The
creates more equitable learning and working environments from college to careers.
creates more equitable learning and working environments from college to careers.
who we are
The IU Equity Accelerator
IU Equity Accelerator
(FRO) in the nation to harness research, practice, and policy to create more equitable learning and working environments, from college to careers.
what we do
The IU Equity Accelerator is the first focused-research organization
what we do
and teams transform by applying social and behavioral science so that all learners can thrive in school and workplace settings.
who we work with
We are dedicated to helping institutions, organizations,
university-based practitioners and industry-based leaders to develop, evaluate, apply, and scale novel evidence-based strategies, creating and sustaining more equitable educational and workplace settings that reduce social and economic inequalities.
how we work
As a focused-research organization (FRO) we create partnerships with
Institutions that are currently gatekeepers to opportunity have the potential to become gateways to equity and inclusion.
why we are needed
Our team co-developed a web-based intervention for hundreds of college faculty at 6 universities, along with a nation-wide community of practice, which significantly changed STEM faculty’s attitudes and approach to teaching.
Increased students’ positive experiences and engagement in class, and significantly increased structurally disadvantaged students’ end-of-term grades and progress along STEM course paths.
Members of our team have developed a novel method for organizational change that increased the motivation and performance of employees as well as the number of employees from underrepresented groups who applied, were hired, and were retained over 2 years.
How do we do this?
To make lasting systemic change, it is time to unlock the creative energy coming from the growing field of social and behavioral science to generate equity-focused solutions faster, more efficiently, and with a greater potential to be widely adopted and highly effective.
In 2022, the Equity Accelerator acquired the College Transition Collaborative (CTC), a research-practice partnership organization housed at Stanford University and co-founded by Drs. Mary Murphy, Christine Logel, Greg Walton, David Yeager, Shannon Brady, and Omid Fotuhi. CTC creates higher education learning environments that foster equitable student outcomes by bridging research and practice.
our history
Building on a decade of experience in institutional transformation in higher education and the workplace.
learn more about us
corporate settings
Postsecondary Education
what next?
learn more about our work in
learn more about our work in
The Equity Accelerator focuses on high-leverage problems of practice—points when students predictably question whether they can belong and succeed in college, especially points that contribute to inequality in higher education—and applies knowledge and methods rooted in the social and behavioral sciences to produce better and more equitable outcomes, particularly for students of color, first-generation college students, and women in male-dominated fields in higher education. The Equity Accelerator has created the empirical base to know “what works” to address some of the equity gaps in access, experience, and completion that plague many college settings and is using that knowledge to build tools, services, and strategies to help colleges cultivate equity, growth, and belonging among their students.
Our tools and resources are already being used by hundreds of universities around the country. The Equity Accelerator will expand this impact in higher education by building the infrastructure and supports to accommodate hundreds more college partnerships to advance equity, growth, and belonging—as well as college achievement and completion. This work is more relevant than ever as more students from diverse backgrounds transition from high school to college and struggle to complete college at the same level as their more structurally and economically advantaged peers. Learn more about our Higher Education offerings.
Our work in
Postsecondary Education
Now more than ever, companies are struggling to attract, retain, and develop talented individuals from diverse backgrounds--and to create environments where these individuals thrive and advance in their careers. The corporate work of the IU Equity Accelerator helps organizations address these problems using its hallmark social and behavioral science approach.
We catalyze organizational change by bringing together top experts and corporate leaders to identify areas for change and advance equitable opportunities. Our customized partnerships can address all aspects of corporate culture — from the recruitment and retention of diverse talent to leadership development – and are tailored to organizations’ unique needs. Partnerships can begin with an environmental cues audit to identify bright spots and areas for change, and then support change with in-person or virtual workshops, self-paced modules, communication guides, personalized leadership consulting, and more.
The Equity Accelerator harnesses research and builds the infrastructure to provide equity-based solutions and services to companies and organizations who wish to create more equitable workplace environments. Through contracts, consulting, and data-sharing agreements, we collaborate with our corporate partners to understand what works at scale and to identify what additional research is needed to accomplish our aims. Together, we transform organizational cultures using behavioral science insights and conduct much-needed research along the way.
Creating and sustaining more equitable workplaces is a social and moral imperative and it is an important interest to local, state, and federal governments, private foundations, and companies and organizations throughout the country. The Equity Accelerator is the first focused-research organization (FRO) in the country to bridge social and behavioral research with practice to advance more equitable workplace environments where all workers thrive.
Our work in
Equitable Workforce Innovation and Development
Science Advances
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning
Education Week
NPR’s Academic Minute
Greater Good Magazine’s Best Education Articles of 2021
accolades
In Higher Education, our team has reached over 110,000 students at more than 350 universities and colleges
Thank you for your interest in Equity Accelerator.
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Read more in the full press release.
A new study finds that incoming students who participated in an online belonging exercise completed their first year as full-time college students at a higher rate than their peers, but only when their institution had strong strategies and resources in place to support diverse students’ belonging. Led by the College Transition Collaborative and the IU Equity Accelerator, the research team offered a brief online reading and writing exercise to nearly 27,000 students from 22 diverse colleges and universities across the United States in fall 2015 and 2016, including IU. These results, the country’s largest multi-site randomized controlled trial of this belonging intervention, were published May 5 in Science.
“There are hundreds of thousands of students being left behind and not supported by institutions in the way they need to be supported, said Mary Murphy, IU professor of psychological and brain sciences, Class of 1948 Herman B Wells Endowed Professor and founder of the IU Equity Accelerator. “The Equity Accelerator is helping institutions understand what they can do to help students feel like they belong, that they are supported academically. It is important that students never feel alone, and that the institution offers tangible affordances that are recognized and used by students to help them feel a sense of belonging and to be academically successful in college.”
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Equity Accelerator and Collaborators Publish Powerful New Insights on College Belonging
A new study finds an online belonging exercise offered to incoming college students showed an increased rate at which they completed the first year as full-time students, but only when their institution had strong strategies and resources in place to support diverse students’ belonging. Led by the College Transition Collaborative and the IU Equity Accelerator, the research team offered a brief online reading and writing exercise to nearly 27,000 students from 22 diverse colleges and universities across the United States, including Indiana University. These results from the country’s largest multi-site randomized controlled trial of this belonging intervention were published May 5 in Science.