Expectations about who belongs in STEM fields are often too psychologically taxing for Black and Hispanic students to handle. That’s why Dr. Ebony McGee from Vanderbilt University co-created the Explorations in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative, or “EDEFI.” The initiative’s mission statement is to “is to investigate the institutional, technical, social, and cultural factors that affect decision-making, career choices, and career satisfaction for engineering and computing doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty and other employees, and entrepreneurs who have been marginalized by race and/or gender, with an unapologetic focus on Black folks in those spaces.”
Why can Engineering be so Hostile to BIPOC Students and Researchers?
Dr. McGee has spent a long time studying what she has named “racial fatigue”, the experience that students “cannot shake the perception among certain white colleagues and collaborators that they don’t belong.” Superiors and colleagues of STEM students and researchers have a tendency to show doubt that a Black or Hispanic student could be a successful researcher or engineer. McGee also says that there’s a flipside to these racial stereotypes, where many Black and Hispanic people in engineering attempt to overachieve in order to make up for the diversity and inclusion issue, but this can result in burnout when it doesn’t get results.
In the book Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation, written by McGee and published with the help of EDEFI, illuminate the struggles of BIPOC engineers in hostile learning and working environments. In the face of “academic and professional realms” that are staffed almost exclusively like white folks, microaggressions and stereotypes often go unchallenged. In light of this, Black and Hispanic students, postgrads, and even practicing researchers, have no choice but to abandon the field altogether.
How is EDEFI Improving Engineering as a Field for BIPOC?
EDEFI is up against overwhelming odds fighting against racial discrimination in Engineering. According to a study by Pew Research Center, Black and Hispanic people only take up a combined 14 percent of all engineering jobs in the United States, compared to the 71 percent taken up by White engineers. However, Dr. McGee and EDEFI have extensively analyzed the core reasons for this discrepancy, and offered tangible solutions.
According to a book summary on the EDEFI website, “McGee offers policies and practices that must be implemented to ensure that STEM education and employment become more inclusive including internships, mentoring opportunities, and curricular offerings.” While those solutions obviously won’t solve racism in a day, they are a solid step towards a diversified scientific field.
See related article What Is Preventing Women From Working in the STEM Fields?
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