Barbara Risman (University of Illinois Chicago), Kristen Myers (East Carolina University) and Allison Danell (East Carolina University)

“Feminist Transformation of Universities”

This seminar is organized in collaboration with CIRSDE-MINDTHEGEP

Abstract.  Our goal is to share information about the attempts being funded by the National Science Foundation in the United States to advance gender equity in universities, and in science more widely.  The NSF ADVANCE program first issued a call for proposals over two decades ago (2001).   Funds have been made available on for both Fellowships to individuals and institutional transformation proposals. We focus here on the history and effectiveness of the institutional transformation projects.  We highlight both strengths and weaknesses of these attempts.  We then share data from a project now in process at Eastern Carolina University.  We end with the suggestion that attention needs to be paid to individuals, gendered expectations, and organizational policy and culture, as suggested by gender structure theory.