The Gender Equity in Research Task Force was created in September 2020 to assess gender inequities in research at IU, including those exacerbated by COVID-19, and to make practical, actionable recommendations for addressing them. The task force members, who are listed below, have been hard at work reviewing the available research (much of which task force members have contributed to), and they will soon be conducting a university-wide survey.
However, recognizing the magnitude and the urgency of the burden created by COVID-19 on many researchers, especially those with caregiver responsibilities, the task force shared an interim recommendation that the Office of the Vice President for Research commit $400,000 to create an Emergency Equity Fund for Research.
The fund, as outlined by the task force, will provide flexible, rapid awards of up to $2,500 to address some critical needs not already met by existing funding sources to advance research productivity. Specifically, the task force identified the following four categories of support:
- stop-gap services (including caregiving, one-time work-from-home needs, food delivery, and other activities) to help free up limited time for research by pre-tenure and/or pre-promotion faculty
- personnel for research (e.g., hourly support to support research and/or aid with course management)
- tools for advancing research (e.g., statistical consulting, software to conduct research, data sets, remote access to archives, recording devices and computing technologies, among other related needs)
- write-up and dissemination of research (e.g., copyediting services, subvention or indexing fees, fees for open access publishing, etc.).
The creation of the Emergency Equity Fund for Research that the task force proposed is only a short-term step, but it will provide unprecedented flexibility and speed in funding to support researchers. The fund is open to all IU research faculty; women and caregivers are especially encouraged to apply. Applications will be accepted beginning immediately and will be processed on a rolling basis until total funds are exhausted.
Thank you to the members of the Gender Equity in Research Task Force for their recommendation, for carefully designing the call for proposals, and for their continuing work to address gender equity issues in research. The committee members are:
- Karen Bravo, McKinney School of Law
- IUPUI Sanya Carley, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, IUB
- Hannah Craven, Medical Library, IU School of Medicine
- Mary Dankoski, Faculty Affairs, Professional Development and Diversity, IU School of Medicine
- Denvil Duncan, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, IUB
- Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds, Faculty Affairs, Professional Development and Diversity, IU School of Medicine
- Laura Foster, Gender Studies, Law, and African American and Diaspora Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, IUB
- Justin Garcia, Kinsey Institute and Gender Studies, IUB
- Kimberly Geeslin, Faculty and Academic Affairs and Spanish and Portuguese, College of Arts and Sciences, IUB
- Rachel Katzenellenbogen, Adolescent Medicine, School of Medicine
- Bernice Pescosolido, Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences, IUB
- Bethan Roberts, Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President of Operations, Office of Vice President for Research (facilitator)
- Kosali Simon, OVPR and O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, IUB
- Peggy Stockdale, Psychology, School of Science, IUPUI
- Cassidy Sugimoto, Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, IUB
To ask questions or offer suggestions, please reach out to members of the task force or research@iu.edu.