Facing the problem

ASEE Prism, Oct 2002 by Mannix, Margaret

More than anything, success in this endeavor lies in a school's commitment. "The thing that makes a difference is intention," says Davidson. "It takes work to identify candidates, follow their careers, and eventually successfully woo them." It helps immensely if the commitment is an institutional priority. When you bring people to interview at the campus and it is not a priority anywhere else, "your candidates can sense that," says Davidson.

A BUMPY PIPELINE

No matter whom you talk to about the dearth of female and minority faculty members at the nation's colleges of engineering, all agree that the optimum solution lies in increasing the pipeline of undergraduates headed for graduate school. Of the 6,085 Ph.D. graduates in engineering last year, only 16.9 percent were women. The percentage of African-American and Hispanic doctoral graduates was even worse-3.9 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

The booming economy of the go-go 90s exacerbated the situation. "The economy has been so hot, all the kids are going to work with bachelor's degrees-whether minority or majority," says Roland Haden, dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. While the lingering recession that began in 2000 is causing a major headache for the economy and the population, it may be boon to engineering schools: Economic downturns typically lead to upticks in graduate school enrollment.

Still, the discipline can't depend on a tight job market to pump Ph.D. candidates into its pipeline. "We must find a way to attract, to stimulate, to encourage, and to do what is necessary to get more of the undergraduates to consider graduate school," says Eugene DeLoatch, dean of the College of Engineering at Morgan State University.

One of the most successful efforts aimed at expanding the doctoral student head count belongs to the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1991, its College of Engineering started the "FOCUS" program to encourage African-American students to pursue advanced degrees in engineering. Every year during Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday weekend, the school invites undergraduates-this year 350 were called-for three days of learning about the school, including various panel discussions and seminars. "We pitch Georgia Tech to them," says Narl Davidson, interim dean of Georgia Tech's College of Engineering.

Some experts believe current faculty members need to take a more active role, talking up graduate school to undergrads. Say to them: "Have you ever thought of graduate school? That little set of words could do it. Coming from a faculty member, that is sometimes flattering," says DeLoatch. Others urge faculty to educate undergrads on what life as an academician is like. "If exposed to these opportunities as undergraduate and graduate students, perhaps they will continue studying for their doctorate and find that they enjoy the academic environment-thus increasing the numbers of minority faculty," says Bruce Carr, director of the Minority Engineering Program at the University of Dayton.