ASPIRED Project’s Impact on Gender Equity in STEM: Establishing the Foundation for Institutional Transformation

The ASPIRED project (Adaptations for Sustainable Policies and Increased Recruitment Excellence in Diversity) was launched to improve gender equity in the recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement of STEM women faculty at the University of Memphis. A thorough climate survey conducted in Fall 2019 revealed four major issues faced by STEM women faculty: implicit bias, isolation, ambiguity and inequality in career advancement, and poor work-life-family integration. This paper describes the interventions of the ASPIRED project and evaluates their impact. It starts by highlighting the specific challenges identified by STEM women faculty and the organizational change approach that guided our efforts. We then detail the interventions implemented, summarize their assessments, and present results from subsequent university-wide surveys on STEM department climates and dual career considerations. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned, offering insights for future initiatives to enhance gender equity in academic institutions.