The ADVANCE Resource & Coordination (ARC) Network

About

Building on the efforts of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) ADVANCE program, the ADVANCE Resource and Coordination (ARC) Network served as the community and resource hub for researchers, practitioners, and change agents seeking systemic change and intersectional gender equity in the STEM professoriate. From 2017 to 2025 under NSF award numbers 1740860 and 2121468, the ARC Network used a three I’s framework of intersectionality, intentionality, and inclusivity to support and empower an expansive, cross-sector, and interdisciplinary constituent community of more than 3,000 members through a variety of activities. All ARC Network resources, recordings, convening proceedings, reports, and more will soon be available in the WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC).

The ARC Network Resource Library

Originally hosted on Mendeley, the ARC Network Resource Library was an online repository of resources related to equity in STEM. The Library featured nearly 10,000 tagged, curated, and community-contributed resources from a variety of sources including journal articles, literature reviews, conference papers, presentation slides and videos, policy documents, bibliographies, websites, newspaper articles, blogs, concept papers, toolkits, training materials, data and statistics, webinar recordings, reports, and more. The Library also housed the WEPAN Knowledge Center (WKC), the creation of which was previously funded by NSF Engineering Education and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering Programs under award numbers 1016711 and 0648210.

The ARC Network curated resources with intentional effort to include voices, perspectives, movements, disciplines, and methodologies often excluded and undervalued in STEM and academia. In addition, to facilitate the translation of resources to practice, the ARC Network designed LibGuides, online resource guides on specific topics intended to support community learning and knowledge application. The Library remains available on Mendeley and will soon be re-launched as part of the upgraded WKC.

The Virtual Visiting Scholar Program

From 2018 to 2025, the ARC Network Virtual Visiting Scholar (VVS) Program provided funding to cohorts of two to five scholars to conduct a year-long research project on existing or emerging themes from scholarly literature on intersectional gender equity and related systemic issues in STEM workplaces. Throughout the life of the program, twenty-one scholars used qualitative and/or quantitative meta-analytic and meta-synthesis techniques to identify best practices, gaps in knowledge, and other overarching themes across the body of knowledge to inform new directions for research and implications for policy and practice. Topics explored included networking, mentoring, entrepreneurship, citation practices, the use of gender in research, funding practices, workload, contingent faculty experiences, LGBT+ experiences, persistence strategies, academic-industry partnerships, bystander intervention, international faculty experiences, academic motherhood, visibility of equity workers, time to publication, retention, institutional pushout, identity formation, and more. Virtual Visiting Scholar reports and presentations will soon be available via the WKC. In the meantime, you can learn more about each scholar and their projects here.

Emerging Research and Emerging Issues Workshops

ARC Network hosted six Emerging Workshops since it was first awarded. ARC Network Emerging Research Workshops convened 20-25 scholars and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines, career stages, institution types, and social demographic backgrounds for intensive, two-day meetings centered around emerging topics critical to equity for STEM faculty. Participants engaged in facilitated discussions on current research and practice, identified gaps in knowledge and approach, curated recommended resources and reading lists, and recommended areas for new research, policy, and/or intervention. Each workshop resulted in a report that was shared with the larger community for additional contribution. The final reports were released in tandem with a webinar about the workshop and broadly disseminated, including as part of panels at the ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening. Topics included: identity-based harassment, equity issues in big data and algorithms, exclusionary STEM language, faculty equity and COVID-19, and equity in academic commercialization. Emerging Research Workshop reports, presentations, and webinar recordings will soon be available in the WKC.

ARC Network Emerging Issues Workshops were similar in size and duration. These workshops focused on urgent community concerns about which a body of scholarship and practice had not yet formed, but around which collective action was needed. ARC Network hosted one Emerging Issues Workshop in 2024 that centered on state-level law and policy restricting equity work and brought together change agents from across sectors, including academia, STEM professional societies, and government.

Webinars and Town Halls

The ARC Network hosted almost 50 webinars and several town halls throughout its duration. Webinars showcased work from the community and ARC Network programs and covered intersectional gender equity issues related to topics like citation, publication, grant funding, mentoring, bystander intervention, commercialization, and more. Town halls centered on critical emerging issues that impacted the community, such as COVID-19. Past ARC webinar recordings and resources will soon be available on demand in the WKC. Future webinars on important topics like these will continue to be provided as part of WEPAN's regular programming.

The ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening

The ARC Network hosted the ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening (ADVANCE EiSCC) in 2019 and 2022-2024 with about 400 people attending each year.

This 3-4 day convening served as the conference for past, current, and prospective ADVANCE grantees. Through workshops, panels, keynotes, symposia, High-5 lightning talks, posters and exhibits, networking events, and sessions with NSF Program Officers, attendees shared new research findings, exchanged resources and ideas, demonstrated effective programs and promising practices, connected with colleagues, formed new collaborations and partnerships, received feedback on new projects, and more.

In 2023 and 2024 with supplemental funding from the NSF and the Every Page Foundation (formerly the Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation), the ARC Network was also able to offer a travel grant program to support 151 awardees in attending the convening, more than 75 percent of whom had never attended before.

Convening slides, recordings, and related materials will soon be available in the WKC.