Collaborative Research: ASSIST - Strengthening Engineering Faculty through Diversity Serving Professional Organization Engagement

这个合作项目的目标是通过吸引研究生、博士后专业人员和早期职业教师参与以教师为导向的专业发展活动，增加高等院校工程学院的多样性。工程师队伍缺乏多样性是有据可查的。根据美国工程教育学会（American Society for Engineering Education）收集的数据，从2012年到2013年，西班牙裔终身教职教师的比例实际上有所下降，从3.9%降至3.6%。在同一时期，非裔美国教师的数量也从2.7%下降到2.6%。美国印第安人和夏威夷/太平洋岛民的数量变化为个位数，他们的总体百分比很小，没有明显变化。如果考虑性别因素，2012年女性终身教职人员的比例为14.5%，比2001年的8.9%缓慢上升。使工程专业多样化是国家的当务之急，在工程学院队伍中出现榜样对于支持鼓励代表性不足的学生寻求和获得工程学位至关重要。更具体地说，2012年，408个工程博士学位被授予了这一目标人群，然而助理教授的数量只增加了28个（从411个增加到439个）。这是给定年份的全职教师人数，不包括可能从助理晋升为助理或可能离开学院的教师。即使这些获得博士学位的人中有四分之一加入了工程学院，这也会导致这一比例增加近25%。显然，需要做出更大的努力，以增加那些获得博士学位的人选择进入学术行列。针对工程和其他STEM领域中代表性不足的人群的七个工程专业组织将在该项目上进行合作：美国印第安人科学与工程协会（AISES）、STEM杰出人才协会（GMiS）、拉丁裔科学与工程协会（MAES）、全国黑人工程师协会（NSBE）、拉美裔/奇卡诺裔和美国原住民STEM进步协会（SACNAS）、西班牙裔专业工程师协会（SHPE）和女性工程师协会（SWE）。该项目将为研究生、博士后专业人员和早期职业教师参加由各组织主办的国家工程会议提供便利。利用内容专家，这些组织将在这些会议上提供专业发展机会，旨在帮助参与者成为成功的工程教师。通过在这些组织之间创建协作基础设施，他们将通过这些研讨会和目标参与者的专业发展活动来设计、实施和评估增加工程教师多样性的有效性。这项活动还将创造一个从事高等教育追求的自给自足的社区，从而解决往往被认为是造成来自不同群体的教师人数少的孤立现象。第二个好处是，参加这些会议的本科生和预科生将有机会与研究生、博士后专业人员和早期职业教师参与者互动，从而增加他们了解和潜在地寻求研究生学位的机会，增加那些寻求终身职位的人的数量。

This collaborative project has a goal of increasing the diversity of engineering faculty at post-secondary institutions through engaging graduate students, post-doctoral professionals and early career faculty in faculty oriented professional development activities. The lack of diversity in the engineering ranks is well documented. According to data collected by the American Society for Engineering Education, the percentage of Hispanic tenure track faculty actually declined from 2012 to 2013, from 3.9% to 3.6%. During that same period, the number of African American faculty also declined from 2.7% to 2.6%. The numbers of American Indian and Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders changed by single digit numbers, their overall percentage being so small that it did not vary significantly. When considering gender, the number of tenure track female faculty was 14.5% in 2012, a number that has slowly increased from the 8.9% in 2001. It is a national imperative to diversify the engineering profession, and the presence of role models within the engineering faculty ranks is crucial to support the encouragement of underrepresented students seeking and earning engineering degrees. More specifically, 408 engineering doctoral degrees were awarded to members of this target demographic in 2012, however the number of assistant professors only increased by 28 (from 411 to 439). This is FTE for the given year and does not account for faculty that may have been promoted from assistant to associate or those who may have left the academy. If even ¼ of those earning doctorates had joined engineering faculties, this would result in an almost 25% increase in the representation. Clearly greater effort is needed to increase the number of those that earn doctoral degree who choose to enter academic ranks.Seven engineering professional organizations that target underrepresented populations in engineering and other STEM fields will collaborate on this project: the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), Great Minds in STEM (GMiS), Latinos in Science and Engineering (MAES), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in STEM (SACNAS), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). This project will facilitate travel for graduate students, postdoctoral professionals and early career faculty to attend national engineering conferences hosted by each organization. Utilizing content experts, these organizations will provide professional development opportunities at these conferences designed to prepare participants to become successful engineering faculty. By creating a collaborative infrastructure between these organizations, they will design, implement and evaluate the efficacy of increasing engineering faculty diversity through these workshops and professional development activities for the targeted participants. This activity will also create a self-supporting community engaged in higher educational pursuits thus addressing the isolation often perceived as contributing to the low numbers of faculty from diverse groups. A secondary benefit is that the undergraduate and pre-college students who attend these same conferences will have the opportunity to interact with the graduate students, postdoctoral professionals and early career faculty participants, thereby increasing their opportunity to learn about and potentially seek graduate degrees, increasing the pool of those who seek tenure track positions.