TABLE 1.

Key elements of the Sponsorship Program.

● The program was open to full-time, tenured or tenure-track female faculty below the rank of full professor from 11 participating social and natural and physical science departments. (We did accept one full professor who was working on a book in a new area.)

● The program featured a rigorous application process that committed the applicant to a set of goals and actions.

● Applicants had to obtain the written approval of the department chair for course release; that release was paid for by the program.

● The program offered internal grants to associates for up to $15,000 per year for research, $5,000 of which went to their sponsors and some of which could be used to purchase course release (with the department chair’s permission).

● Participants could apply twice for an additional year of support, with up to 3 years possible.

● Each program participant was paired with a successful senior scholar, approached personally by one of the GEP co-directors, in the scholar’s discipline or topic area.

● The sponsor had to be outside the participant’s department (and, where possible, outside the college) so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

● Sponsors committed to having regular contact with participants, providing written feedback on work products, giving general professional advice and support, and meeting at least once a semester with a GEP co-director to discuss the participant’s progress. In the course of developing the program, we changed from offering sponsors $5,000 per year to $2,500 per semester. That allowed participants to change sponsors if that would be beneficial.

● Mandatory monthly workshops, led by us, by experts within Hunter, by experts within CUNY, and by outside experts, covered such topics as how to negotiate for needed resources, how to present one’s work orally in different formats, how to make the most of summer breaks to advance one’s research, and how to tackle procrastination and other work problems.

● The three GEP co-directors (Valian, Rabinowitz, Dr. Annemarie Nicols-Grinenko, Director of Research and Project Director) actively engaged with all participants, serving as informal mentors and sponsors, supporting them through challenges, intervening when appropriate, and reviewing progress regularly.

● The GEP meetings and social gatherings took place in a convenient, attractive, dedicated space that was removed from departmental and administrative offices.