Diversity and Underrepresented Minority Issues

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Diversity and Underrepresented Minority Issues

• Duane Boning
• Associate Head, EECS, MIT
• March 2009

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Outline/Overview

• Student Recruiting Retention Approach
• Multiple Programs, Multiple Communities, Multiple
  Goals
• School of Engineering Level
• Outreach Programs Grade-school, High-school
• Institute Level
• Undergraduate Support and Retention
• Pipeline to Graduate School
• EECS Department Level
• Pipeline to Undergraduate, Graduate, Faculty
  roles
• Support and Retention Building Community
• Faculty Efforts

GS/HS
UG
G
Fac
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School of Engineering Level

• Minority Introduction to Engineering Science
  (MITES)
• For high school students 6 week residential
  academic enrichment program
• SEED (Saturday Engineering Enrichment
  Discovery) Academy
• Academic enrichment and career exploration
  program targeted to high school students from
  Boston and Cambridge
• STEM Program
• Year-round program targeted to middle school
  students taught by MIT undergraduates 5 week
  Summer Institute mentoring program
• MSBP MIT Science of Baseball Program
• 8th graders in public school in Boston or
  Cambridge

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Institute Level

• MIT Undergraduate Admissions
• 24 of 2009 admitted students are URMs 48 are
  women 16 are first generation to college
• MIT has partnered with QuestBridge to connect
  with low-income student applicants
• Office of Minority Education (OME)
• Interphase Program
• Seminar XL
• OME Tutorial Services Room (TSR)
• Mentor Advocate Partnership (MAP)
• Laureates Leaders Program
• Second Summer Program (SSP)
• Diversity Leadership Congress (11/18/2008)
• Develop practical tools and strategies to help
  lead diversity efforts in local areas around MIT,
  and to fost a culture of inclusion at MIT

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Institute Level, contd

• MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP)
• Began in 1986 to address underrepresentation of
  minorities in engineering and science in the US
• Brings talented college sophomores and juniors to
  MIT, to work in a research laboratory under
  guidance of faculty, post-doctoral, and graduate
  research mentors
• Runs early June to mid-August
• CONVERGE
• Fall Graduate Preview Weekend
• First offered in October 2004
• Pre-admission visitation for 25-30 promising
  undergraduates
• Provides contact with department of primary
  interest, and advice for navigating the graduate
  admissions process

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Department Level

• Background/Demographics
• URM undergrad 2003-2006 17
• Women undergrad 1999 22 2009 32
• Women grad 1999 20 2009 22
• Women faculty 1999 7 2009 12
• Importance of individual engagement UROP,
  advising
• General Focus on Student Life, Student Groups
• Create a supportive environment within EECS
• Support undergraduate graduate student groups
• Outreach

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Department Level, contd

• Womens Technology Program (WTP)
• Four-week summer academic and residential
  experience where female high school students
  explore engineering through hands-on classes,
  labs, and team-based projects in the summer after
  11th grade
• Taught by women graduate students
• Founded in EECS recently also spread to
  Mechanical Eng.
• Participation at diversity conferences and campus
  visits, targeting URM undergraduates interested
  in graduated programs
• GEM Grad Lab (Sept. 2008, Northeastern
  University)
• Consortium between GEM, MIT, Harvard,
  Northeastern, BU, Tufts, WPI, and UMASS Amherst
• SHPE (Nov. 2008, Phoenix AZ)
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
  combined with campus visit to Arizona State
  University

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Mentoring UROP

• Important part of most EECS undergrads
  experience
• 90 of EECS undergraduates participate in a UROP
  during their time as undergraduates
• Mechanism to increase awareness and attraction to
  EECS
• Helps in graduate school interest,
  competitiveness
• Numbers Summer 06 / Fall 06 / Spring 07
• CSAIL EECS 53 / 57 / 35 All-Depts 85 / 80
  / 66
• RLE EECS 8 / 5 / 5 All-Depts 15
  / 10 / 10
• Foster UROPs in EECS
• CSAIL organizing and helping to fund Summer 2007
  UROPs
• EECS support for women UROPs
• Need to explore additional mechanisms to foster
• Funds for UROP as part of faculty startup
  packages?

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EECS Support of Student-Led Activities

• 6.270 (IAP) LEGO Robot Design Competition

• Solar Electric Vehicle (SEV)
• MIT-Africa Internet Technology Initiative
  (MIT-AITI)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• Womens Initiative
• MIT Project ORCA
• MASLAB 6.186 (IAP) - Mobile Autonomous System
  Laboratory Robotics contest

• 6.370 (IAP) - Robocraft Programming Competition

• ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest.
  MIT team at finals in Tokyo 2006 win Gold Medal
  (4th of 88 teams)

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• EECS Graduate Student Association (GSA)
• Graduate Womens Group of Course 6 (GW6)
• Eta Kappa Nu (HKN)
• MIT IEEE/ACM
• 6.Insight
• EECS REFS

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GW6 Events

• Life-work Balance Series
• I Positive Inner-Power Workshop (Mar)
• II Professional Image Workshop (Oct)
• III Family in Industry Panel Discussion (Oct)
• Outreach programs (volunteers!!!)
• Open House Dorm Tour, Social (new admits)
• WTP Social/Lunch for High School Girls
• Applying for Grad School panel (undergrads)
• Meetings and discussions
• Female Graduate Student PhD Completion
• Socials

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EECS Graduate Students Association

• Initial organization (by students) in Fall 2004
• Coordination
• GSA leadership meets with Dept. Head monthly
• Broad scope GSA helps coordinate across multiple
  student groups
• Members serve on Department committees
• Key activities
• Assist in New Admits Open House (March)
• Host networking dinner assemble panel sessions
  (Saturday of visit weekend)
• Graduate Student Orientation (September)
• Week of events socials (Boston area tours
  Endicott House event), information sessions,
  panels
• Organize career development and graduate issue
  panels
• Co-sponsor new student seminar series 6.Insight
• Advocacy and participation in MIT Graduate
  Student Council
• EECS Graduate Handbook (wiki)
• GSA newsletter Current (1st issue Winter 2007)

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Eta Kappa Nu (HKN)

• Underground Guide
• Tutoring
• Undergrad social events
• Womens Outreach

• Career paths awareness
• Joel vs. Joel debate
• Career paths panel
• IAP Student Project Expo
• Gives awards for teaching in EECS

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• Started with EECS HKN
• Now expanded MIT-wide

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EECS REFS Student Mediation

• Group of EECS graduate students serving as peer
  mediators
• Trained, certified, and rewarded
• Role
• Support the graduate community
• Serve as resource in dealing with stress and
  conflict
• Assist in connecting students to additional MIT
  resources
• Launched January 2007
• Training
• 3 founders in IAP 06
• 10 REFS in IAP 07
• Roll-out events in Labs (MTL, RLE, CSAIL, )
• In Feb 07 12 students used the REFS for a
  variety of personal and work related issues

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Faculty Diversity

• Requires sustained, long-term effort at multiple
  levels
• Faculty search
• Outreach to candidates to apply
• Search committee priority
• diversity subcommittee
• School of Engineering
• diversity committee
• additional hiring opportunities
• MIT initiatives
• Martin Luther King Visiting Professors Program

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Summary

• Approach
• Multiple Programs, Multiple Communities, Multiple
  Goals
• Pipeline
• Outreach programs grade-school, high-school
• Support and Retention undergraduates
• Pipeline to Graduate School
• Faculty hiring
• Importance of Multiple Supportive Communities
• Department, student groups, living group,
  laboratory, research group,
• EECS is Eager to Identify/Incorporate Best
  Practices