The Women In Science And Engineering (Wise) Program At The University Of Southern California: Achievements And Challenges Of The First Five Years
- Conference
- Location
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Honolulu, Hawaii
- Publication Date
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June 24, 2007
- Start Date
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June 24, 2007
- End Date
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June 27, 2007
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Women in Engineering
- Page Count
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18
- Page Numbers
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12.1487.1 - 12.1487.18
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--2122
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/2122
- Download Count
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491
Paper Authors
Nicole Hawkes WiSE / University of Southern California
Nicole Hawkes is the Program Manager for the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program at the University of Southern California. She received a B.A. in History from Mount Holyoke College in 1996, an M.A. in African Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000, and an M.S. in Arts Administration from Boston University in 2002.
Jean Morrison University of Southern California
Jean Morrison is the Vice Provost for Graduate Programs at the University of Southern California and a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. Since 2002, she has been the Director of the USC Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) program. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1988; her M.S. from the University of Georgia in 1983; and her B.A. from Colgate University in 1980.
Cauligi Raghavendra University of Southern California
Cauligi Raghavendra is the Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. He is a Professor in the Departments of Electrical Engineering-Systems and Computer Science at the University of Southern California. He received his B.Sc (Hons) Physics degree from Bangalore University in 1973, his B.E and M.E degrees in Electronics and Communications from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1976 and 1978 respectively. He received his Ph.D degree in Computer Science from University of California at Los Angeles in 1982.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program at the University of Southern California: Achievements and Challenges of the First Five Years
Abstract
The establishment of the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program represents the serious commitment of the University of Southern California to address the under-representation of women in science and engineering. Since the launch of the program in 2000, WiSE has helped to more than double the number of tenured and tenure-track women faculty at USC from 15 to 35, through its recruitment and retention programs. Its complimentary programs to support undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars through a range of financial awards and activities have also grown in scope and impact. This paper describes the programs developed and administered by WiSE, the perceived successes to date, the challenges that remain, and the future directions of the program to ensure continued progress toward gender equity in science and engineering at USC. Through an analysis of the WiSE Program at USC, we hope to present a model from which others can draw on to tackle the same issues at their own institutions.
Introduction
In 2000, the University of Southern California (USC) launched its Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Program. Funded by a $20 million gift to the endowment, the goal of the program is to increase the number of tenured and tenure-track women faculty in science and engineering (S&E). Spearheaded by an energetic group of tenured faculty, the programs and activities of the WiSE program have been designed to address a broad range of issues that affect the representation of women in S&E.
Operating from the Office of the Provost, WiSE works with deans and departments in the USC College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering to recruit outstanding women scientists and engineers to the university and to retain those who might be tempted to move elsewhere. In the 5 years since the program’s inception, WiSE resources have helped the schools to more than double the number of tenured and tenure-track (T/TT) women faculty in S&E fields from 15 to 35.
In addition to its primary goal of faculty gender diversity, WiSE has developed a series of programs to address pathway (pipeline) and institutional climate issues that remain obstacles to attracting and retaining women in the fields of S&E. While WiSE programs provide targeted financial support to scholars at all stages of their careers, the resources are heavily focused on support of doctoral students, with the intent to prepare the next generation of S&E faculty.
Though similar initiatives to increase the representation of women in S&E are in place at academic institutions across the country, largely funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program, USC’s WiSE program is unique because of its permanent endowment and its comprehensive program design. In its recent issue focused on campus diversity, the
Hawkes, N., & Morrison, J., & Raghavendra, C. (2007, June), The Women In Science And Engineering (Wise) Program At The University Of Southern California: Achievements And Challenges Of The First Five Years Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2122
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