Making WAVES is a new initiative to increase diversity of faculty in STEM fields funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Program. The $3.5 million, five-year grant to UMass Lowell is for an institutional transformation initiative led by the Center for Women & Work. The goal of the WAVES project is to implement interventions to disrupt interpersonal and institutional microaggressions that undermine the productivity and well-being of women STEM faculty.
Another project goal is to advance scientific knowledge on gender equity in STEM academics. Towards that end, we are conducting a national Daily Diary Study to learn more about faculty’s daily experiences with microaggressions and how these experiences impact outcomes such as job satisfaction, work productivity, and well-being.
Learn More About The Daily Diary Study
Microaggressions are verbal, non-verbal, and/or environmental snubs/insults that slight based on gender and other marginalized group membership; they are notoriously difficult to address. Survey results at UMass Lowell indicate that women STEM faculty experience a disproportionate number of microaggressions.