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New study tests three-step intervention to increase faculty gender diversity in STEM

Workforce homogeneity limits creativity, discovery, and job satisfaction; nonetheless, eighty-one percent of US science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) university faculty members are men.

The relative dearth of women in the field is a long-recognized problem—but it's one that may be on its way to a solution.

Using a three-step intervention derived from self-determination theory, an interdisciplinary team from Montana State University demonstrated a low-cost way to improve gender diversity in STEM-faculty hiring.

The results were impressive, with search committees in the intervention group 6.3 times more likely to make an offer to a woman candidate.

Although the focus was on increasing women faculty within STEM, the intervention can be adapted to other scientific and academic communities to advance diversity along any dimension.