Facing the problem

Initiate retention efforts. Supporting new talent goes a long way. "We recognize [the minority faculty]," says Dorland. "We reward them appropriately, and we continue to ask them for their ideas about and support for where we need to be going. They are definitely empowered to be active faculty in our college," says Dorland. Many universities also boast mentoring programs, formal and informal, for faculty. Alert new hires to the existence of such programs-and groups. At the University of Washington, for example, there is an informal network of Latinas. "Making sure that a new Latina faculty member knows about that is an appropriate thing to do," says Denton.

Even simple things mean a lot. "It's the people, stupid," says Denton. "We just don't focus on our people. Let's have a nice office ready for them. Let's have a parking space for them. Let's do all that before they get there."

Protect new hires. Avoid the every-committee syndrome. "Deans and chairs have to make sure that this individual is not being committeed to death," says Denton. "because everyone else wants this young, African-American woman on his or her committee."

No matter what steps universities are taking to recruit more minority faculty, the end result means a better future for the engineering profession. Since academia aims to prepare students to enter the work world, diversity among faculty remains a high priority. "The best way we can do that is to make sure students experience an environment here that parallels those workplaces," says Farbrother. "To isolate students in a homogenous environment that isn't reflective of the workplace is a disservice to them."

What's more, "an awful lot of what we do in engineering is design," says Busch-Vishniac. "We are looking at a whole host of alternative solutions to problems and trying to evaluate which ones are best." And the best way to bring all of the issues that lead to design is "to have as diverse a population as possible." That also means in the classroom.

Margaret Mannix is a freelance writer based in suburban Washington, D. C. She can be reached at mmannix@asee.org.

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education Oct 2002
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