Increasing Collaboration among Geotechnical Engineering Faculty: A Case Study from the “Geotechnical Engineering Women Faculty: Networked and Thriving” Project

The number of women in the geotechnical engineering profession has increased exponentially in the past 30 years. Even so, women only comprise about 20% of the geotechnical faculty in the U.S. This case study describes a recent project to create an enduring network of geotechnical engineering faculty colleagues and collaborators, both women and men. The authors implemented a professional development intervention model to improve networks and collaboration and a social network survey to improve understanding of existing networks and practices. Within the intervention model, a successful strategy for establishing new collaborations and enhancing existing collaborations, was the award of small seed grants combined with the structured opportunities to meet and learn together. The seed grant program could be a model for academic institutions and other organizations to facilitate collaborative efforts that could lead to greater research funding and faculty inclusion on larger, interdisciplinary proposals solving the complex problems of today.