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appendix a.
Report of the Geosciences
Diversity Workshop
August 2000, National Science Foundation (NSF 01-53)
The Directorate
for Geosciences (GEO) convened a workshop at the National Science Foundation
on August 14-15, 2000, for the purpose of developing strategies to enhance
the role of underrepresented minorities (African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans,
Native-Americans/Native-Alaskans and persons with disabilities) in the
geosciences. Activities to address gender issues were not discussed by
the workshop since the National Science Foundation is developing a cross-directorate
program, ADVANCE, to address gender equity issues. The GEO Diversity Initiative
will address gender issues in the future after the ADVANCE program is
established.
This workshop grew
out of the finding that geosciences has an extremely low number of minorities
represented at various points in the educational pathway and in careers
in the geosciences. While minorities earn almost 15 percent of the total
bachelor's degrees granted in science and engineering, they earn only
4.6 percent of all BS degrees in geosciences. At the master's and doctorate
levels, the percentages for minorities earning degrees in geosciences
are 3.3 percent and 5 percent respectively. This may be contrasted with
the fact that minorities earn 10.6 percent of the total master's degrees
in science and engineering and 8.2 percent of doctorate degrees in the
same pool. As a group, African-American, Hispanic-Americans and Native-Americans
represent only about 4.9% of employed Ph.D. scientists and engineers.
These data are a few of the statistics that were presented to the workshop.
The data support the lack of minority representation in science and engineering
in general and in the geosciences in particular, and the need to take
steps to address the problem.
The purpose of the
workshop was to solicit from the community innovative ideas on what GEO
could and should do to substantially impact the aspirations, accomplishments,
and visibility of underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities
in all sectors of the geosciences community. The workshop participants
have broad backgrounds in education and research, including considerable
experience in developing and managing diversity-enhancing activities.
Additional input from the community was requested via e-mail, with over
40 responses, which were read by workshop participants.
The background material
for the workshop included a summary of statistical information of minority
participation in the geosciences at various educational and professional
levels. A review and discussion of diversity-enhancing activities by other
funding agencies, professional societies, and the various NSF directorates
was also part of the workshop. A portion of the workshop focused on on-going
successful programs that address diversity in the geosciences.
The primary purpose
of the workshop discussions was: [1] to determine the obstacles that arise
in attracting minority students to the geosciences, as well as discussing
possible strategies for circumventing these obstacles; [2] to determine
the characteristics of successful programs for recruiting and retaining
minority students and professionals in the geosciences; [3] to provide
advice to the Directorate for Geosciences on short-term and long-term
goals, strategies, and actions needed to increase the participation of
underrepresented minorities at all levels of the geoscience community.
The workshop recommendations
are:
Recommendation
No.1 The Directorate for Geosciences should proceed with the development
and implementation of a Geosciences Diversity Initiative with the following
goals:
Long-term goals:
- Increase participation
in geosciences education and research by members of groups that have
traditionally been underrepresented in geoscience disciplines.
- Enhance the understanding
of the geosciences and their contribution to modern society by a broad
and diverse segment of the American population.
Short-term (within
5 years) goals:
- Foster development
of a community of individuals dedicated to improving diversity in the
geosciences, to include faculty, students, administrators, professional
organizations, private foundations, other government agencies and industry
partners.
- Increase opportunities
for geosciences research experiences for students, undergraduate and
graduate, from underrepresented groups.
- Foster educational
and research partnerships/collaborations/exchanges between and among
the following: minority serving institutions, traditional majority serving
institutions (i.e. two and four-year colleges, universities) research
centers, professional and industrial organizations.
- Facilitate the
establishment/development/enhancement of educational and research capabilities
in minority serving institutions.
- Foster programs
and environments that increase cultural competencies for all. Cultural
competence is defined as the ability to relate and communicate effectively
when individuals involved in the interaction do not share the same culture,
ethnicity, language or other salient variables.
Recommendation
No. 2 A central theme of the workshop's recommendations is that experience
with various approaches to increasing diversity in geosciences and the
appreciation of geosciences by diverse groups requires a diversity of
strategies and programs. Among these are:
Short-term activities:
- Development of
geosciences research opportunities that increase exposure, interest,
choice, preparation, and performance of students, faculty, and research
scientists. Examples include field experiences (cultivation of relevant
skills) and faculty or student exchanges between partnering institutions.
- Development of
geosciences teaching opportunities that increase exposure, interest,
choice, preparation, and performance of students, faculty, and research
scientists. Examples include adjunct or visiting professorships, distance
learning opportunities and lecture series.
- Development of
geoscience collaborations that link programs, students, and mentors
both horizontally and vertically.
- Creation of opportunities
for programs/projects to be led by an individual who has a full time
commitment and who is rewarded and not marginalized in his/her professional
development.
- The development
and distribution of media that portray persons from underrepresented
communities in geosciences related fields.
Long-term activities:
- Development of
ways to embed into the core missions of the host institutions the values,
priorities, and procedures of short-term externally funded intervention
programs that enhance diversity. Evidence that this has occurred includes:
- commitment
of institutional funds, facilities and personnel time;
- buy-in of
the professional staff to value diversity as a contribution to better
decision-making, breadth of research questions asked, and other
positive values; and
- consideration
of diversity-enhancing activities in promotion, tenure, and hiring.
- Building and
rewarding leadership. Successful programs are characteristically built
around the commitment, dedication, and personal energy of key individuals.
This observation suggests two issues:
- How can NSF
maintain this commitment, dedication, and personal energy over decades?
Networking and rewards for leaders are key components.
- How does
one pass leadership to a new generation of people? How does NSF
recruit and apprentice new leaders, both to take on the leadership
of current activities and to develop new activities at other institutions?
- Long-term assessment
of the impact of diversity-enhancing activities. This effort requires
consistent gathering of statistical information over decades-long intervals
and the longitudinal tracking of the alumni from diversity-enhancing
activities from middle school to mid-career.
Recommendation
No. 3 The Geosciences Diversity Initiative should be based on the
development of new and innovative activities, as well as the improvement
and refinement of existing activities, that generally have the following
characteristics:
- There should
be a long-term commitment, both financial and institutional, to sustaining
the activity and maintaining excellence.
- Activities should
be interdisciplinary in nature as a means to attract talent from various
disciplines and to show how these disciplines intersect within the geosciences.
- Programs should
be comprehensive and multi-faceted, and include structured social activities.
A critical mass of people is needed to avoid the feelings of isolation.
There is often a need for esteem-building activities.
- Leaders should
create a sense of community within the group and create ties to the
communities from which the students come. There are often advantages
in identifying, exploring, and linking cultural heritage contributions
to science.
- Programs should
offer multiple-year participation by the students.
- There should
be effective use of role models, mentors, and near-peer mentors.
- Financial support
for mentors is crucial in attracting high-quality mentors and in sustaining
their involvement.
- Programs should
include bona fide research projects that include the key elements of
hypothesis development, experimental design, execution and analysis
of project, and writing and presentation of results.
- Activities should
include step-wise approaches in a logical sequence for advancement to
different levels.
- There should
be an emphasis on critical thinking and creativity in all activities.
- Projects need
ongoing evaluation while in progress in order to facilitate improvements.
It is critical to be flexible and responsive to changing needs.
- It is critical
that individual programs have links to other nodes within the scientific
community.
- In order to maintain
momentum and continuity, it is important that programs have year round
aspects and connect to other programs.
Recommendation
No. 4 These activities should occur at various educational and professional
levels:
- Pre College -
The objective for activities at this level is principally to broaden
exposure to the geosciences for students and communities. Geosciences
promotes interdisciplinary work, which supports science education objectives.
Target audiences include students, teachers (e.g. in-service professional
development in geosciences), and administrators to explain the value
of the geosciences curriculum.
- Undergraduate
- The objectives for activities at this level include retaining minority
undergraduates in geosciences, encouraging greater participation by
minorities in geosciences and broadening undergraduate science literacy
in geosciences. Target audiences include two-year and four-year institutions,
including minority serving institutions (MSIs). Activities include:
- research
opportunities at major research institutions;
- research
collaboration between two-year institutions or MSIs with research
intensive institutions;
- curriculum
development at MSIs at the core curriculum, minor, or program levels;
- undergraduate
research support at MSIs and two-year institutions;
- enhancement
of the pre-service geosciences curriculum for teachers; and
- encouraging
the involvement of geoscience researchers at MSI's as adjunct or
visiting faculty.
Attendance
at professional conferences, and participation at the appropriate
level, should be stressed since this provides a valuable opportunity
for networking and is a major factor in retaining minority undergraduates
in the field.
- Graduate - The
objective for activities at this level is to build a community of well-networked
students from underrepresented groups in the geosciences. Examples include
professional societies sponsoring networking conferences for minority
geoscience students and the development of new types of research and
employment opportunities for minority students at the end of their undergraduate
careers to enable them to have a year-long, first-rate research experience
prior to graduate school.
- Professional
community - The objectives for activities at this level include raising
awareness of issues about minority participation in geosciences and
helping geoscience departments broaden their participant base. Examples
include mentorship training, promulgation of successful models, workshops
for non-MSI GEO faculty by MSI faculty to help them work with diverse
populations.
- Informal Science
Education - The objective is to capitalize on the resources of museums,
aquaria and other such institutions as tools for outreach by the geosciences
into minority communities.
Recommendation
No. 5 It is important to assess the effectiveness of ongoing and newly
developed programs:
- Methods to assess
program effectiveness must be included in program description and budget,
and should include at a minimum:
- obtaining
and maintaining information on individuals participating in the
program;
- documenting
the number/type/quality of research experiences;
- evaluation
by participants and mentors; and
- follow-up/tracking
of participants.
The workshop
recommendations also include the following:
- There is a need
to articulate the full range of professional activities that are included
within the broad field of geosciences.
- The Geosciences
Diversity Initiative should be broad enough to encompass a range of
types of projects from individual PI efforts to individual organization
to multi-institutional to multi-state efforts.
- Undergraduate
and graduate students should be included as participants in research
and planning workshops in the geosciences.
- Efforts should
be made by the Directorate for Geosciences to involve geoscience employers,
state and federal governments, tribal organizations, foundations, and
industry in internships and mentoring relationships.
- The Directorate
for Geosciences should develop the capability to take advantage of a
mix of real world experiences (field trips and research cruises) and
virtual experiences via web-based learning. This might be a very effective
means for participation of persons with disabilities.
- The Directorate
for Geosciences should take a leadership role in developing technologies
to assist persons with disabilities. An example would be working with
professional societies to develop sign language symbols for geosciences
terms. Furthermore, geoscience facilities should be enhanced/developed
to accommodate persons with disabilities.
- A plan should
be developed to share the results of individual diversity-enhancing
projects with the geosciences community (e.g. articles, posters, and
presentations at society meetings). This plan should be developed in
collaboration with individuals in target groups to increase public awareness
of geosciences.
- Fastlane is currently
a barrier to participation in NSF activities for many non-research-intensive
institutions. If Fastlane use is required for submission of proposals,
specialized training and support should be offered.
- Efforts should
be made to partner with other NSF Directorates, Education and Human
Resources in particular, to facilitate common interests in enhancing
diversity.
- In developing
a diversity initiative, GEO should be encouraged to consider funding
research (perhaps jointly with another directorate) on why students
from underrepresented groups are not participating in the geosciences
and science in general. Such a study could potentially examine what
has attracted some students from underrepresented groups to the geosciences
as a career. Information derived from this research would be useful
in decisions on future directions in the GEO diversity initiative.
- Majority institutions
that exist within communities with demographics that contain significant
proportions of persons underrepresented in geosciences should be encouraged
to be active participants in this process.
The Geoscience
Diversity Workshop participants were:
Isaac Crumbly,
Fort Valley State University
Ben Cuker, Hampton University
John Farrington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Matt Gilligan, Savannah State University
Judy Gobert, Salish Kootenai College
Frank Hall, University of New Orleans
Michael Howell, University of South Carolina
Emi Ito, University of Minnesota
Everette Joseph, Howard University
Kim Kastens, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Ramon Lopez, University of Texas at El Paso
Sally Goetz Shuler, National Science Resources Center
John Snow, University of Oklahoma
Judith Vergun, University of Oregon
Tom Windham, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Cynthia Winston, Howard University
Geoscience Diversity
Workshop convenors were:
Jewel Prendeville,
National Science Foundation
Don Elthon, University of Houston
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