Minorities in the Chemical Workforce Diversity Models that Work: A Workshop Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (2003) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Imperative for Leaders and Organizations
6 The Imperative for Leaders and Organizations
Pages 66-83
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From page 66... ...
At the close of the 19th century, Homer Plessy sued the East Louisiana Railroad for requiring separate, but purportedly equal, facilities for blacks and whites. Plessy argued that this requirement violated the 14th Amendment by abridging "the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." John Ferguson, a Louisiana district judge, ruled against Plessy, and the U.S.
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From page 67... ...
In East Baton Rouge Parish, where LSU resides, African Americans comprise nearly one-half of the population. With minority students representing only 26 percent of the student population at LSU as in Figure 6.3, the term "underrepresented" certainly applies.
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From page 68... ...
68 BB ~ 4$ MINORITIES IN THE CHEMICAL WORKFORCE FIGURE 6.2 Historically black colleges and universities. 74o/o (White)
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From page 69... ...
It is also ironic that both Isiah Warner, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives, and Greg Vincent, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, occupy offices in buildings named after Confederate generals. It is not that LSUBR has been dragged kicking and screaming into affirmative action, because there have been a number of voluntary initiatives, but there have also been some definite actions taken by the courts.
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From page 70... ...
One of the problems discussed earlier today in our breakout session was that black students, coming into some chemistry departments, did not know where to get old exams to study from. At LSUBR, both undergraduate and graduate organizations such as the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers and the Black Graduate Students Council provide a focus for information and activities.
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From page 71... ...
Figure 6.10 presents the yearly enrollment by nationality. In 1990 when I became director of graduate studies, the majority of our chemistry student body was composed of international students, and the largest international group was Asian.
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From page 72... ...
~ / 1 1 ~~ ~~ ~~ ~4 1 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 FIGURE 6.8 Louisiana State University African American degrees (as a percentage of total LSU degrees)
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From page 73... ...
. 1~°~°1 1~°~°2 1~°~°3 1~°~°4 1~°~°S 1~°~°d 1~°~°7 1~°~°S 1~°~°~° 2000 ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ :~ -- -- -- - - ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~81 FIGURE 6.10 Student enrollment in chemistry by nationality.
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From page 74... ...
Through the years, we have successfully recruited African Americans (see Figure 6.12~. At present, the number of African American students in our department has reached between 30 and 40 percent of our domestic student body in the chemistry department.
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From page 75... ...
One measure of success is retention and degree attainment. African American students may actually perform slightly better than the overall student body, but the statistical universe is still too small to draw definite conclusions: About 60 percent of all students achieve the Ph.D., about 20 percent leave with a master's degree, and the remainder leave the program with no advanced degree for a variety of reasons (see Figure 6.14~.
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From page 76... ...
African Americans to study chemistry. It is easy for us to go out and talk to these schools, and we always invite students to our campus because we think that is an important part of recruitment.
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From page 77... ...
The LSU chemistry department has lots of built-in support for African American students. We certainly have achieved a critical mass.
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From page 78... ...
We have had many excellent minority students who are productive researchers, but are also active in departmental committees and on the Graduate Student Council. Some are also active in the Baton Rouge community, in such things as K-12 outreach and National Chemistry Week activities.
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From page 79... ...
Watkins: We do this for all domestic students, but it is particularly important for the African American students. David Berghreiter: You are actually the only place I know of other than Scripps that does this.
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From page 80... ...
I believe that just as Isiah Warner's presence catalyzed a comfort level for African Americans, women faculty role models, rather than spouses, should be doing the same for women students. One of the barriers Eto retaining underrepresented groups in academia]
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From page 81... ...
For example, Dow Chemical interviewed a few of our students. Previously, corporate headquarters told Dow Plaquemine, across the river from LSU, not to recruit at LSU because they wanted to recruit at a top ten university.
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From page 82... ...
Obviously you have challenged the traditional model for recruitment of graduate students and have succeeded in it. Are you doing anything more with the larger questions of graduate education taken broadly, challenging or revisiting traditional models, dealing with the kinds of issues that were brought up at an earlier workshop in this venue and that are going on now in other places in the country?
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From page 83... ...
This is accomplished by partnering with a consortium of undergraduate and professional institutions nationwide and providing opportunities for these institutions to recruit, enroll, and prepare targeted students for these professions. We work closely with the College Board to target these students based on preliminary scholastic assessment test scores and GPAs.
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