The S&T ADVANCE Program is proud to welcome Dr. Erin Cech, who will deliver the Spring 2023 ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture. Her lecture, titled “Professional Cultures and Inequality in STEM,” will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, in the Grand Hall of Hasselmann Alumni House. A reception will follow. All faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to attend.

Dr. Cech, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, examines cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction, especially through seemingly innocuous cultural beliefs and practices. Her work on inequality in STEM professions focuses on the recruitment and retention of women, people of color and LGBTQ-identifying persons in STEM degree programs and STEM jobs. Her recent book, Misconceiving Merit, explores how some professional STEM cultures can have built-in disadvantages for women and members of other under-represented groups.