Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida
In 2016, only 7 percent of African American and Hispanic students earned research doctorates in the critical disciplines of engineering, computing, and the physical sciences. In academia, diversity fairs even worse as historically underrepresented minorities represented just 6.1 percent of tenured a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1192853/full |
| _version_ | 1797659539314573312 |
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| author | Nancy Diaz-Elsayed Jorge A. Acuna Jorge A. Acuna Michelle Henderson Wainella Isaacs Daniela Cantarino Jennifer K. Bosson Tramaine Polk Tramaine Polk Patricia Robinson Patricia Robinson Bernard Batson José L. Zayas-Castro José L. Zayas-Castro |
| author_facet | Nancy Diaz-Elsayed Jorge A. Acuna Jorge A. Acuna Michelle Henderson Wainella Isaacs Daniela Cantarino Jennifer K. Bosson Tramaine Polk Tramaine Polk Patricia Robinson Patricia Robinson Bernard Batson José L. Zayas-Castro José L. Zayas-Castro |
| author_sort | Nancy Diaz-Elsayed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In 2016, only 7 percent of African American and Hispanic students earned research doctorates in the critical disciplines of engineering, computing, and the physical sciences. In academia, diversity fairs even worse as historically underrepresented minorities represented just 6.1 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty in engineering. The aim of this effort is to understand the “best practices” for the recruitment and mentoring of minority doctoral students in science and engineering disciplines. This was achieved through a literature review, surveys and focus groups with members of the University of South Florida’s (USF’s) Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM), and interviews with faculty champions. Between 2005 and 2020, 136 graduate students have been supported (43% African American, 56.2% Hispanic, 0.8% Native American), of which 87 percent are expected to earn doctorate degrees. Results indicate that the decision to apply and enroll at USF was largely driven by the alignment of research interests with potential advisors, the quality of funding, and positive interactions with mentors, enrolled students, and alumni who provide evidence of a welcoming climate. Ten practices for mentoring doctoral students are provided, which include creating and promoting an inclusive environment and providing a student-centered approach to mentoring. Our effort to build inclusive excellence and foster social justice in graduate education for African American and Hispanic doctoral students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is one that can be modeled and adapted by other institutions to align with their institutional culture and values. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:15:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cde632be8b7c4e5eaece2fe7c588a20a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:15:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-cde632be8b7c4e5eaece2fe7c588a20a2023-10-16T07:33:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-10-01810.3389/feduc.2023.11928531192853Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South FloridaNancy Diaz-Elsayed0Jorge A. Acuna1Jorge A. Acuna2Michelle Henderson3Wainella Isaacs4Daniela Cantarino5Jennifer K. Bosson6Tramaine Polk7Tramaine Polk8Patricia Robinson9Patricia Robinson10Bernard Batson11José L. Zayas-Castro12José L. Zayas-Castro13Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesFaculty of Engineering and Sciences, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, ChileDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesCollege of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesCollege of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesUniversity College of the Cayman Islands, George Town, Cayman IslandsCollege of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesDepartment of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesCollege of Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United StatesIn 2016, only 7 percent of African American and Hispanic students earned research doctorates in the critical disciplines of engineering, computing, and the physical sciences. In academia, diversity fairs even worse as historically underrepresented minorities represented just 6.1 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty in engineering. The aim of this effort is to understand the “best practices” for the recruitment and mentoring of minority doctoral students in science and engineering disciplines. This was achieved through a literature review, surveys and focus groups with members of the University of South Florida’s (USF’s) Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM), and interviews with faculty champions. Between 2005 and 2020, 136 graduate students have been supported (43% African American, 56.2% Hispanic, 0.8% Native American), of which 87 percent are expected to earn doctorate degrees. Results indicate that the decision to apply and enroll at USF was largely driven by the alignment of research interests with potential advisors, the quality of funding, and positive interactions with mentors, enrolled students, and alumni who provide evidence of a welcoming climate. Ten practices for mentoring doctoral students are provided, which include creating and promoting an inclusive environment and providing a student-centered approach to mentoring. Our effort to build inclusive excellence and foster social justice in graduate education for African American and Hispanic doctoral students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is one that can be modeled and adapted by other institutions to align with their institutional culture and values.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1192853/fullrecruitment and retentiondoctoral institutionsgraduate educationstudent diversitymentoring |
| spellingShingle | Nancy Diaz-Elsayed Jorge A. Acuna Jorge A. Acuna Michelle Henderson Wainella Isaacs Daniela Cantarino Jennifer K. Bosson Tramaine Polk Tramaine Polk Patricia Robinson Patricia Robinson Bernard Batson José L. Zayas-Castro José L. Zayas-Castro Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida Frontiers in Education recruitment and retention doctoral institutions graduate education student diversity mentoring |
| title | Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida |
| title_full | Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida |
| title_fullStr | Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida |
| title_full_unstemmed | Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida |
| title_short | Building inclusive excellence in STEM: a 15-year analysis and Lessons Learned of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program at the University of South Florida |
| title_sort | building inclusive excellence in stem a 15 year analysis and lessons learned of the alfred p sloan foundation minority ph d program at the university of south florida |
| topic | recruitment and retention doctoral institutions graduate education student diversity mentoring |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1192853/full |
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