The lack of diversification of the engineering faculty is well documented as are the serious ramifications of this problem on building a diverse workforce that will enhance and support national prosperity. A culturally diverse faculty is necessary to provide role models who will enhance the attraction and retention of underrepresented students in engineering and who will replace an aging engineering faculty. Increasing the representation of minority engineering faculty requires a multifaceted approach that includes increasing the number of doctoral graduates who are entering and being retained in the academy. This need is addressed by the proposed 2008 Minority Faculty Development Workshop (MFDW) to be held at NSF in October of 2008.
The overall goals of the 2008 Workshop are to provide underrepresented minority aspiring faculty with advice, guidance and developmental tools necessary to enter, succeed and thrive in academe and to increase the numbers of faculty of color in engineering. The theme of the 2008 workshop is "Building Tomorrow's Engineering Faculty Today" and the target audience is members of underrepresented groups as defined by NSF (African-American, Hispanic or Native American) holding graduate assistant or postdoctoral appointments in a U.S. four-year institution. Through a series of carefully crafted and tailored sessions and activities, participants will become more knowledgeable and better able to navigate the path to career success as an engineering faculty member.
Intellectual Merit: Minority faculty development programs have been shown to have a positive effect on achieving academic career success and increasing the numbers of underrepresented minority faculty (Johnson, 1999, Moody, 2004). It has also been shown that minority faculty are less likely to have mentors, are more likely to be under-informed about tenure and promotion procedures and policies, typically receive funding at lower rates than majority faculty, often have lower publication rates than majority faculty, and are more likely to suffer from exclusion at their institutions (Gregory, 1995, Allen, 2002). The proposed workshop incorporates literature-based strategies and takes a scholarly approach towards the development of a cadre of minority faculty poised for academic excellence.
Broader Impacts: For underrepresented minorities, the pipeline to the academy is fraught with persistent leaks at all levels that ultimately threaten our nation's ability to train a diverse workforce equipped to handle 21st century problems. At the graduate and postdoctoral levels, underrepresented minority students and associates 1) are subjected to systematic and institutional biases during their training that impacts their ability to persist and thrive, 2) lack mentors and role models who share their background, 3) often lack sufficient knowledge of and preparation for academic careers and 4) are often dissuaded from pursuing such careers. The proposed 2008 Minority Faculty Development Workshop specifically targets this group and provides tools and strategies to enhance their success in navigating the path to and through the academy. These efforts will lead to increases in the number of underrepresented minority engineering faculty and contribute to the training and retention of a diverse population of students. Planned dissemination efforts that exploit current cyberinfrastructure initiatives will broaden the pool of participants and beneficiaries of the workshop and its ultimate impact.
This activity is supported by every Division and Office in the Engineering Directorate.
