Strategies to Support (Female) STEM Faculty as Voiced by Female STEM Faculty at a Major Research University

This paper reports the results of qualitative research, viewed through the theoretical lenses of social learning theory and communities of practice, which aimed to investigate strategies to support female STEM faculty at all ranks at East Coast University (ECU). Sixteen such strategies were identified via the iterative analysis of interviews with 19 tenured/tenuretrack female STEM faculty at ECU, representative of all academic ranks and of multiple departments across the College of Science & Mathematics and College of Engineering. The strategies responded to initiatives and policies in place at ECU to support female STEM faculty, were specifically mentioned by at least one participant, or attended to issues common to female faculty such as work-life balance. The strategies were organized into four categories: 1) changing culture (category contains five strategies, including “emphasize data-driven decision making”); 2) building networks of support and information (three strategies, including “encourage informal networking among female STEM faculty”); 3) supporting work-life balance (three strategies, including “continue, clarify and enhance family-friendly policies”); and 4) other strategies to support female STEM faculty (five strategies, including “increase opportunities for female STEM faculty to be officially recognized for their work”). The study has implications not only for how ECU might better support female STEM faculty, but also how other universities might do the same.