The Changing Undergraduate Audience and Implications for Preparing Future STEM Faculty

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The Changing Undergraduate Audience and
Implications forPreparing Future STEM Faculty

• Orlando L. Taylor
• Vice Provost for Research Graduate Dean
• Howard University
• Washington, DC 20059
• otaylor_at_howard.edu

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Lets Hear It for theGood Old (Faculty
Preparation) Days

• Earn a Ph.D. From A Good Place
• Hone Research Skills
• Become Like The Mentor
• Seek A Job In Another Research University
• Engage in On the Job Learning One Size Fits
  All Teaching
• If Students Dont Learn, Presume Its Their Fault
• Live Happily (With Tenure) Ever After

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Welcome To The Faculty of the Future

• Most Jobs in Non-Research Universities
• Teaching ( Learning) A Requirement for
  SuccessEven in Research Universities
• Diverse Student Bodies Where One Size Does NOT
  Fit All
• Recognition of Many Types of Scholarship
• Priority For New Faculty Prepared To Meet Full
  Range of Roles and Responsibilities

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Undergraduate Audience Changes Future Faculty

• Increased Enrollments and Graduates
• Increased Diversity
• More Students in Asynchronous Classes and
  Programs
• More Students Interested in Interdisciplinarity
• Interest in New Evolving Careers

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About Increased Undergraduate Enrollments and
Graduates

• 1990--11.9 Million Students 1999--12.6 Million
  Students (.7 Million Increase)
• 1990--2.4 Million Minority Students 1999--3.6
  Million Minority Students (1.2 Million Increase)
• 1966--154,000 STEM Students 2000--395,000 STEM
  Students, But Smaller of All Degrees--35 in
  1966/31 in 1999

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More Women and Students of Color

• Women 58 Of All College Students 65 of
  African American Students Are Women!
• Women 50 of all Science Baccalaureate Degrees in
  2000 vs. 24.5 in 1966 Heavy in Social Sci.,
  Psychology Biology/55 in Biology/20 in
  Engineering 41 In Physical Sciences
• Persons of Color Approaching Equity in
  Undergraduate Education, But Continuing to Lag in
  STEM Disciplines

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More Students in Asynchronous Audiences

• Along With Certificate Programs, Asynchronous
  Education (Mainly Online) Is the Fastest Growing
  Segment of American Higher Education
• Many Institutions Offer STEM Degrees Online
• Are Teaching/Learning Issues In Asynchronous
  Learning Identical To Those in Face-to-Face
  Teaching and Learning?

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Greater Interest In Interdisciplinarity

• Rapidly Expanding STEM Body of Knowledge
• Understanding of Many Scientific Topics and
  Themes Best Pursued Understood Through
  Interconnections Across Disciplines
• Many Rapidly Increasing Careers in STEM
  Interdisciplinary Fields (e.g., Bioinformatics,
  Computational Biology, Nanoscience, etc.)
• Increasing Connections of STEM With Social
  Science Other Fields (e.g., Bioethics, Science
  and Society, Entrepreneurship, etc.)

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What This Means!!!

• Better Preparation of Graduate Students for
  Teaching/Learning and Other Faculty Roles
• A More Diverse Professoriate Prepared To Teach a
  More Diverse Student Body
• A Faculty Committed to Assuring That The Culture
  of Science is Inclusive
• Preparation of STEM Faculty Capable of Academic
  Life Connected Across Disciplines
• Preparation of STEM Faculty Prepared To Teach
  Students To Work in Interdisciplinary Teams

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What Else Does It Mean?

• Preparation of STEM Faculty to Focus on Learning
  and Variations in Learning Styles
• Preparation of STEM Faculty to Integrate Research
  Into Undergraduate Education
• Preparation of STEM Faculty to Value Scholarly
  Teaching
• Preparation of STEM Faculty for Inquiry Based
  Other Philosophies of Teaching Learning

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Seeking a Finality That We Will Never Find

• The Life of The Academy Is Ever Changing
• And Weand Our StudentsChange With ItSometimes
  By The Day!!!
• We Seek Final Solutions, But Know Full Well That
  Tomorrow New Information May Lead Us To New
  Conclusions
• But We Seek Nonetheless!!!

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Ulysses and The Quest for Truth

• Come my friends, tis not too late to seek a
  new world. Push off, and sitting well in order
  smite the sounding furrows for my purpose holds
  to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all
  the western stars, until I die.
• Ulysses, Tennyson