About TEAM ADVANCE
TEAM ADVANCE strives to build a culture of effective, equitable mentoring across the University. TEAM ADVANCE’s diverse, experienced project team leverages the expertise and resources of the University’s faculty and staff to develop and implement mentoring frameworks informed by intersectionality. We are funded by the National Science Foundation (Award 1760187) for just under $1 million over a three-year period to implement our initiatives and conduct research on the effectiveness of our programs, with an emphasis on systemic change for women of color and white women in STEM and related disciplines. While our grant focuses on STEM units, we welcome non-STEM faculty and departments to participate in our programming.
TEAM ADVANCE is housed in the Center for Faculty Excellence and works in partnership with the Office for Diversity and Inclusion. We have also worked with the Carolina Women’s Center. Our strategic campus partnerships ensure that our programs and resources are accessible to departments and units across campus, and will serve the University beyond the life of our grant.
Our Objectives
In keeping with the mission of the NSF ADVANCE program, our interventions and research activities support the retention of women of color and white women in STEM and related fields. Our University’s STEM disciplines reflect national trends, where women of color and white women are underrepresented in leadership and at the full professor rank. Furthermore,
- Women are underrepresented at each tenure rank and overrepresented in fixed-term positions, compared to men.
- Men are more likely to request and lead funded research projects, compared to women.
- Women reported less access to mentoring, compared to men.
- Non-white faculty reported less access to mentoring, compared to white faculty at all ranks.
Experiences of marginalization slow white women and women of color’s professional progress, hamper their research, and isolate them. Women of color face even greater challenges at the intersection of race and gender. There are also differences in culture and practice across STEM departments that impact career development, satisfaction, and attrition.
Our Programs and Initiatives follow a multilevel approach to create a lasting culture of inclusive mentoring:
- Establish and collaborate with the Special Assistant to the Provost for TEAM ADVANCE to ensure consistent faculty mentoring program implementation and accountability across the University.
- Provide educational programs and resources to deans, chairs, and campus leadership to promote intersectionality-informed mentoring programs.
- Provide educational programs and resources to faculty mentors to support their capacity to provide holistic mentoring for early- and mid-career faculty.
- Provide cohort-based workshops, seminars, and peer mentoring to early- and mid-career faculty mentees.
Our faculty need mentoring at the early- and mid-career ranks to ensure their career success and to address the intersectional inequities that women of color and white women face, especially in research, leadership, and teaching. Thus, TEAM ADVANCE is committed to catalyzing a culture of equitable and effective mentoring that includes leadership and faculty, and that will support all faculty throughout their professional development.
Our Partners
The Center for Faculty Excellence is UNC-Chapel Hill’s pan-University faculty development center. Its mission is to enable faculty members in all disciplines to reach their goals in teaching, research, and leadership throughout their careers. Visit the Center’s resource pages for Senior Faculty, Mid-Career Faculty, and Early-Career Faculty.
The Carolina Women’s Center contributes to making the University a more inclusive environment by celebrating achievements towards gender equity and by ensuring there are no gender-based barriers to success. The Carolina Women’s Center serves the entire campus community of students, faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows.
The Office for Diversity and Inclusion offers opportunities and resources to learn from peers and others about diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Carolina community and beyond.