Collaborative Research: Professional Preparation of Underrepresented Minority PhD's and Post-Docs for a Career in Engineering Academia

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The National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Higher Education, and department administrators from universities across the country agree that increasing underrepresented populations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields is an important national need. Most of the recent activities to rectify the deficiency of underrepresented populations in STEM disciplines have focused on initiatives from grade school to undergraduate college degrees (K-16). These initiatives have made significant advances to enhancing the diversity of the US work force, however they have had minimal effect on the number of graduating PhD students entering professional positions as faculty in academic fields. The lack of faculty diversification is alarming, considering that the primary sustainable method for developing future college-educated generations is a diverse STEM faculty. The goal of this collaborative project led by the University of Akron, in partnership with Mississippi State University and the University of Houston, is to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in engineering that pursue academic careers. Providing participants with additional training in STEM education will yield more prepared engineering educators, which will lead to better-equipped engineers entering the workforce. Similarly, affording additional skills to obtain research funding will assist with participants' ability to succeed at all stages of their careers. An increase in underrepresented faculty could have a long-term sustainable impact on increasing the number of underrepresented populations that enter and are retained in engineering disciplines by providing academic role models/mentors. The research component of this study will add to the national knowledge based on issues of career progression and inform practices on training doctoral students and postdoctoral associates. The proposed project builds upon the findings of the investigators 1.5 day workshops that focused on preparing PhD and postdoctoral trainees for academia. The findings, which supported previous outcomes, determined that most new faculty members, whether they had postdoctoral training or not, were not adequately prepared for academia. The proposed project will provide expanded, intensive professional preparation for PhD and postdoctoral students through a series of two-week intensive summer professional preparation courses in conjunction with year-long activities to offer practical hands-one training in the areas of teaching and research. Participants will be provided an opportunity to write a travel proposal to receive funds to meet with a federal grant coordinator or attend an educational/technical conference. Each year the approach will be implemented and hosted at one of the collaborating institutions with participants recruited from the host university, institutions within a 200 mile radius, as well as a two from each of the collaborating institutions. This effort has potential to significantly increase the numbers of underrepresented populations in engineering fields that pursue academic careers.