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Pan-Organizational Summit on the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce Meeting Summary (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Transforming the Academic Workplace: Socializing Underrepresented Minorities into Faculty Life
Pages 138-144

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From page 138...
... studies in these fields. GEM accomplishes its mission by identifying and attracting exceptional students to graduate schools, matching their interests and talents with the needs of GEM member universities and company sponsors, and providing them full financial support as well as academic and professional development opportunities to help them achieve their potential as scientists and engineers.
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From page 139...
... The current context of the academic workplace presents all stakeholders, including organizations like GEM, with a prime opportunity to shape policies that can make the science and engineering professoriate truly diverse. THE CURRENT CONTEXT OF THE ACADEMIC WORKPLACE During the l990s, as the academy braced itself for the 21st century, the daunting challenges arising from the explosion of information technology, the constraining of financial resources for postsecondary education, and the burgeoning of a multicultural society led higher education researchers and practitioners to devote increasing attention to the recruitment, hiring, and career development of the "new academic generation" (Finkelstein, Seal, and Schuster, 1995~.
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From page 140...
... Despite the progress of women and minority professors, however, the proportion of them who are employed full-time and/or awarded tenure remains abysmally low, especially relative to their white male counterparts. This is especially true in science and engineering.
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From page 141...
... THE IMPORTANCE OF FACULTY SOCIALIZATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES Higher-education researchers have considered various explanations for the underrepresentation of minorities among college and university faculties: · The pipeline issue the lack of qualified minority candidates for tenure-track appointments · Market forces low faculty salaries and the lure of lucrative industry positions that compel minorities to choose careers outside of academia · The "chilly climate" factor racial, ethnic, and gender bias; isolation and an unsupportive work environment; lack of information about tenure and promotion; language or other communication barriers; lack of mentors and lack of support from superiors · The turnover problem-the failure to promote and retain minority faculty despite successful recruitment of excellent candidates. Turnover is often related to the absence of adequate mentorship, the ambiguity of the tenure and promotion process, and other institutional circumstances that Asian/Pacific Islander, Black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic women account for nearly 2 percent of all tenured, and 6 percent of all tenure-track, scientists and engineers at four-year colleges and universities.
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From page 142...
... More recently, GEM's programming has evolved to address more comprehensively the factors that create a "chilly climate" and contribute to turnover of minority science and engineering faculty. For example, GEM's Faculty Bridge Seminar, a weeklong workshop designed to inform graduate students about faculty careers and to socialize novice professors into their roles and responsibilities, helps to demystify the processes of developing a research agenda, publishing one's scholarship, preparing a tenure portfolio, etc.
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From page 143...
... . · To government agencies, business and industryfoundations, and others who fund doctoral education policies should be directed at increasing outreach to minority communities and their participation in doctoral education; redirecting monies toward research and practice associated with faculty socialization (e.g., fund projects like the highly successful Preparing Future Faculty program)
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From page 144...
... Washington, DC: National Academy Press. National Science Foundation.
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Key Terms

  • minority faculty
  • doctoral education
  • academic workplace
  • novice professors
  • educational associations

  • underrepresented minorities
  • annual status
  • faculty development
  • status report
  • current context

  • pipeline issue
  • lucrative industry
  • minority scientists
  • minority graduate
  • education policies

  • minority professors
  • career options
  • gender bias
  • highly technological
  • prime opportunity

  • establish programming
  • rewarding career
  • tenure portfolio
  • develop policies
  • faculty reward

  • professional benefits
  • excellent candidates
  • native americans
  • identifies various
  • qualified minority


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