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"So... What About Diversity?", Spectrum, January 2004 issue I was asked to write this article for the newsletter of the American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Minorities. Along with two other graduate students, I had researched and written a departmental diversity plan, entitled "To Feed, To Fix: Diversity and the Astronomy Pipeline at the University of Washington". The plan outlines ways in which the department can engage students from the elementary to the graduate school levels to increase underrepresented student participation in astronomy--and also describes the resources available to help keep those students in astronomy as they move through the pipeline. "What About Diversity?" discusses how we came to realize the need for such a plan, and the process that produced it. Our department has a good track record in attracting and graduating female PhD students, and has done no worse than other astronomy departments in doing the same with minority PhD students. It was clear, however, that our efforts were piecemeal, too often dependent on the efforts of individual faculty members or students. Furthermore, if we are to address the massive underrepresentation of African Americans and other minorities in astronomy, we need to take a more aggressive approach to recruiting and retaining those students--starting as early as possible. While the plan was designed for the UW, writing it gave us an opportunity to think about diversity in a broader context. Many of the resources and programs we identified are national, or at the very least have equivalents elsewhere. I hope to apply the lessons we learned wherever I can. |
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The proposal to create the Pre-Major in Astronomy Program In 2004, the University of Washington put out a call for proposals for new programs to increase diversity by "enhancing student development, enhancing faculty diversity, [or] improving campus, workplace and classroom climate." In response, with one of the diversity plan co-authors, Kevin Covey, I wrote the proposal for the Pre-Major in Astronomy Program (Pre-MAP), a new program targeting incoming first-year UW undergraduates. Our goal through Pre-MAP is to increase the number of underrepresented students in the astronomy major at the UW. By combining research and mentoring experiences for Pre-MAP students, we hope to convince them that astronomy is a field in which they can thrive. Pre-MAP participants register for an introductory astronomy class and for a special additional seminar in the fall of their first year. Through the seminar, they learn essential astronomy research tools and work in small groups on real research projects submitted by astronomy faculty, post-docs, or graduate students. Interested students can continue to participate in this research once the seminar is over. In addition, the students are offered one-on-one mentoring and advising by the seminar instructor for the duration of their first year. For more details, see the Pre-MAP website. |
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