2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Grassroots Approach to Advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Engineering

Presented at Track 7: Technical Session 7: Grassroots Approach to Advancing Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Engineering

Diversity initiatives are often established in a top-down approach, wherein visions, missions, and priorities are dictated by institutional leadership. While it is important to demonstrate institutional commitment, establish a high-level strategy of various policies and practices, and communicate the value of diversity and inclusivity, the actual implementation of these ideas is often less impactful due to the lack of perspectives from those who are primarily affected. Thus, by incorporating a bottom-up approach to enhance diversity and inclusion, there is an opportunity for those on the ground to infuse their ideas and inform leadership on the issues. The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has recognized the importance of having both approaches working together and has invested in a program that empowers individuals within the engineering community to significantly contribute to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA). The Grassroots Initiatives to Address Needs Together (GIANT) program awards seed funding of up to $13,000 to teams led by students, postdocs, staff, and faculty to propose and implement research-based initiatives that address issues in IDEA. Teams are expected to collaborate with a specific population (e.g., the general public, K-12 students of diverse backgrounds, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and/or faculty within the college) to jointly identify a need (e.g., recruitment, mentoring, development, retention, and/or engagement of individuals from underrepresented groups in STEM, K-12 outreach and STEM pipeline development, integration of IDEA in engineering education, etc.). To address these needs, teams develop a research question, propose and implement project activities, measure the outcomes, document best practices, and publish the results. Since 2020, the program has awarded over $565,000 and has provided mentorship to support forty-one (41) projects that have engaged over 200 individuals within the college and the local community. This paper describes the program in detail, including the research areas and outcomes of selected funded projects.

Authors

Dr. Ashleigh R. Wright University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

Ashleigh R. Wright, PhD is the Associate Director of the Institute for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access and Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Grainger College of Engineering. She is responsible for collaborating with college and departmental leaders and stakeholders to identify needs and priorities, developing and implementing evidence-based strategies, and measuring progress and effectiveness quantitatively against key metrics that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to the undergraduate and graduate student communities. She also conducts research that analyzes trends, driving factors, barriers, and best practices to educate others and support organizational improvement.
Prior to joining the University, Ashleigh managed and directed many training and pathway programs that support students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM, and facilitated workshops that enhance the academic, personal, and professional development of students at North Carolina State University and Louisiana State University. She is a member of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She holds degrees in chemistry from Wofford College (B.S.), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (M.S.), and Louisiana State University (Ph.D.).
Ellen Wang Althaus http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5112-7015 University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

Ellen Wang Althaus, PhD is the Assistant Dean for Strategic DEI Initiatives at The Grainger College of Engineering. She is a collaborative and innovative leader forging new initiatives and building alliances to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In her current role, she is responsible for executing a college-wide strategy that infuses DEI throughout the unit. She collaborates with campus, college, and departmental leaders to identify needs and priorities; develop and implement evidenced-based strategies; and monitor and evaluate progress toward DEI. Ellen has served on the campus leadership team and cross-institutional steering committee for Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Advancing Women in STEM initiative. She is also Program Director/Co-PI for the NSF-funded Developing Equity-Minded Engineering Practitioners (DEEP) Center and Director/PI for the NSF Illinois ADVANCE grant initiative. She holds degrees in chemistry from Carleton College (BA), and Northwestern University (MS and PhD).
Akshina Sood University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign
Prof. Lance Cooper University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign [biography]

S. Lance Cooper is Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Programs in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his B.S. in Physics from the University of Virginia in 1982, his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois in 1988, and he was a postdoctoral research associate at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1988-1990. His research interests include optical spectroscopic studies of novel magnetic and superconducting materials at high pressures, high magnetic fields, and low temperatures. Since 2013, he has co-taught (with Celia Elliott) a graduate-level technical writing course each spring to physics and engineering graduate students.
Dr. Lynford Goddard University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on February 9, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on February 11, 2025

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