Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, received a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of women students in information technology. The grant program is under the director of Lakshmi S. Iyer, a professor of computer information systems and acting associate dean of graduate programs and research in the Walker College of Business at the university.
The Center for Women’s and Gender Studies at Florida International University received a five-year, $1.37 million grant from the Children’s Trust to combat racial bias in maternal health. The grant will fund implicit racial bias training workshops for medical professionals and students, put on annual programming in April in honor of Black Maternal Health Week, and lead two major Black maternal health and wellness fairs.
Bucknell University, a highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, received a $271,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of women and scholars from underrepresented groups in faculty positions in science disciplines. The grant will fund a two-year self-assessment project at the university that will include a faculty survey, focus groups, and scholarship and professional development support for 10 faculty members to enhance recruitment, retention, and pathway toward advancement efforts. The program is under the direction of Jiajia Dong, a professor of physics and astronomy and associate dean of faculty, natural sciences & mathematics
The University of Southern Mississippi received an $80,000 grant from the Jimmy A. Payne Foundation for campus initiatives aimed to advance the representation of women in STEM. The program – Advancement of Women in Natural Sciences – aims to improve the recruitment and retention of both women students and faculty at the university.