Global competition, changes in manufacturing/automation and desire for more sophisticated technology has increased the demand of graduates in STEM fields. Although the graduation of technically competent individuals with diverse backgrounds can help the US regain its competitive advantage, a large percentage of the population is left untapped. In engineering, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are classified as underrepresented minorities. In addition to the disparity in industry, diversity in faculty and academic administration positions lags, which can marginalize or prevent full participation of underrepresented groups graduating in engineering disciplines. This paper will provide a brief overview of our approach and update of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored collaborative project to broaden the participation of underrepresented engineering minorities in engineering academia by providing participants with an improved skill set for entry into a faculty position. The project has completed three, two-week summer intensive professional trainings that provided participants with skills for entry into a faculty position and recently started the third year of mentoring.
The first summer intensive professional preparation was held at The University of Akron and had 13 ACADEME (Advancing Career in Academics with Diversity and Mentorship in Engineering) Fellows from The University of Akron, universities in the same geographical region, and from the collaborating institutions. Modifications to the advertising approach were successful; yielding applicants from across the country and increased participation. The second summer professional preparation held at the University of Houston had 27 ACADEME Fellows while the third training held at Mississippi State University had 25 ACADEME Fellows. This paper highlights the assessment results from the three professional trainings, includes details as to which project activities have worked, and first-hand accounts of how the program benefited Fellows securing academic positions.
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Professional Preparation of Underrepresented Minority PhD's and Post-Docs for a Career in Engineering Academia
In engineering, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are classified as underrepresented minorities. Although strides have been made at the undergraduate level, diversity in faculty and academic administration positions still lags. This paper will present our approach and preliminary results of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored collaborative project to broaden the participation of underrepresented engineering minorities in engineering academia by providing participants with an improved skill set for entry into a faculty position. This project, comprised of a two-week intensive summer professional preparation training in conjunction with year-long activities, built upon the findings of a previous NSF 1.5-day workshop. The specific goals of the project include: 1. increase the awareness of what is "needed" to be an assistant professor; 2. quantify the specific areas PhD students and post-docs identified they need the most assistance with; 3. increase participant knowledge on effective STEM undergraduate learning;
4. advance the awareness and skills pertaining to curriculum development, delivery and assessment;
5. enhance the establishment of a research career; and 6. increase participant networking opportunities. Achievement of these goals will yield a more diverse and better prepared set of engineering educators, leading to better-equipped engineers entering the workforce.
The first summer intensive professional preparation had 12 participants from the host institution, universities in the same geographical regions as the host, and from the collaborating institutions. Seventy-five percent of the ACADEME (Advancing Career in Academics with Diversity and Mentorship in Engineering) Fellows strongly agreed that the summer training content was useful for his/her professional development and 100% agreed that they would recommend the program to their peers. In addition to providing the assessment results from the first summer professional training, this paper includes recommendations from ACADEME Fellows for enhancing future summer sessions, results of a survey of a non-cohort group, lessons learned from recruiting, and the most effective activities during the academic year.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1734822
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10059920
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- CoNECD ASEE
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Global competition, changes in manufacturing/automation and desire for more sophisticated technology has increased the demand of graduates in STEM fields. Although the graduation of technically competent individuals with diverse backgrounds can help the US regain its competitive advantage, a large percentage of the population is left untapped. In engineering, women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities are classified as underrepresented minorities. In addition to the disparity in industry, diversity in faculty and academic administration positions lags, which can marginalize or prevent full participation of underrepresented groups graduating in engineering disciplines. This paper will provide a brief overview of our approach and update of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored collaborative project to broaden the participation of underrepresented engineering minorities in engineering academia by providing participants with an improved skill set for entry into a faculty position. The project has completed three, two-week summer intensive professional trainings that provided participants with skills for entry into a faculty position and recently started the third year of mentoring. The first summer intensive professional preparation was held at The University of Akron and had 13 ACADEME (Advancing Career in Academics with Diversity and Mentorship in Engineering) Fellows from The University of Akron, universities in the same geographical region, and from the collaborating institutions. Modifications to the advertising approach were successful; yielding applicants from across the country and increased participation. The second summer professional preparation held at the University of Houston had 27 ACADEME Fellows while the third training held at Mississippi State University had 25 ACADEME Fellows. This paper highlights the assessment results from the three professional trainings, includes details as to which project activities have worked, and first-hand accounts of how the program benefited Fellows securing academic positions.more » « less
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