PROJECT ABSTRACT/SUMMARY
Background: Institutional change in higher education regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, tends to be
complex, contested, and slow moving. However, many institutions continue to design and implement change
programs. Among those are gender equity initiatives that aim to increase the participation and advancement of
diverse women faculty in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM)
academic and research workforce. Despite these efforts and initiatives, many institutions continue to face
structural barriers to the change programs they attempt to implement. What is missing is a central hub to
support and advance gender equity programs through collecting, validating, evaluating and disseminating
strategies and outcomes. Such a resource would provide the necessary tools, strategies, and techniques to
optimize gender equity programs collaboratively across STEMM disciplines.
Aims: The proposed National Coordinating Center for Advancing Gender Inclusive Excellence (AGIE) at
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) intends to fill this gap. In collaboration with the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), the VCU AGIE will create an online central repository for sharing resources, tools, technologies,
expertise, and strategies designed to overcome systemic gender-based inequities impacting the STEMM
academic and research workforce. Stakeholders will be able to search for strategies to identify and address
systemic gender-based inequities and enable women to attain leadership positions in STEMM research. The
aims of the VCU AGIE are to: 1) Evaluate the types and components of programs that substantially increase
the participation and advancement of diverse women faculty in the STEMM academic and research workforce;
2) Develop a central repository for data, tools, programs, and strategies that promote gender equity at the
faculty and leadership levels in the STEMM academic and research workforce; and, 3) Promote and
disseminate research on barriers and strategies to enhance the recruitment, retention and advancement of
STEMM women faculty and leaders in the academic and research workforce.
Impact: The primary outcome of accomplishing these aims will allow the VCU AGIE, in collaboration with the
NIH, to set a national standard of excellence for advancing diverse women in faculty and leadership positions
across the STEMM fields. By accomplishing this goal, this program will create a functional, validated, and
sustainable resource to overcome systemic gender-based inequities impacting the STEMM academic and
research workforce.