/21. Scott Jaschik,ÌýInside Higher Education.
    2. , 2/1/21
    3. , 2/11/21
    4. , 2/25/21
      1. 4/15/21,
      2. 6/22/21,
      3. 8/10/21,
      4. 1/19/22,Ìý
  • Reviews
    1. onÌýMirjam Glessmer'sÌýAdventures in Oceanography and Teaching blog, 6/24/21.
    2. Ìýby Kyra Cook for ADVANCE Catalyst projectÌýat Missouri State, 10/25/21.
    3. , book review by Umme Al-Wazedi for AAUP Academe,ÌýMarch 2022.
  • Selected talks and workshops
    1. We led a 4-partÌý for theÌýSEA Change community hosted by AAAS (Feb.-May 2021). The live events are pastÌýbut new members can join the community and gain access to the recorded sessions and support materials.
    2. We to kick off a month-long series of talks for the 20th anniversary of ADVANCE, 3/3/21.Ìý
    3. Austin spoke at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 5/5/22.

The authors thankÌýour editors, Greg Britton and Kyle Gipson;Ìýour eagle-eyed copy editor, Merryl Sloane;Ìýour thoughtful indexer, ;Ìýour reviewers and endorsers; andÌýthe excellent team at JHUP who helped to bring this work to you.ÌýWe are gratefulÌýto colleagues throughout the ADVANCE community for their work, theirÌýinsights, and theirÌýgenerosity of information, ideas, and critical commentary.

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under awards HRD-0930097 and HRD-1830185. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these reports are those of the researchers, and do not necessarily represent the official views, opinions, or policy of the National Science Foundation.