Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty

Efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in faculty recruitment, hiring and retention at Stevens has been ongoing for many years, supported by the strategic plan and the NSF-funded ADVANCE program. As a member of the third cohort of the Aspire Alliance Institutional Change (IChange) Network, Stevens will supercharge these efforts leading to meaningful change.

Aimed at ensuring all STEM faculty use inclusive teaching practices and that institutions increase the diversity of their STEM professoriate, participating universities will begin their work with a self-assessment of current practices and assets. The institutions will then develop and implement campus action plans to drive change and scale such efforts across all their STEM programs.

Increasing faculty diversity is a top priority at Stevens. As part of the IChange Network, Stevens has a unique opportunity to engage and partner with other STEM programs to improve faculty diversity. On Decemeber 9, 2020, the Aspire Alliance hosted a kick-off meeting for the 19 universities in the third cohort of the IChange Network.

An outstanding team of Stevens faculty and staff have been identified to lead this three year initiative with work commencing in January 2021.