Steven Castillo, Dean, College of Engineering, New Mexico State University

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• Steven Castillo, Dean, College of Engineering,
  New Mexico State University
• Lisa Frehill, Executive Director, Commission on
  Professionals in Science and Technology

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Plan of the talk

• Review data about diversity in the U.S.
  engineering professoriate pipeline
• Process how this presentation was constructed.
• Key we engaged not the usual suspects
• Some people who had long been on board with
  diversity efforts.
• Group discussion about other national
  contextsrecruitment, retention, and advancement
  of women in engineering faculty positions.

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Background U.S. Context

• STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and
  Mathematics
• Diversity various demographic dimensions
• URM Under-represented minorities, includes
• Includes African Americans, American Indians,
  Hispanics
• Racial/ethnic groups that have been historically
  disadvantaged in the United States.
• Members of these groups currently account for
  nearly one-third of people aged 18-24 in the
  United States.
• By 2050, members of these groups projected to be
  50 of U.S. college-aged population.

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RationaleWhy did NSF fund this project?

• Dissemination award by the Program for Research
  on Gender in Science and Engineering at National
  Science Foundation.
• Relatively minor changes in composition of STEM
  faculty over past 20 years DESPITE changes in
  pools of candidates for STEM faculty positions.
• Social science research-based approach.
• Dissemination strategies based on peer-to-peer
  communications.
• Academic administrators.
• Senior MALE faculty.
• STEM discipline contexts.

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Data on Diversity in U.S. Academic Engineering
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Faculty Diversity
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Faculty Diversity
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Faculty Diversity
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Women as a Percent of Ph.D.s Employedin
Universities 4-Year Colleges by STEM Field and
Rank, 2003
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Faculty Diversity
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Faculty Diversity
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Faculty Diversity
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Process of Developing this PowerPoint Presentation
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Seven teams of deans, department chairs, and
senior faculty from four institutions
Deans from three other institutions
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Process Team Recruitment and Education

• Fall 2004Recruited teams and other participants
• Deans team leaders
• Worked with deans to recruit not the usual
  diversity people.
• Recruited diversity experts.
• Spring 2005Team members education via
• Special workshops at national conferences
• American Association for the Advancement of
  Science (AAAS)
• Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates
  Network (WEPAN)
• Reading materials
• Pre-retreat homework assignments

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Process Constructing PowerPoint and Guides to
Diversity for Deans and Department Chairs

• Summer 2005working retreat
• 2 ½ days in a remote mountain location.
• Structured facilitated discussion exercises.
• Assigned seating and changing group assignments.
• Everyone met everyone else ? development of
  TRUST.
• Emphasis on past experiences with hiring and
  retention
• Conscious examination.
• Careful reflection.
• Culmination 1st draft of PowerPoint presentation
  ? critique and correction.
• Fall 2005Review process
• PowerPoint slides materials sent to
  participants for review.
• Professional graphics designers hired.

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Hiring is a Shared Responsibility in U.S. Academia
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How to Effect Change and Promote Diversity

• Establish clear and transparent written
  guidelines and procedures that minimize cognitive
  errors.
• Promote diversity and ensure an equitable
  workplace at every level of the institution.
• Acknowledge that effective hiring and retention
  will attract individuals that will provide
  diversity for competitive advantage.

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Discussion Exercise
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Form Groups for Discussion Exercise

• Type of workplace you work at
• College/university
• Industry
• Government
• Other
• Geographic Region
• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• North America
• Oceania
• South America

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Discussion Exercise Process

• Choose one person to be a scribe.
• Choose another person to make a report.
• Introduce yourselves.
• Answer the questions on the next slide via a
  discussion in your groups.
• The scribe will record answers.
• After ½ hour the larger group will re-convene
  with answers shared from all groups.

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Discussion Exercise Questions

• What is the relative representation of women at
  each stage of the engineering pipeline in your
  country? What is your source of data for this
  answer?
• How are new engineers/professors hired at your
  workplace?
• Who is responsible for what decisions?
• What are the institutional leverage points?
• Think about the most recent engineer/professor
  hired at your workplace
• Was this a woman?
• Were there women in the interview pool?
• What strategies were used to increase the
  likelihood that a woman was in the pool?
• What are the barriers to hiring women at your
  workplace?
• Who is responsible for those barriers?

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Some Answers from the NSF-Funded Project
Diversifying STEM Faculty U.S. Context
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Faculty Actions That Promote Diversity in
Recruitment

• Recruit all the time.
• Invite diverse speakers to departmental seminar
  series (who may become future recruits).
• Be proactive in recruiting - dont wait to
  search.
• Develop professional contacts with women and URM.
• Develop professional contacts with doctoral
  students at professional and society meetings.
• Equitable review of dossiers
• All candidates concrete evidence placed in a
  matrix
• Look at multiple dimensions of the job.
• Productivity/fundability.
• Teaching needs.
• Possible collaborations.
• Record on diversity.
• Evidence of good citizenship/leadership
  potential.
• Avoid ranking too early in the applicant review
  process.

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Department Chair Actions to Increase Diversity
in Recruitment

• Verbalize how diverse faculty strengthen the
  institution, department, and program.
• Construct search committee to maximize diversity.
• Ensure that search committee members are
  appropriately informed about diversity and aware
  of unconscious bias.
• Involve all faculty in broadening the pool of
  applicants.
• If possible, use advertising language that will
  attract the broadest possible pool.
• Look for the best person rather than a
  carbon-copy of the person who previously held the
  position.
• Use the search to broaden the expertise of your
  department/program.
• Maintain a timely search.

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Deans Actions to Increase Diversity in
Recruitment

• Meet with search committees.
• Emphasize institutional priorities, including
  diversity.
• Stress importance of best practices.
• Post relevant work/family policies on the college
  webpage or include in a brochure.
• Incorporate diversity into the colleges
  strategic goals and objectives.
• Allocate resources
• Ensure that search committees have adequate
  funding and administrative support by offering
• Timely letters.
• Competitive and equitable start-up packages.
• Dual career accommodations.
• Reward chairs/heads who use best practices in
  searching.

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A Collegial Work Environment Provides a
Foundation for Recruitment and Retention of All
Faculty

• Set up process to develop a code of conduct
  (essential).
• A departmental retreat can be one strategy to
  develop a code
• Find a good moderator who is not in your group.
• Someone who understands higher education.
• Experts at your university (e.g., school of
  business).
• Experts at other universities.
• Refer to AAUP statement.
• Be aware that things that look fine to senior
  faculty may not for junior faculty.
• Review code on a regular basis.

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Best Practices RetentionCreating a collegial,
welcoming, and open environment

• Value diversity in the department.
• Resolve conflict and harassment rapidly.
• Be transparent in operations, including fair and
  open PT guidelines
• Mentor faculty.
• Facilitate and monitor carefully.
• Volunteer to review colleagues work.
• Enhance research collaborations.

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Best Practices RetentionInstitutional Efforts

• Hold orientation sessions for new faculty.
• Institute flexible and accommodating work/family
  policies and practices.
• Dual career hires.
• Family/personal leave.
• Tenure clock.
• On-site daycare.
• Support career development.
• Use annual review process as opportunity to plan
  and support.
• Support at junior and mid-career levels.

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Mid-Career Retention

• Ensure equity in job assignments and rewards for
  job performance.
• Create a collegial work environment.
• Provide opportunities to obtain seed money for
  new professional directions.
• Accommodate family and health needs.
• Encourage leadership.
• Endorse women and minorities as leaders.
• Ensure competitive salaries.