Empowering Women in STEM

Women account for more than half of our nation’s college-educated labor force, and at Florida Atlantic University — like many institutions nationwide — females make up nearly 60 percent of the student population. In order to prepare these students to meet the workforce needs of the future, Florida Atlantic is determined to help ensure appropriate representation of women in its STEM faculty.

“It is important that our student body be mirrored in our faculty and other academic leaders, as research has shown that having like role models can be crucial to female students’ success,” said Florida Atlantic Provost Michele Hawkins.

As the recipient of an NSF ADVANCE ADAPTATION grant, Florida Atlantic will focus on identifying and eliminating organizational barriers to the participation and advancement of female faculty in science, technology, engineering and math. Specifically, the project team will seek to advance self-sustaining interventions for hiring and retention; transparent and equitable policies; information through a longitudinal demographic data dashboard of faculty; and strategic communications.

“Successful implementation of our program will achieve a more representative STEM faculty and accelerate institutional competitiveness in education and research,” said Alka Sapat, Ph.D., principal investigator, professor and director of the School of Public Administration in FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. “The crucial outcome of this transformation will be the mitigation of STEM workforce shortages with implications for local industries, in particular, biotechnologies, aerospace, health, aging, agriculture, international trade, marine environment, information and security, and financial services.”

The project builds on a 2016 NSF ADVANCE CATALYST award to improve the inclusion of women in STEM, especially the fields that had the greatest gender imbalance over the previous decade: physical sciences, math and engineering. Initiatives included a research mentoring program that paired senior faculty with junior faculty to develop proposals, and a leadership development program with training for department heads on recruiting and retaining female faculty members.

Today, all three of Florida Atlantic’s STEM-focused colleges are led by women:

Stella Batalama, Ph.D., joined Florida Atlantic as dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science in 2017. At that time, only 15 percent of engineering college leaders were female, according to the Society of Women Engineers. Under Batalama’s leadership, the college has seen a 164 percent increase in external research funding, 480 percent growth in student internships and 185 percent growth in graduate degrees awarded in computer science. It became one of the three fastest rising engineering colleges in the country after jumping 23 spots in the U.S. News & World Report ranking from 2020 to 2022.

In February 2022, neurosurgeon and physician-scientist Julie G. Pilitsis, M.D., Ph.D., joined Florida Atlantic as dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. Under her leadership, the college received the largest gift in university history — $28 million to support student scholarships — and announced the FAU Health Network, a regional partnership with more than a dozen leading hospitals, health care systems, universities and colleges, and more. The FAU Health Network will address critical workforce pressures through enhanced medical education programs, accelerated medical research innovation, and access to clinical trials.

In August 2022, Valery Forbes, Ph.D., became dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. Since joining Florida Atlantic, she has launched a postdoctoral program to foster interdisciplinary collaborations across the university’s colleges, and increased stipends for graduate student teaching assistants and support for undergraduate research. She is in the midst of a major faculty hiring initiative designed to grow the college’s strengths in environmental, health and computational sciences. Through these efforts, Forbes’ goal is to bolster the Schmidt College of Science’s research portfolio, as well as the university’s trajectory toward R1 research status.

Florida Atlantic also offers a number of programs to support female students in STEM. Its chapter of the Association for Women in Science is committed to helping female students reach their full potential, enter the scientific professions of their choice, and achieve their goals. The Women in Engineering and Computer Science program provides mentoring, professional development opportunities, academic support and social activities for female students who are interested in engineering and computer science. Additionally, the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s “Empowering Women for Careers in Computer Science” initiative is working to increase women in the field of computing.

By focusing on inclusive support for gender equity in hiring, retention and promotion, Florida Atlantic is ensuring that its world-class faculty includes female role models to develop the next generation of successful female scientists, engineers, computer scientists, physicians and more.

“As we continue to foster a supportive and inclusive learning environment, programs like NSF ADVANCE help us open the doors to more women to build a strong, diverse and capable STEM workforce,” Hawkins said.

This content was paid for and created by Florida Atlantic University. The editorial staff at The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.