TABLE 3.

Lessons learned.

Lesson learned #1

By focusing on skill development rather than talent, and by providing necessary information, the Sponsorship Program provided a different message than the one our associates had internalized during their professional socialization.

Lesson learned #2

Faculty benefit from a circle of advisors rather than a single mentor – people from different backgrounds who have different perspectives, skills, and knowledge.

Lesson learned #3

Sustained connection to professional networks is necessary for career success.

Lesson learned #4

The traditional scholarly norms in the sciences do not fit everyone.

Lesson learned #5

Succeeding in one’s discipline and succeeding at one’s institution are not the same thing, especially in predominantly undergraduate institutions.

Lesson learned #6

Academia needs broader models of career success than those that are dominant in research-intensive institutions and national funding agencies.

Lesson learned #7

Women and people of color need ongoing opportunities for intellectual and social community outside of formal academic department structures.

Lesson learned #8

Gender equity and diversity programs are windows into institutional effectiveness.

Lesson learned #9

There are advantages and disadvantages to running a major program outside of the formal organizational chart.

Lesson learned #10

Universal design, a concept borrowed from architecture, is generally applied to serving individuals with disabilities, but it has more general application. The benefits of making life better for White female and BIPoC faculty end up also making life better for everyone.

Lesson learned #11

Presidents, provosts, and deans play an important role in promoting the linked goals of equity and support for faculty research.