Impact: Redfining Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty (iREDEFINE ECE); March 2020, Orlando, FL

影响：Redfining 电气与计算机工程学院 (iREDEFINE ECE)；

• 批准号: 2016183
• 负责人: Agnieszka Miguel
• 金额: $ 9.86万
• 依托单位: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-03-01 至 2023-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2016183&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Impact; Redfining; Electrical; Computer; Engineering

Despite many efforts to increase diversity among electrical and computer engineering (ECE) faculty, the number of women and underrepresented minorities on ECE faculty remains alarmingly low. In ECE programs, women compose only 14.3% and 19.6% of tenured and tenure-track faculty positions, respectively, which is consistent with their low representation (17.4%) in all engineering tenured/tenure-track positions in the U.S. The percentage of Black or African American faculty in electrical and computer engineering is only 2.0% and 3.1%, respectively. Similarly, only 2.5% of electrical engineering faculty and 2.9% of computer engineering faculty are Hispanic. Research shows that an effective strategy to retain underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is to provide role models and mentors. Thus, the lack of faculty role models is a major contributing factor to the low representation of women and minority students in ECE programs, which further perpetuates the cycle of underrepresentation. “Impact: Redefining Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty” (iREDEFINE ECE) is the expansion of an initiative designed to increase the numbers of such role models for women and underrepresented minorities in ECE programs through in-person workshops and year-round online mentoring activities. Surveys of past iREDEFINE participants verify the efficacy of the workshop approach and support the need for expansion to include year-round activities. In addition to providing operational support for iREDEFINE activities, this grant makes the in-person workshops accessible to students from institutions that may not have the financial resources to support the travel of their PhD students.The goal of the iREDEFINE program is to motivate and prepare PhD women and underrepresented minority students to pursue ECE faculty positions in US universities. The initiative consists of: 1) a workshop for women and underrepresented minority graduate ECE students at an annual meeting of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA); 2) mini workshops at regional ECEDHA meetings; 3) a year-round online mentoring program; and 4) a database of iREDEFINE participants managed by ECEDHA and open to department heads and chairs to facilitate faculty recruitment from underrepresented groups. Extending the workshop to two days, adding workshops at regional conferences, implementing four structured virtual mentoring meetings, and introducing online communities increases the range of opportunities for iREDEFINE Scholars to interact and build a stronger rapport with ECE department heads, industry leaders, and their peers, equipping them with a broad and diverse professional network. By directly impacting 32 women and underrepresented minority participants, this project will help to increase the number of diverse students applying for academic positions in ECE departments and prepare them for successful academic careers. Furthermore, by connecting the students with role models who are academic leaders, participating in iREDEFINE catalyzes an interest in academic administration among iREDEFINE Scholars who will then become role models for the next generation of women and underrepresented minority ECE students. Finally, in addition to supporting participating students in their pursuit of academic careers, these activities also advance the knowledge on successful strategies to broaden the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in the ECE professoriate.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

尽管为增加电气和计算机工程 (ECE) 教师的多样性做出了许多努力，但 ECE 教师中女性和代表性不足的少数族裔人数仍然低得惊人。在 ECE 项目中，女性在终身教职和终身教职中仅占 14.3% 和 19.6%。 ，这与他们在美国所有工程终身职位/终身职位中的低代表性（17.4％）相一致。电气和计算机工程领域的黑人或非裔美国人教师的比例仅为同样，只有 2.5% 的电气工程教师和 2.9% 的计算机工程教师是西班牙裔。 研究表明，保留科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 领域代表性不足的群体的有效策略是：因此，缺乏教师榜样是导致幼儿教育项目中女性和少数族裔学生代表性较低的一个主要因素，这进一步加剧了代表性不足的循环。 “影响：重新定义电气和计算机工程学院”(iREDEFINE ECE) 是一项举措的扩展，旨在通过面对面研讨会和全年在线辅导活动，增加 ECE 项目中女性和代表性不足的少数族裔榜样的数量。对过去 iREDEFINE 参与者的调查验证了研讨会方法的有效性，并支持将全年活动纳入其中的必要性。除了为 iREDEFINE 活动提供运营支持外，这笔赠款还使学生可以参加现场研讨会。 iREDEFINE 计划的目标是激励和准备女性博士生和代表性不足的少数族裔学生在美国大学担任 ECE 教职。该计划包括： 1。 ) 在电气和计算机工程系主任协会 (ECEDHA) 年会上为女性和代表性不足的少数族裔 ECE 研究生举办研讨会；2) 在区域 ECEDHA 会议上举办小型研讨会；3) 全年在线辅导；计划；4) 由 ECEDHA 管理并向系主任和主席开放的 iREDEFINE 参与者数据库，以促进代表性不足群体的教师招聘 将研讨会延长至两天，在区域会议上增加研讨会，实施四次结构化导师虚拟会议，并引入。在线社区增加了 iREDEFINE 学者与 ECE 部门负责人、行业领导者及其同行互动并建立更牢固关系的机会，为他们提供了广泛而多样化的专业网络，直接影响了 32 名女性。和代表性不足的少数族裔参与者，该项目将有助于增加申请 ECE 系学术职位的多元化学生数量，并为他们的成功学术生涯做好准备。此外，通过将学生与学术领袖的榜样联系起来，参与 iREDEFINE 可以促进iREDEFINE 学者对学术管理的兴趣，这些学者将成为下一代女性和代表性不足的少数族裔 ECE 学生的榜样。最后，除了支持参与的学生追求学术生涯外，这些活动还增进了对成功策略的了解。扩大女性和代表性不足的少数群体在 ECE 教授队伍中的参与。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。