Nathan Wood, assistant professor in the School of Education, and Erika Offerdahl, assistant professor in chemistry and molecular biology, are the recipients of the first Advance FORWARD Climate and Gender Equity Research Grant.

Wood and Offerdahl, both new faculty members at NDSU, will use the grant award to explore the gender bias inherent in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) assessments with the goal of better understanding gender bias in assessment. They expect to produce examples of equitable assessments as well as a knowledge base for the design of future assessments that will serve as a means to achieve systemic reform in STEM education.

The Climate and Gender Equity Research Grant is part of the Advance FORWARD project’s climate component. External reviewers examine proposals submitted for funding from FORWARD.

One or two Climate and Gender Equity Research Grants will be awarded in each year of the five-year, National Science Foundation-funded project. A call for proposals for the 2009-10 academic year will be announced at www.ndsu.edu/forward.