Diversity Stalled: Explorations into the Stagnant Numbers of African American Engineering Faculty

一个多元化的工程大学教师和劳动力是实现和维持一个繁荣、安全、关注所有个人的技术和社会福祉的国家所必需的。因此，本研究通过探究为什么非洲裔美国人仍然是工程学院职位中代表性最不足的种族之一的原因，调查了多元化工程学院和劳动力面临的挑战之一，在过去的五年里，尽管有旨在扩大少数民族参与工程的干预项目，非洲裔美国人仍然稳定在2.5%。这项为期三年的研究探讨了(1)非裔美国工程博士生/候选人/博士后追求工程学院职业生涯，(2)现任和前任非裔美国工程学院成员面临的障碍和机会。这项拟议的研究考察了影响非裔美国人工程博士培养的因素，以及影响他们获得工程终身教职的因素。这项研究包括通过调查和采访工程领域的非裔美国人来评估当前的工程学院氛围，从博士候选人和博士后学生到正教授，包括前非裔美国工程学院的一部分。本研究通过对黑人工程博士生、黑人工程教师和前黑人工程教师的一部分进行全国调查，分析了学院工程氛围。pi还将采访这些群体中的一个子集。本研究的方法和分析结构以种族/性别刻板印象和社会认知职业理论的相关文献为指导。这项工作的智力价值应该会让我们更好地理解非裔美国工程博士的职业轨迹，以及影响他们职业决策的技术、社会和文化影响。虽然本研究关注的是非裔美国教师，但整体的教师多样性创造了一个更有效的学习环境。种族多元化程度更高的学校往往有更好的留校率、满意度和智力发展。这项研究的广泛影响有可能改变有色人种工程候选人如何接受指导和为工程学院职位做好准备的模式。

A diverse engineering university faculty and workforce are necessary to achieve and maintain a country that is prosperous, secure, and attentive to the technological and social well-being of all individuals. Thus, this research study investigates one of the challenges to a diverse engineering faculty and workforce by exploring the causes behind why African Americans remain one of the most underrepresented racial groups in engineering faculty positions, remaining steady at 2.5% for the past five years, despite intervention programs that aim to broaden the participation of minorities in engineering. This three-year study explores the barriers and opportunities facing a cohort of (1) African American engineering PhD students/candidates/postdocs pursuing engineering faculty careers and (2) current and former African American engineering faculty members. The proposed study examines factors that impact the production of African American PhDs in engineering, as well as those factors that affect the pathway to tenured faculty positions in engineering. This research includes an assessment of the current engineering faculty climate through surveying and interviewing African Americans in engineering, from PhD candidates and postdoctoral students through full professors, including a subset of former African American engineering faculty. This study analyzes the faculty-engineering climate by including the implementation of a national survey for Black PhD engineering students, Black engineering faculty, and a subset of former Black engineering faculty. The PIs will also interview a subset of each of these groups. The methodological and analytical structure of this study is guided by the literature on racial/gender stereotypes and Social Cognitive Career Theory. The intellectual merit of this work should lead to a better understanding of the career trajectories African American PhDs in engineering and the technical, societal, and cultural influences that impact their career decision making. Although this study focuses on African American faculty, overall faculty diversity creates a more effective learning environment. Schools with greater racial diversity tend to have better retention, satisfaction, and intellectual development. The broader impact of this study has the potential to change the model of how engineering candidates of color are mentored and primed for engineering faculty positions.