Development and Validation of the Workplace Climate and Persistence Scale for STEM Faculty Framed in Intersectionality of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Background

Gender disparities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) faculty composition remain a major issue in U.S. higher education. Specifically, the underrepresentation of women of color has been described as a crisis. We developed the Workplace Climate and Persistence Scale (WCPS) for STEM faculty to assess departmental-level climate factors associated with faculty persistence, using a framework of the intersectionality of gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. To validate the WCPS, we conducted analyses for construct validity, internal consistency reliability, and criterion validity evidence using data from 394 STEM faculty at three universities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in 43 items loading across nine factors in a good model fit range. The nonlinear SEM reliability coefficients ranged from 0.811 to 0.971, with the overall Omega = 0.991. The correlation matrix indicated that the WCPS differentiates STEM faculty's perceptions by multiple social identities. We expect the WCPS to help administrators identify where to target approaches to improve climate and assess the effectiveness of such interventions.