It is important for future engineers to understand themselves in relation to the many cultural influences they may encounter during their career, and to confront their own biases when interacting with colleagues whose cultural backgrounds are different from their own. This paper describes and evaluates a series of nine diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workshops developed and implemented during the summer of 2022 for high school and entering first-year college students enrolled in the Research, Academics, and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP) six week engineering summer bridge program at University of Massachusetts Lowell. The workshops incorporated activities designed to create an environment fostering respect, belonging, and acceptance to make teamwork more inclusive and effective.
Each workshop was based on collaborative learning and used a broad range of strategies to engage students as active participants in learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion within the context of teamwork. To develop the workshops, the facilitators aligned the activities with key themes from chapters in the book From Athletics to Engineering: 8 Ways to Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for All [1].
The summer bridge program was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative data collected throughout the program and upon its conclusion tracking students’ reactions and levels of engagement in each of the program components. This included a pre-survey, mid-semester survey, post-survey, and weekly journal prompts on Google Classroom. We also used the Universality-Diversity scale [2] to measure any pre-post changes in students’ attitudes towards diversity. With regard to the workshops, an analysis of student responses indicated a high level of satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Students reported they enjoyed getting to know each other better and that the DEI activities were interactive, educational, and engaging.
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Engaging Future Engineers through Active Participation in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
It is important for future engineers to understand themselves in relation to the many cultural
influences they may encounter during their career, and to confront their own biases when
interacting with colleagues whose cultural backgrounds are different from their own. This paper
describes and evaluates a series of nine diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workshops
developed and implemented during the summer of 2022 for high school and entering first-year
college students enrolled in the Research, Academics, and Mentoring Pathways (RAMP) sixweek
engineering summer bridge program at University of Massachusetts Lowell. The
workshops incorporated activities designed to create an environment fostering respect,
belonging, and acceptance to make teamwork more inclusive and effective.
Each workshop was based on collaborative learning and used a broad range of strategies to
engage students as active participants in learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion within the
context of teamwork. To develop the workshops, the facilitators aligned the activities with key
themes from chapters in the book From Athletics to Engineering: 8 Ways to Support Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion for All [1].
The summer bridge program was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative data collected
throughout the program and upon its conclusion tracking students’ reactions and levels of
engagement in each of the program components. This included a pre-survey, mid-semester
survey, post-survey, and weekly journal prompts on Google Classroom. We also used the
Universality-Diversity scale [2] to measure any pre-post changes in students’ attitudes towards
diversity. With regard to the workshops, an analysis of student responses indicated a high level of
satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Students reported they enjoyed getting to know each
other better and that the DEI activities were interactive, educational, and engaging.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2105701
- PAR ID:
- 10525105
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Baltimore , Maryland
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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There is substantial opportunity for engineering graduates to enter the workforce to engage in a fulfilling career and achieve social mobility, but there is a lack of adequate support for low income, academically talented students. The purpose of this poster is to describe the interventions designed to support S-STEM scholarship students at [blinded for review] University in the first year of our S-STEM project. Our S-STEM project objectives are threefold: 1) Provide scholarships to encourage talented students with low incomes and demonstrated financial need to initiate and graduate from engineering majors in the College of Engineering at [blinded] University and subsequently enter the engineering workforce or a graduate program; 2) Develop a support system that integrates multiple elements and services to foster a learning environment that motivates scholarship students to persist in their engineering studies; and 3) Foster an inclusive learning environment by engaging all engineering students in diversity, equity, and inclusion experiences and nurturing an equity mindset in student leaders through participation in training programs. To accomplish these goals, we identified 10 low-income, academically talented students to receive scholarships. We also identified 80 additional engineering students who wished to participate in the Engineering Living/Learning Community (ELC). The scholarships students and other interested students were placed in the ELC starting in Fall 2023, where they are experiencing first year engineering as a cohort. This cohort experience includes required seminars, required attendance of Engineering I and Calculus I in a designated section, and the option of living in a shared dorm to facilitate further collaboration. Seminars that are part of the ELC are focused on adjusting to college life (e.g., time management, course registration, resume design) and diversity, equity, and inclusion subjects, including upstander training and coping with imposter syndrome. Scholarship students are also being encouraged to engage in leadership training offered through the University. This leadership training also focuses on DEI topics, and encourages students to be informed advocates. Finally, this project is assessed by an external evaluator to determine the project’s impact on students’ motivation, sense of belonging, and their equity mindset. Evaluation data involve pre- and post-surveys of all first-year engineering students, and focus groups of project leaders, ELC mentors, scholarship students, and other engineering students.more » « less
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More evaluators have anchored their work in equity-focused, culturally responsive, and social justice ideals. Although we have a sense of approaches that guide evaluators as to how they should attend to culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we have not yet established an empirical understanding of how evaluators measure DEI. In this article, we report an examination of how evaluators and principal investigators (PIs) funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program define and measure DEI within their projects. Evaluators gathered the most evidence related to diversity and less evidence related to equity and inclusion. On average, PIs’ projects engaged in activities designed to increase DEI, with the highest focus on diversity. We believe there continues to be room for improvement and implore the movement of engagement with these important topics from the margins to the center of our field's education, theory, and practice.
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Abstract Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are interconnected with bioengineering, yet have historically been absent from accreditation standards and curricula. Toward educating DEI-competent bioengineers and meeting evolving accreditation requirements, we took a program-level approach to incorporate, catalog, and assess DEI content through the bioengineering undergraduate program. To support instructors in adding DEI content and inclusive pedagogy, our team developed a DEI planning worksheet and surveyed instructors pre- and post-course. Over the academic year, 74% of instructors responded. Of responding instructors, 91% described at least one DEI curricular content improvement, and 88% incorporated at least one new inclusive pedagogical approach. Based on the curricular adjustments reported by instructors, we grouped the bioengineering-related DEI content into five DEI competency categories: bioethics, inclusive design, inclusive scholarship, inclusive professionalism, and systemic inequality. To assess the DEI content incorporation, we employed direct assessment via course assignments, end-of-module student surveys, end-of-term course evaluations, and an end-of-year program review. When asked how much their experience in the program helped them develop specific DEI competencies, students reported a relatively high average of 3.79 (scale of 1 = “not at all” to 5 = “very much”). Additionally, based on student performance in course assignments and other student feedback, we found that instructors were able to effectively incorporate DEI content into a wide variety of courses. We offer this framework and lessons learned to be adopted by programs similarly motivated to train DEI-competent engineering professionals and provide an equitable, inclusive education.
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We report on a program initiated at a public, urban, research university to promote institutional change in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices through a faculty learning community (FLC). The FLC is a three-year cohort of faculty in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing at the University of Colorado Denver with representation from each of the five departments, as well as faculty at multiple stages in their career (instructors, assistant, associate, and full professors in clinical, research, and tenure tracks). This cohort represents a broad sampling across the college, and provides a foundation for the FLC to influence, transform, and layer a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the college. Initial results from this project center on findings that address the research question: How can participation in an FLC nudge engineering faculty to adopt and personalize mindful reflection and DEI best practices? This paper includes initial findings from participant feedback, challenges, and successes from the first year, and a preliminary description of important elements of college culture as a preview of the kind of impacts that may be measured over the duration of the program.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--43314
