Are STEM Faculty Ready to Change? Why Developing a Nuanced Understanding of STEM Faculty’s Change Readiness Is Essential When Undertaking Organizational Transformation.

Program Abstract: Change inevitably comes with uncertainty, ambiguity, and, in many cases, resistance. Research has shown that the success of change efforts within higher education rests upon an individual faculty's change readiness (e.g., beliefs, attitudes, intentions) and the change context. Inquiry has also shown that change readiness is a central mediating factor in organizational change effectiveness and success and that failure to adequately address the needs, wants, and fears of individual change participants will have a determining impact on the overall effectiveness of any change program and will likely result in decreased commitment to adoption and added resistance.

This session will discuss aspects of change readiness and how university change leaders can use it to develop more nuanced implantation strategies (e.g., workshops, advising practices, student experience) and increase their chances of successfully building and nurturing cultures of inclusiveness and decreasing drop, failure, and withdrawal rates among underrepresented students.