Diversity Catalysts: Educating the STEM Community

The Purdue-ADVANCE project, in its fourth year, has three major goals: 1) to increase the number and success of STEM women faculty of color; 2) to increase the success and leadership of women faculty in STEM and 3) to educate all the faculty and in particular, the majority, about the benefits of diversity and inclusion. To accomplish goal 3, Purdue-ADVANCE has recruited Diversity Catalysts, three successful, well-respected senior faculty who are being educated about diversity and inclusion issues to have an impact on STEM disciplines and the entire campus community. The education part is being provided by a senior faculty member in the Brian Lamb School of Communication who specializes in gender issues along with the participation of another faculty who is an ADVANCE co-PI. While being active in their professional communities, the Diversity Catalysts are developing presentations to educate department heads (current leaders) and the newly promoted faculty (future leaders). Specifically, they hope to provide perspectives to these newly promoted faculty on how awareness of diversity and inclusion is key to the new roles they assume as associate and full professors.  The presentation reflects what the Catalysts learned from the literature as well as their personal experiences as individuals.  The Diversity Catalysts have engaged in a collaborative or co-learning process using an intersectionalities lens within a safe space to delve into difference across institutional practices and policies with the goal of deep-seated transformation. The paper will present the journey of the Diversity Catalysts and of the entire team and how it has had an impact in various venues to move towards institutional transformation. Short description: As part of the Purdue-ADVANCE project, the paper will present the journey of the Diversity Catalysts, highly successful faculty, and of the entire team and how it has had an impact in various venues to move towards institutional transformation at Purdue.