NSF Awards: 2121468
Funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program, Awards HRD-2121468 and HRD-1740860, the ADVANCE Resource and Coordination (ARC) Network seeks to achieve gender equity for faculty in higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines through an intersectional, intentional, and inclusive lens. The ARC Network draws on decades of research and practice to equip the community with critical tools needed for improving the participation, advancement, and inclusion of a diversity of women in STEM. As the go-to hub for community collaboration, the ARC Network hosts events in partnership with the community, including town halls, webinars, virtual workshops, and the Equity in STEM Community Convening. ARC also connects research and practice through a variety of curation, translation, and bridging activities, such as our Virtual Visiting Scholar program and Emerging Research Workshops. The leading champion in North America to propel the inclusion of women in the field of engineering, the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN), serves as the backbone organization of the ARC Network.
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Thank you for taking the time to watch our video! The ARC Network is committed to bridging the gap between research and practice by enabling the exchange of adaptable knowledge, skills, and practices to advance learning and effect systemic change in academic STEM environments. Please comment on any aspect of the ARC Network that you'd like to learn more about and consider joining the community today!
Dr. Marie Mora
Ekundayo Shittu
The innovation behind this video is off the charts! The revolutionary work of the ARC Network is impressive. This is a systemic project that will truly influence the study of numerous uncharted topics. Kudos! I voted!!
Amy Robertson
Dr. Marie Mora
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Ekundayo, thank you for your high praise!
Amy Robertson
Seconding all of this! I smiled the whole way through. And sent the link to multiple colleagues!
Dr. Marci McMahon
Excellent! Such an informative video on how the ARC Network can support faculty and DEI efforts!
Dr. Marie Mora
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Thank you for your comment! I look forward to seeing your work at the Equity in STEM Community Convening.
Barry Fishman
Professor
A really powerful model for enhancing DEI capacity! I'm curious about how you go about assessing the impact of the various resources you provide. Are there ideas that you started with, and then realized were less valuable and required revision (or perhaps just being dropped)?
I'd also like to hear more about how you approach intersectionality. That's in the title of the video, but doesn't get much mention within the content.
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Barry, thank you for your questions. Most of the assessment of our resources is done through evaluation surveys and focus groups. While we have not dropped any of our initial ideas, the feedback we receive from those surveys and focus groups has enabled us to adapt some of our resources/programs so they better serve the community. For example, several of our Virtual Visiting Scholars indicated that having a mentor during their year in the program would be helpful and so we were able to connect our current cohort to members of our Research Advisory Board who can act in that capacity. We also now have a dedicated librarian to manage the ARC Network library and make improvements based on feedback from those evaluation surveys.
In terms of intersectionality, it is part of our 3 I's framework (intersectional, intentional, inclusive) that we use to guide all of our activities. We apply this critical framework for examining how systems of oppression intertwine to influence experiences and opportunities, not only looking at the intersection of race and gender but including other intersectional identities as well, such as disability, sexual orientation, career stage, STEM discipline, and more. Since marginalization isn't experienced based on just one of our identities, it’s important for us to be intentional and thoughtful in who we’re talking about as we develop and implement new activities.
Ashley Garcia
Dr. Marie Mora
This is an excellent and informative video! It fits so well with the upcoming symposium session at the Equity in STEM Community Convening on Leveraging the Power of Networks to ADVANCE Gender & Racial Equity in STEM! People should not underestimate the power of networks; something powerful happens when you bring people together in the same space (physical or virtual).
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Marie, thank you for insightful your comment! You make a great point that we need to create spaces, whether in-person or through a virtual platform, to allow people to connect. I look forward to hearing your insights at the Equity in STEM Community Convening.
Maia Punksungka
Thanks so much for sharing! This is my first time hearing about the Arc Network. My team's work looks to advance community college students who primarily come from marginalized-minority backgrounds. Could you please speak to how the Arc Network partners with community colleges and its effectiveness? Would love to hear some examples of recent interactions.
Virginia Rhodes
Stephani Page
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Hi Maia! I'm excited to share more. Interacting with community colleges is a priority of the ARC Network's engagement efforts. A few examples of how we engage community colleges: 1) when we host town halls (such has our town halls on ensuring equity during COVID-19), we prioritize hearing from community colleges to amplify critical issues, 2) we incorporate resources focusing on community colleges in our resource library which contains over 4,000 resources related to equity in STEM, 3) at the end of May 2022, we are co-hosting a webinar with our home organization WEPAN featuring an NSF ADVANCE program focused on University of Hawai'i Community Colleges (https://www.wepan.org/page/HulaPerspective). WEPAN is also pursuing major initiatives to advance equity at community colleges and we hope to share more about those initiatives in the beginning of 2023. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions. (Apologies, I responded earlier, but did not use the "reply" button to respond in thread.)
Stephani Page
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Hi Maia! I'm excited to share more. Interacting with community colleges is a priority of the ARC Network's engagement efforts. A few examples of how we engage community colleges: 1) when we host town halls (such has our town halls on ensuring equity during COVID-19), we prioritize hearing from community colleges to amplify critical issues, 2) we incorporate resources focusing on community colleges in our resource library which contains over 4,000 resources related to equity in STEM, 3) at the end of May 2022, we are co-hosting a webinar with our home organization WEPAN featuring an NSF ADVANCE program focused on University of Hawai'i Community Colleges (https://www.wepan.org/page/HulaPerspective). WEPAN is also pursuing major initiatives to advance equity at community colleges and we hope to share more about those initiatives in the beginning of 2023. Feel free to reach out if you have more questions.
Virginia Rhodes
Andresse St Rose
Director of Educational Research and Evaluation
Thank you for the video. I am very familiar with WEPAN's great work but this is my first time hearing about the ARC network. I plan to join and share with others. A STEM Equity brain trust is a terrible thing to waste!
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Thank you for watching and sharing the word about WEPAN's initiative. I look forward to having you join the community and I hope to see you at a future ARC Network event!
Janet Coffey
Program Director, Science Learning
Always on the lookout for great resources, and I cannot wait to share more about the ARC network with others. Thank you! What are the ways that Carla can give back? Are resources highly curated, or can members contribute (I realize that these choices are not mutually exclusive!)?
Virginia Rhodes
Virginia Rhodes
ARC Network Project Director
Janet, thank you for your comment and questions! I'm more than happy to share ways Carla can give back. While many of the resources in our digital library are curated, as a member of the ARC Network, Carla can upload her own work or the relevant work of others and can also ask for certain resources or events to be highlighted in our newsletters.
Additionally, the reports and webinars from our Virtual Visiting Scholars (VVS), and the concept papers that come from our Emerging Research Workshops are also housed in our digital library for members to access at any time, which Carla can contribute to by participating in either of those programs.
I hope this helps answer your question!
Laura Ettinger
Virginia and team, thank you so much for this informative video about these wonderful resources! I'm a co-PI on Clarkson University's ADVANCE project, and we greatly appreciate your work!
Francheska Figueroa
Great video and resources to build equity and equality in STEM! Thank you for creating a network (space) to celebrate and embrace inclusion!