Grants to encourage diversity in science and engineering

Updated 10:00 AM September 24, 2007

Grants to encourage diversity in science and engineering

By Jared Wadley
News Service

Dr. Sonya Miller, an assistant professor and associate director of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency training program, had an idea about how to help people with disabilities meet the challenges and rigor of medical school. She recognized the need for mentoring, role models and support services.

At a January 2006 conference on "Advancing Diversity and Excellence in Science and Engineering," where national and institutional model programs were presented and discussed, Miller learned about a program of grants to support significant transformations in the environment for diversity in science and engineering, created by a partnership between the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) and the ADVANCE Program at U-M.

Miller's proposal enabled her to conduct a survey and to form focus groups to learn about the educational resources required to increase the number of people with disabilities seeking medical careers. "Without the grant it would have been very difficult to conduct this study because money is needed for incentives to maximize participation in the focus groups and completion of the attitudes survey," she says.

Miller, associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the Medical School, was one of 11 U-M faculty and staff who received grants funded by a partnership between the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID) and the ADVANCE Program. Faculty and staff competed for funds to support a significant transformation in the environment for diversity in science and engineering, including improvement of climate and mentoring, and an increase in the number of diverse faculty or students recruited, retained and promoted.

Proposals were supported by $250,000 raised from internal sources for new pilot programs on these issues. "The selection committee was impressed by the combination of knowledge about the issues, careful thinking about optimal approaches, and selfless commitment from faculty and staff members in pursuing institutional program development, that is reflected in these projects," says Abigail Stewart, director of the ADVANCE Program. "We all are eager to see what our colleagues accomplish over the next year, and look forward to presentations in fall 2008 when the campus will have an opportunity to assess how these various models might be institutionalized and replicated in other departments and colleges."

Another grant recipient, Ben Hansen, assistant professor of statistics, says his project seeks to expand his department's masters program in statistics to include mentoring and research opportunities to set the stage for transitions into the doctorate program.

"This seems to me an important advantage for recruiting," Hansen says. "We can say to promising female or black statisticians 'You can pursue your studies without the added burden of having to represent all women or all African-Americans, in general.'"

Other grant winners include:

Program for K-12 students

• Jill Andrews, director of Office of Engineering Outreach and Engagement in the College of Engineering (CoE), will develop a partnership between the Ypsilanti Public School District and CoE aimed at increasing the number of historically underrepresented students in engineering-related careers, and to ensure course rigor, content learning, professional learning and demonstrations of knowledge acquired.

Program for undergraduate students

• Denise Sekaquaptewa, associate professor of psychology, will identify how educational environments can be structured to improve academic outcomes for women students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Sekaquaptewa says "research has shown that STEM environments that lack gender diversity can promote negative deep-seated cognitions implying that STEM fields are 'not for women.' My previous work showed that these implicit beliefs predict negative STEM outcomes. But STEM environments can also be designed to promote strong positive beliefs about women and STEM, which can improve women's STEM outcomes."

Programs for doctoral students

• Carolyn Dean, math lecturer, and Divakar Viswanath, associate professor of mathematics, will establish relationships with historically black colleges with the aim of developing a national reputation as a leading mathematics department seriously engaged with minority recruitment and retention. They also will construct and offer financial aid packages for minority graduate students.

• Brad Orr, professor of physics, will implement a pilot program to increase the success of students from underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and math. The project, which targets the transition from small liberal arts undergraduate schools to graduate programs at U-M, will allow applied physics students to better master foundational graduate courses.

• John Vandermeer, Margaret Davis Collegiate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Ivette Perfecto, professor in School of Natural Resources and Environment, will work to promote diversity in ecology by integrating activities already initiated in a broad-ranging program involving students from U-M, Howard University, Escuela de la Frontera Sur, and Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribeña Nicaragüense.

Programs for post-doctoral fellows

• Mark Banaszak Holl, professor of chemistry, and macromolecular science and engineering, will develop a post-doctoral program aimed at improving diversity and excellence in the chemistry department.

• Michele Swanson, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, will work on the Advancing Diversity and Excellence in Microbial Pathogenesis Program, which emphasizes the department's focused research mission and diverse faculty. This program can provide a rich training environment for diverse post-doctoral fellows.

The Provost's Office, Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the ADVANCE Program, LSA, CoE, and the Medical School contributed funds that support the nine grants.

Grants to encourage diversity in science and engineering

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