Impact: Redfining Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty (iREDEFINE ECE); March 2020, Orlando, FL

影响：Redfining 电气与计算机工程学院 (iREDEFINE ECE)；

• 批准号: 2016183
• 负责人: Agnieszka Miguel
• 金额: $ 9.86万
• 依托单位: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-03-01 至 2023-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2016183&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Impact; Redfining; Electrical; Computer; Engineering

Despite many efforts to increase diversity among electrical and computer engineering (ECE) faculty, the number of women and underrepresented minorities on ECE faculty remains alarmingly low. In ECE programs, women compose only 14.3% and 19.6% of tenured and tenure-track faculty positions, respectively, which is consistent with their low representation (17.4%) in all engineering tenured/tenure-track positions in the U.S. The percentage of Black or African American faculty in electrical and computer engineering is only 2.0% and 3.1%, respectively. Similarly, only 2.5% of electrical engineering faculty and 2.9% of computer engineering faculty are Hispanic. Research shows that an effective strategy to retain underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is to provide role models and mentors. Thus, the lack of faculty role models is a major contributing factor to the low representation of women and minority students in ECE programs, which further perpetuates the cycle of underrepresentation. “Impact: Redefining Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty” (iREDEFINE ECE) is the expansion of an initiative designed to increase the numbers of such role models for women and underrepresented minorities in ECE programs through in-person workshops and year-round online mentoring activities. Surveys of past iREDEFINE participants verify the efficacy of the workshop approach and support the need for expansion to include year-round activities. In addition to providing operational support for iREDEFINE activities, this grant makes the in-person workshops accessible to students from institutions that may not have the financial resources to support the travel of their PhD students.The goal of the iREDEFINE program is to motivate and prepare PhD women and underrepresented minority students to pursue ECE faculty positions in US universities. The initiative consists of: 1) a workshop for women and underrepresented minority graduate ECE students at an annual meeting of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA); 2) mini workshops at regional ECEDHA meetings; 3) a year-round online mentoring program; and 4) a database of iREDEFINE participants managed by ECEDHA and open to department heads and chairs to facilitate faculty recruitment from underrepresented groups. Extending the workshop to two days, adding workshops at regional conferences, implementing four structured virtual mentoring meetings, and introducing online communities increases the range of opportunities for iREDEFINE Scholars to interact and build a stronger rapport with ECE department heads, industry leaders, and their peers, equipping them with a broad and diverse professional network. By directly impacting 32 women and underrepresented minority participants, this project will help to increase the number of diverse students applying for academic positions in ECE departments and prepare them for successful academic careers. Furthermore, by connecting the students with role models who are academic leaders, participating in iREDEFINE catalyzes an interest in academic administration among iREDEFINE Scholars who will then become role models for the next generation of women and underrepresented minority ECE students. Finally, in addition to supporting participating students in their pursuit of academic careers, these activities also advance the knowledge on successful strategies to broaden the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the ECE professoriate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管为增加电气和计算机工程（ECE）教师的多样性做出了许多努力，但ECE教师中女性和代表性不足的少数民族人数仍然低得惊人。在欧洲经委会计划中，女性仅占终身教职和终身教职的14.3%和19.6%，分别与美国所有工程终身教职/终身教职中的低代表性（17.4%）相一致。同样，只有2.5%的电气工程教师和2.9%的计算机工程教师是西班牙裔。研究表明，在科学、技术、工程和数学领域留住代表性不足的群体的有效战略是提供榜样和导师。因此，教师榜样的缺乏是导致妇女和少数民族学生在幼儿教育方案中代表性低的一个主要因素，这进一步延续了代表性不足的循环。“影响：重新定义电气和计算机工程学院”（iREDEFINE ECE）是一项旨在通过面对面的讲习班和全年在线辅导活动，增加妇女和代表性不足的少数民族在ECE方案中的榜样数量的倡议的扩展。对过去参加网络的人进行的调查证实了讲习班方法的有效性，并支持扩大范围以包括全年活动的必要性。除了为iREDEFINE活动提供运营支持外，这笔赠款还使来自可能没有财政资源支持博士生旅行的机构的学生能够参加面对面的研讨会。iREDEFINE计划的目标是激励和准备博士女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生在美国大学攻读欧洲经济委员会教师职位。该倡议包括：1）在电气和计算机工程系主任协会（ECEDHA）的年度会议上为女性和代表性不足的少数民族研究生举办研讨会; 2）在区域ECEDHA会议上举办小型研讨会; 3）全年在线辅导计划;和4）由ECEDHA管理的iREDEFINE参与者数据库，并向部门负责人和主席开放，以促进从代表性不足的群体招聘教师。将讲习班延长到两天，在区域会议上增加讲习班，举行四次结构化虚拟辅导会议，并引入在线社区，增加了iREDEFINE学者与欧洲经委会各部门负责人、行业领导人及其同行互动和建立更密切关系的机会，为他们提供了广泛和多样化的专业网络。通过直接影响32名妇女和代表性不足的少数族裔参与者，该项目将有助于增加申请欧洲经委会各部门学术职位的多样化学生人数，并为他们成功的学术生涯做好准备。此外，通过将学生与作为学术领袖的榜样联系起来，参加iREDEFINE促进了iREDEFINE学者对学术管理的兴趣，他们将成为下一代妇女和代表性不足的少数民族幼儿教育学生的榜样。最后，除了支持参与的学生追求学术生涯外，这些活动还促进了对扩大妇女和代表性不足的少数群体参与欧洲经委会教授职位的成功战略的了解，这一奖项反映了国家基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。