Creating Continuous Change: Adapting an NSF ADVANCE Approach to the Development of the AGEP-NC Model of Institutional Transformation

Abstract

Lessons learned through the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE) program continue to pay dividends long after the ADVANCE grant period concludes. This article details how strategies implemented in an ADVANCE Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation and Dissemination (PAID) project at one institution in 2008-2012, which were themselves adapted from earlier ADVANCE projects, have been applied to address issues of equity and inclusion for doctoral students in science, technology, engineering and mathematical sciences (STEM) graduate programs at three institutions. We detail the successful elements of the ADVANCE PAID project; the steps taken to evaluate, adapt and integrate them into a comprehensive model of change for an Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) project; and the impact of the AGEP project to date. We then generalize this process to provide recommendations for scholar-practitioners wishing to integrate elements of past ADVANCE and AGEP projects into current and future initiatives for lasting institutional change.