Early Lessons in Changing Engineering Culture for the Success of URM Doctoral Students in Engineering: PITT STRIVE

Research universities face the increasing challenge of diversifying its STEM faculty. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program is funding a University of Pittsburgh project that is trying to address this challenge by supporting sustainable programs that improve the transition of a diverse population of PhD students into the professorate. The program is labelled the Transition to the Doctorate by Adaptable Engagement program (aka: PITT STRIVE Program). The goal of the program is to adopt evidence-based strategies to improve the academic climate and the success of underrepresented doctoral students in engineering. We have developed a four-dimensional model that includes the key components that we believe contribute to the academic climate, including: Leadership Receptivity and Intentionality; Cultural Competency and Awareness, Shared Vision and Adaptation for Collective Impact, and Proficiency for Engaging Culture, Climate, and Community. The initial plan was to adapt/adopt strategies from other institutions, with an eye towards practices implemented by the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)’s AGEP PROMISE and Meyerhoff programs. Realizing a direct adoption of successful activities from one institution does not guarantee success at another, as success can be significantly influenced by various factors; it necessitated the PITT STRIVE program to initially assess its own climate/culture to determine a systematic approach for adoption/adaptation that addressed the specific needs of our school. Thus, the goal of this paper is to describe our initial assessments related to dimensions I and II of our model (Leadership Receptivity and Intentionality and Cultural Competency and Awareness). We provide data from surveys of our leadership (deans and department chairs), faculty, and graduate students. We conclude by discussing how these data influenced the decisions related to replicating UMBC strategies and practices at PITT.