| NSF Org: |
EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 9, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 12, 2020 |
| Award Number: | 1623053 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Kemi Ladeji-Osias
jladejio@nsf.gov (703)292-7708 EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,922,980.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,013,891.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2020 = $90,911.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
201 MULLICA HILL RD GLASSBORO NJ US 08028-1702 (856)256-4057 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NJ US 08028-1701 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
PFE\RED - Professional Formati, IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Efforts to improve diversity in engineering have stagnated over the last 10-15 years, despite numerous programs and other activities that have been developed over that time. The lack of progress suggests that it is not enough to simply "fix" the pipeline. Rather, efforts are needed to change the way all stakeholders in engineering education think about diversity. This project will revolutionize the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at Rowan University to radically increase diversity and achieve high retention and graduation rates of all CEE students. An ambitious plan for curricular and extracurricular reform is being used to increase the representation of women and Underrepresented Minority (URM) students and historically underserved groups. These measures will be deployed using a multi-pronged approach that includes revising admission criteria to promote a more diverse student body; enhancing the perception and understanding of diversity and equality among students, faculty and administrators to improve the culture of inclusiveness; developing an Advocate and Allies Mentoring Program for first year and transfer students; transforming the existing engineering curriculum in the second and third year from a narrow sub-discipline based approach to a more inclusive system-based approach; and enriching aspirations for all students by providing role models from industry and academia. Through these efforts radical changes will be made in the structure of the program: increase the percentage of women and ethnic/racial minorities (visible URMs) in the department from 19.3 percent to above 50 percent in the 5 year duration of the grant, while at the same time also increasing the percentage of all historically underserved groups; redesign curriculum, teaching and learning, and department systems and processes to promote inclusiveness that benefits all students; improve retention of all students from 85 to 95 percent; improve 5-year graduation rates of all CEE students from the current level of 68 to 80 percent; and incentivize the faculty to be active partners in the transformation
This transformative research project will generate new knowledge about the experiences of URMs in engineering. The main research questions include: (1) What is the perceived human capital (acquiring knowledge or skills), sociocultural capital (developing interpersonal relationships and networks), and personal capital (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) of URM engineering students? What are the similarities and differences in those perceptions across race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation? (2) How do the students perceive their self-efficacy and professional identity in (civil) engineering? (3) What aspects of faculty development training are most effective in promoting adoption of inclusive teaching practices and learning environment and creating an inclusive culture? These research questions will be used to obtain a better understanding of the perceived barriers for URMs in the field of engineering and identify strategies for developing a model of inclusivity. Strategies encompass admission and retention of students, faculty attitudes and teaching, and curricular changes that will impact the way students think and function in the professional workplace. The vision also extends to the students' professional growth with higher aspirations being cultivated by addressing and enhancing human, social, and cultural capital. The transformation will help the student internalize aspirations, develop self-efficacy and self-confidence that they belong in the field as leaders and advocates for inclusivity. The results from this project will be a transformation kit, which allows other engineering programs to make similar changes. This project will provide guidance on how to change the culture of engineering to one of inclusion, ultimately resulting in a more diverse engineering workforce prepared to address the challenges of the 21st century.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
NSF Outcomes Report
Award Title: Rethinking Engineering Diversity, Transforming Engineering Diversity
PI: Stephanie Farrell
NSF Award Number: 1623053
This project revolutionized the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rowan University by building a sustainable model for diversity supported by collective intentionality for inclusion. The model, shown in Figure 1, used a multidimensional approach that embedded DEI in all aspects of department activity while removing institutional barriers to DEI through critical changes in policies and practices.
A new data-informed model for engineering admissions
In partnership with the Admissions Office, we developed a new model for engineering admissions. The model includes a process that eliminates the exclusive reliance on SAT and GPA, and involves the department in holistic evaluation of students’ potential to succeed in engineering.
Between 2016 and 2022, we observed the following changes in the demographic composition of first time freshmen engineering students: the representation of women increased from 13.8% to 23.9%, the representation of Hispanic students increased from 6.9% to 11.3%, and the representation of African American students increased from 0% to 7%.
Inclusive Curriculum in all CEE Core courses
All ten of the core courses in the Civil Engineering curriculum were transformed from a narrow sub-discipline-based approach to a more inclusive, system-based approach for next-generation workforce development. The inclusive curriculum was developed according to a sociocultural framework for inclusive pedagogy which considers course content, assignments, assessment, and instruction. The development of the inclusive curriculum was informed by the results of our research on student experiences and perceptions of climate in engineering.
Visible culture and collective intentionality of inclusion
Through a variety of mechanisms for and recognition, CEE has developed a visible culture for DEI and intentionality of inclusion in the department.
Outside the classroom, CEE annual student awards help reimagine what success looks like by highlighting a variety of valuable contributions to the department such as outstanding mentoring, humanitarian service, courage under adversity, service to the community, and being a diversity champion.
Our team developed a comprehensive climate survey and gathered baseline data to assess the climate across multiple dimensions and demographic groups. The survey will be used in future years to continue to monitor progress toward achieving a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Faculty Programs and Rewards
Faculty efforts to promote DEI through teaching, research and service were initially supported by department-level training. Our RevEd programming informed the development of university-level DEI training to increase DEI awareness and to support inclusive and anti-racist pedagogy.
To ensure that faculty DEI work is valued and rewarded, the department- and university-level criteria for recontracting, tenure and promotion were changed to include criteria related to DEI in teaching, research, and service.
DEI will be an integral part of the engineering accreditation process starting with a pilot assessment in 2022. To support this effort, we developed a robust, adaptable, transferrable protocol for assessment of ABET criteria 5 and 6 related to DEI awareness for students and faculty respectively.
A model for recruitment and retention of diverse students.
Several programs were developed to ensure the academic success (retention and graduation) of students admitted to CEE at Rowan. First-year students in Civil and Environmental Engineering participate in MORE (Mentoring Opportunities Reinforcing Excellence), and transfer students participate in MEETS (Mentor, Energize, Engage Transfer Students). Since spatial skills are linked to success in STEM, with URM and women students disproportionately disadvantaged by poor spatial skills, we developed a novel training program to improve spatial skills. The training is part of the required curriculum for all first-year engineering students.
Graduation rates: For the fall 2016, fall 2017 and fall 2018 cohorts of first-time freshmen enrolled in CEE, the 4-year graduation rate for URM was higher than for non-URM, and the graduation rate for women was higher than for men. We have maintained 4-year graduation rates above 70% for all of these groups.
Student attitudes toward engineering: Across multiple measures of career confidence, Rowan engineering students have high levels of confidence. Engineering women students’ confidence in academic ability is not significantly different from men’s. Women engineering students at Rowan are more likely to expect to attain a graduate degree than men engineering students are. Rowan engineering students are very likely to expect to be working in engineering in 10 years, with no significant gender difference.
In 2022, women were more likely to report that they felt like they belong in the engineering environment, in comparison with 2018. In 2022 women and men were equally likely to report feeling like they belong in engineering.
Last Modified: 11/06/2023
Modified by: Stephanie Farrell
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