2022 CoNECD (Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity)
New Orleans, Louisiana
February 20, 2022
February 20, 2022
July 20, 2022
Technical Session 14 - Paper 1: Diversity Statements in STEM Faculty Job Applications
Diversity and CoNECD Paper Sessions
35
10.18260/1-2--39115
https://peer.asee.org/39115
549
Dr. Yvette E. Pearson holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering and M.S. in Chemistry from Southern University Baton Rouge and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of New Orleans. She is Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at University of Texas at Dallas, a Commissioner on the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, a registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana, a former Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation, and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Dr. Torrie Cropps is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at University of Texas at Dallas. Her research there focuses broadly on strategies to promote equity for marginalized populations in engineering. Torrie earned her PhD in Agricultural Education from Purdue University. Her research interests include critical qualitative research, Black women in graduate education, equity and inclusion in agriculture + STEM, and mentoring and advising in graduate education.
Samara is an undergraduate studying neuroscience at Rice University in Houston, TX. She works as a research assistant for Dr. Yvette E. Pearson in the George R. Brown School of Engineering. Her primary research focus is the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education.
Dr. Canek Phillips is a Research Scientist at in the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University where his research interests touch broadly on efforts to promote greater equity for underrepresented groups in engineering. Canek earned his PhD from the Purdue School of Engineering Education in 2016 and worked as a graduate research assistant in Dr. Alice Pawley’s Feminist Research in Engineering Education Lab. Canek was brought on at Rice originally as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2017 on an NSF-funded study that investigates the efficacy of an audio-based method of learning mathematics where he now serves as Co-PI. In 2019, he began working as Co-PI on another NSF-funded study to reduce barriers in the hiring of underrepresented racial minority faculty in data science and data engineering fields.
Diversity statements are becoming increasingly popular components of faculty application packages, yet there are relatively few studies that address how effective they are to improving hiring of faculty from traditionally excluded identities. Some findings indicate requiring diversity statements leads to more diverse applicant pools and less “white-washing” of documents by applicants, yet this does not increase the yield; thus, pointing to the need to address equity – not just diversity – in recruiting and hiring processes. There is also little known about how – or if – the practice of requiring diversity statements varies by institution type.
This work-in-progress paper is part of a larger-scale study being conducted to understand equity in STEM faculty hiring, with a focus on race-based outcomes. In Fall 2021, the authors launched a nationwide survey to capture perspectives on STEM faculty hiring from current faculty. Respondents were STEM faculty from various types of four-year institutions – research institutions, predominately undergraduate institutions, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), public universities, and private universities – all of whom have served on faculty search committees. As a first step toward learning about how search committee members evaluate diversity statements, this paper will present preliminary analyses that answer the questions: (1) How prevalent are diversity statement requirements for STEM faculty jobs? (2) Does this differ by discipline and/or institution characteristics (i.e., Carnegie Classification, MSI status)? (3) To what extent do universities equip search committees to evaluate diversity statements? Future work will include analyses of how STEM faculty search committee members evaluate diversity statements, namely, the factors that contribute to their positive evaluations.
Pearson, Y. E., & Cropps, T., & Boyle, S. R., & Phillips, C. M. L. (2022, February), Diversity Statements in STEM Faculty Job Applications Paper presented at 2022 CoNECD (Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity) , New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/1-2--39115
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