The primary activity of this award will be a workshop bringing together chemistry department chairs and social scientists to develop a better understanding of the underlying causes for the continued reduced representation by of underrepresented groups in academia and to investigate effective practices to counteract this trend.
In order to maintain its global competitiveness, the United States must work vigorously to tap neglected pools of intellectual talent. This is increasingly important as the country's demographics become increasingly diverse. The workshop will help chemistry departments to evolve into organizations that draw upon all of the intellectual capital of the country.
The National Diversity Equity Workshop (NDEW 2011) was held January 24-26, 2011 through joint funding from this grant and DOE grant #DE-SC0005707. It was aimed at establishing diversity equity inleading research active chemistry departments. NDEW 2011 included 48 Chairs and representatives from the leading research-active chemistry departments and experts from the social sciences to help identify drivers impeding diversity equity in the chemical sciences and effective practices to be implemented by the Chairs to help achieve diversity equity. The intellectual merits of this effort rest in the identification that the ultimate flattening of diversity inequities must arise in part from a change in how departments and institutions behave and the role of departmental leaders in promoting these changes. NDEW 2011 worked with chemistry chairs to assess and create changes in the academicculture so as to provide an environment that is more equitable to all types of diversity and also more effective at producing students and science to drive American Competitiveness. The materials provided at the workshop were shared among participants and others through the website at www.oxide.gatech.edu. The aims and outcomes were also publicized on pages 46-47 in Chemical & Engineering News in the February 28, 2011 issue. The broader impacts of this effort include the acceleration in the reduction of diversity inequities in the career tracks of chemists and the corresponding increase in the diversity of the faculties in chemistry and biochemistry. The reduction of diversity inequities in the career pathways of chemists is critical to maintaining U.S. competitiveness in the international chemical industry. It is critical to the preparation of the next generation of scientists given this country’s increasing diverse demographics. This effort also responds to the America Competes Act (H.R.5116 of the 111th Congress) to create workshops to facilitate the flattening of diversity inequities that may exist in academic culture.
