A Workshop to Broaden Participation in Engineering by Creating Cultures of Inclusion

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This project will bring together researchers and practitioners in engineering education and other relevant fields for a workshop that is intended to a) set a future research agenda around creating cultures of inclusion in engineering classrooms, departments, centers, schools, and colleges, and b) create a roadmap of evidence-based promising practices, connected to the research agenda, that promote inclusivity. The future research agenda will highlight the knowledge gaps that exist with regard to cultures of inclusion and can function as a guide for researchers in shaping their future research plans. In turn, the roadmap of promising practices that promote inclusivity will guide practitioners and administrators in making research-informed decisions to create cultures of inclusion in engineering education settings. Longer term, as additional studies from the research agenda are completed, the set of promising practices can be expanded. As promising practices are implemented in various contexts and settings, feedback can be used to inform new/future questions and gaps in the research agenda. In this way, engineering colleges and schools can deliberately create cultures of inclusion, which will promote the inclusion, success, and graduation of more students from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, majority students will gain a better understanding of inclusive environments, and their beneficial nature. Efforts to diversify engineering have been ongoing for decades, and yet, the engineering profession remains predominately white and male. There is an opportunity cost associated with this - only with the full participation of a full set of diverse individuals can the profession solve the complex and challenging societal problems of today and of the future (Wulf, 2001). Few efforts have focused on changing the culture of classrooms, departments, schools, and colleges such that all people are included and can thrive in the environment. The development of a culture of inclusion is critically important for the success of diverse groups, such as underrepresented minorities (African Americans/Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders), women, non-gender binary persons, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, first generation college students, and low socio-economic status students. Efforts to create an inclusive culture result in an organization where everyone is valued for the entirety of what they bring. To make progress on creating inclusive cultures in engineering, where everyone, regardless of their identities, their differences in experiences, and their differences in beliefs, can be successful and thrive, there is a need to transform culture to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority in engineering education. A facilitated workshop that brings together practitioners of inclusive environments, researchers in engineering education, social sciences, inclusion, culture, and change theory will be a focused effort in the engineering community that will create a research agenda for cultures of inclusion that can be used to guide future research in this area and will produce a set of research-based promising practices that promote inclusivity that can be used immediately. 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.