FIU receives NSF grant to advance women faculty in science and math

FIU has received a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant to facilitate the hiring, retention and promotion of women in the academic areas of science and mathematics for their “Awareness, Commitment and Empowerment (ACE) of Women Scientists at FIU” project.

The three-year, $573,000 grant will help broaden women’s advancement and participation within the university by supporting networking, cross-disciplinary collaborations and research, mentoring and peer learning. It also promotes a better environment for all faculty, particularly those who experience bias or discrimination based on group, according to School of Integrated Science and Humanity (SISH) Executive Director Suzanna Rose, who is overseeing the grant.

“The ADVANCE grant provides a great opportunity to implement best practices that have been successful elsewhere in recruiting excellent women and minorities into faculty positions in the sciences,” Rose said. “This will increase the talent pool, take more perspectives into account, and draw underrepresented students and faculty into the sciences.”

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Kenneth G. Furton said his college, which houses SISH as well as the School of Environment, Arts and Society and the School of International and Public Affairs, plans to make hundreds of hires in the next four years to meet the demands of the university’s growing student body.

ACE is a partnership between FIU and the University of Michigan, where FIU can adapt and implement the tools and practices that have been effective at Michigan in increasing the involvement and advancement of minority women. In addition to Rose, Asia Eaton, visiting scholar and professor of psychology, Yesim Darici, director of the Women’s Studies Center, and Rosemary Hickey-Vargas, chairperson of the Department of Earth and Environment, are spearheading the initiative.