Getting Started
This list of resources is intended to support the College of Engineering's work to support belonging in our communities and practices.
Many members of our community have expressed interest in researching topics related to disparities in Engineering professions. This page was designed to help folks navigate research resources available on this topic. It includes a selection of resources that are intended to offer you insight into some research in this topic area, and should be considered a starting point for your own research.
For more related resources in disparities in STEM fields, please check out our Disparities in STEM Professions page.
For more related resources, please check out our Belonging resources guide, which includes LGBTQIA+, disability and neurodiversity, socio-economic issues, race, culture and ethnicity, women and gender, religion and spirituality and more.
Resources
- Why Should I Care About Diversity in Engineering?A group of National Society of Professor Engineers (NSPE) members respond to FAQS about diversity in the profession. Published in July/August 2020.
- 10 simple rules for building an anti-racist labAn article written by Dr. V. Bala Chaudhary and Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe published in October 2020.
- ASEE LGBTQ+ Advocacy in STEM: Resource ListAn extensive list of resources related to LGBTQ+ in STEM. This site also includes a list of resources for allies.
- ASEE: Shared Community Resources on Anti-RacismAmerican Society of Engineering Educators (ASEE) convened a group of panelists, from K-12 to higher education, to discuss and share resources that can help engineering educators tackle racism in their classrooms and institutions.
- Black in EngineeringBlack in Engineering was founded in 2020 and is focused on convening the Black engineering community in social justice efforts. This site includes a call to action that lays out principles and recommendations for creating an anti-racist university culture, a 'Black Engineering Faculty Speak' video, and an extensive list of resources for further exploration into social justice work and perspectives.
- Diversity Wins: How Inclusion MattersThe third report in a McKinsey series investigating the business case for diversity. Findings from a dataset encompassing 15 countries and more than 1,000 large companies show that not only does business case remain robust, but also that the relationship between diversity on executive teams and the likelihood of financial outperformance has strengthened over time.
- Engineering Change PodcastEngineering Change is a podcast designed to help redefine the engineering education experience as we know it by re-imaging who we see as engineers and what we see as engineering, de-siloing academic programs and problem solving, and fine-tuning academic culture and climate. Hosted by engineering educator of color Dr. Yvette E. Pearson.
- Exploration in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative (E.D.E.F.I.)Research that "illuminates patterns, challenges, and supports for Black engineering PhDs entering the professorate." Site includes info on research projects, publications, as well as coaching and mentoring programs for up and coming academics.
- Mission Not Accomplished: Unequal Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Latinx Engineers2021 report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce "finds that more than 70 years of efforts to diversify the profession have fallen well short of parity".
- Modern Figures PodcastA podcast elevating the voices of Black female scholars in computing.
- Queer Engineer InternationalInternational network of STEM professionals focusing on creating community and fostering mentorship of LGBTQ+ individuals of varying career stages
- Short Wave Podcast: One Page at a time, Jess Wade is Changing WikipediaBy day, Jess Wade is an experimental physicist at Imperial College London. By night, she's a contributor to Wikipedia — where she writes entries about women and POC scientists.
- Study Finds That Diverse Companies Produce 19% More RevenueForbes article describing a study from Boston Consulting Group that studied 1700 different companies across 8 different countries, with varying industries and company sizes, and found that companies with diverse management teams have 19% higher revenue due to innovation.
- SWE MagazinePublished by the Society of Women Engineers, SWE Magazine celebrates the accomplishments of women engineers past and present; explores career development topics; examines broad, cross-disciplinary technical themes; and discusses public policy issues important to women in engineering and STEM. Podcasts available on this page too.
- The Matthew Matilda Effect in ScienceArticle illustrating historical and contemporary examples of women scientists who have been ignored or denied credit, in which the term 'The Matilda Effect' was coined to describe this trend. Named for the Matilda Joslyn Gage, "who in the late nineteenth century both experienced and articulated this phenomenon".
- U.S. Black Engineer & IT MagazineMedia outlet featuring stories of significant achievement in STEM professional careers, as well as news, awards, conferences and networking opportunities for STEM professionals.
- Why Diverse Teams Are SmarterHarvard Business Review article makes the case that diverse teams are smarter because they focus more on facts, process those facts more carefully, and are more innovative because they avoid the pitfalls of conformity.
Engineering Justice by
Shows how the engineering curriculum can be a site for rendering social justice visible in engineering, for exploring complex socio-technical interplays inherent in engineering practice, and for enhancing teaching and learning Using social justice as a catalyst for curricular transformation, Engineering Justice presents an examination of how politics, culture, and other social issues are inherent in the practice of engineering. It aims to align engineering curricula with socially just outcomes, increase enrollment among underrepresented groups, and lessen lingering gender, class, and ethnicity gaps by showing how the power of engineering knowledge can be explicitly harnessed to serve the underserved and address social inequalities. This book is meant to transform the way educators think about engineering curricula through creating or transforming existing courses to attract, retain, and motivate engineering students to become professionals who enact engineering for social justice. Engineering Justice offers thought-provoking chapters on: why social justice is inherent yet often invisible in engineering education and practice; engineering design for social justice; social justice in the engineering sciences; social justice in humanities and social science courses for engineers; and transforming engineering education and practice. In addition, this book: Provides a transformative framework for engineering educators in service learning, professional communication, humanitarian engineering, community service, social entrepreneurship, and social responsibility Includes strategies that engineers on the job can use to advocate for social justice issues and explain their importance to employers, clients, and supervisors Discusses diversity in engineering educational contexts and how it affects the way students learn and develop Engineering Justice is an important book for today's professors, administrators, and curriculum specialists who seek to produce the best engineers of today and tomorrow.
ISBN: 9781118757437Publication Date: 2017
Engineering and Social Justice by
This book is aimed at engineering academics worldwide, who are attempting to bring social justice into their work and practice, or who would like to but don't know where to start. This is the first book dedicated specifically to University professionals on Engineering and Social Justice, an emerging and exciting area of research and practice. An international team of multidisciplinary authors share their insights and invite and inspire us to reformulate the way we work. Each chapter is based on research and yet presents the outcomes of scholarly studies in a user oriented style. We look at all three areas of an engineering academic's professional role: research, teaching and community engagement. Some of our team have created classes which help students think through their role as engineering practitioners in society. Others are focusing their research on outcomes that are socially just and for client groups who are marginalized and powerless. Yet others are consciously engaging local community groups and exploring ways in which the University might 'serve' communities at home and globally from a post-development perspective. We are additionally concerned with the student cohort and who has access to engineering studies. We take a broad social and ecological justice perspective to critique existing and explore alternative practices. This book is a handbook for any engineering academic, who wishes to develop engineering graduates as well as technologies and practices that are non-oppressive, equitable and engaged. It is also an essential reader for anyone studying in this interdisciplinary juncture of social science and engineering. Scholars using a critical theoretical lens on engineering practice and education, from Science and Technology Studies, History and Philosophy of Engineering, Engineering and Science Education will find this text invaluable.
ISBN: 9781612491561Publication Date: 2012
The Diversity Bonus by
How businesses and other organizations can improve their performance by tapping the power of differences in how people think What if workforce diversity is more than simply the right thing to do? What if it can also improve the bottom line? It can. The Diversity Bonus shows how and why. Scott Page, a leading thinker, writer, and speaker whose ideas and advice are sought after by corporations, nonprofits, universities, and governments, makes a clear and compelling practical case for diversity and inclusion. He presents overwhelming evidence that teams that include different kinds of thinkers outperform homogenous groups on complex tasks, producing what he calls "diversity bonuses." These bonuses include improved problem solving, increased innovation, and more accurate predictions--all of which lead to better results. Drawing on research in economics, psychology, computer science, and many other fields, The Diversity Bonus also tells the stories of businesses and organizations that have tapped the power of diversity to solve complex problems. The result changes the way we think about diversity at work--and far beyond.
ISBN: 9780691193823Publication Date: 2019-03-26
The Medici Effect, with a New Preface and Discussion Guide by
Why do so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no related experience? Charles Darwin was a geologist when he proposed the theory of evolution. And it was an astronomer who finally explained what happened to the dinosaurs. Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect shows how breakthrough ideas most often occur when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory and offers examples of how we can turn the ideas we discover into path-breaking innovations. Clayton M. Christensen, bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma, has described The Medici Effect as "one of the most insightful books about managing innovation I have ever read. Its assertion that breakthrough principles of creativity occur at novel intersections is an enduring principle of creativity that should guide innovators in every field." Now with a new preface and a discussion guide, and a foreword by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, The Medici Effect is a timeless classic that will help you reach your innovative peak.
ISBN: 9781633692947Publication Date: 2017-03-07
Promising Practices for Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine by ISBN: 9780309498241Publication Date: 2020-04-19
Explore the Contributions of Underrepresented Engineers
- 50 Women in Robotics you need to know about - 2021In honor of Ada Lovelace Day (international celebration of the achievements of women in STEM), ECE/Bouve Associate Professor Kris Dorsey was featured in Robohub’s 2021 edition of “50 women in robotics you need to know about.”
American Women in Technology by ISBN: 9781576074046Publication Date: 2001A diverse compendium of biographies of leading American women in the field of technology.
Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation by ISBN: 0801873193Publication Date: 2003Fouche provides a nuanced view of African American contributions to - and relationships with - technology during a period of rapid industrialization and mounting national attention to the inequities of a separate-but-equal social order.
- Changing the Curve: Women in ComputingThis infographic from UC Berkeley provides milestones achieved by women in computing from 1842 to 2006.
Chinese Dreams? American Dreams? The lives of Chinese women scientists and engineers in the United States by ISBN: 9789463005401Publication Date: 2016The first ethnographic study to document migrating Chinese-born women scientists' and engineers' educational experiences and careers in the U.S.
- History MakersThe nation's largest African American Video Oral History Collection. Includes 200+ biographies in the Science Makers category, many of which are engineers.
- Innovators Under 35For the last 20 years, MIT has assembled a diverse list of young innovators. You can access the whole archive from this page, including by year and categories (inventors, entrepreneurs, visionaries, humanitarians, pioneers)
- Just a Thought: U.S. Hispanic InventorsThe author reflects on the lack of Hispanic American inventors included in his education, and acknowledges the contributions of Hispanic Americans to science and technology that we should all know about.
- Lost Women of SciencePodcast series that "illuminates the lives and work of a diverse array of groundbreaking scientists who, because of time, place and gender, have gone largely unrecognized."
- National Inventors Hall of Fame InducteesThis site includes a small photo gallery, as well as an alphabetical list of all inductees with their notable inventions and links to brief profiles. There's no way to filter for different identities, but you may find interesting people and facts to include in your profile.
- New Faces of Civil EngineeringASCE profiles the next generation of civil engineering leaders, with the goal of showcasing diverse engineers both at the collegiate and professional levels
- QueerBio: LGBTQ+ EngineersWiki page that highlights prominent LGBTQ+ engineers, organized by country.
- SHPE Member StoriesSociety of Hispanic Professional Engineers website includes stories that track members' experiences in the engineering field, through school and their careers.
The Borderlands of Education: Latinas in Engineering by ISBN: 9780739175583Publication Date: 2013Drawing on cutting-edge scholarship in gender and Latino/a studies, the book provides an analytically incisive view of the experiences of Latina engineers.
- TrailblazersThis site is sponsored by National Academy for Engineering and is designed for aspiring female engineers to learn about career opportunities. To help inspire young girls to be engineers, they provide profiles for 17 trailblazing women in engineering.
- Winds of Changepublished by American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES), some issues of this magazine include profiles of award winners and members.
- Women InventorsCollection of women inventors' profiles and contributions, compiled by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
Organizations
Below are a selection of organizations who work to address disparities and create a community of belonging to support students, researchers, and faculty in Engineering and related fields. This is not a comprehensive list. Find many more organizations.
- ARL Network: Academic and Research Leadership Network For minority engineers underrepresented in academia, industry, and government laboratories whose careers involve a strong focus on research
- National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) In pursuit of their vision for "an engineering workforce that looks like America", NACME is the largest provider of college scholarships for underrepresented minorities pursuing degrees at schools of engineering.
- National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): A Call for Justice A call to action from NSBE, whose long-time mission is "to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community." This site includes a series of town halls and social justice resources compiled by NSBE leaders.