Presentation Slides (PDF)
The need to diversify and grow the STEM workforce to remain competitive in a global economy is well established. Research shows that improving diversity in an organization has positive effects on creativity, innovation, productivity and financial performance. The benefits of diversity extend to the educational environment, with diversity among students and faculty being essential to the intellectual and social development of all students.
In the U.S.A., the National Academies advocate that diversity in STEM must be a national priority, and several engineering professional societies have explicitly recognized the importance of diversity in their mission statements, goals, core values and ethics statements. Similar calls to broaden minority participation in STEM are heard around the world.
The culture of STEM education culture has proven to be a barrier to diversity in terms of its impact on student interest, self-concept, connectedness and persistence in STEM disciplines. One of the key reasons cited for students leaving STEM is the perception of a chilly climate, especially by those who are members of underrepresented groups.
This talk focuses on the role of pedagogy and curriculum in building a more inclusive environment for engineering education and will present several practical recommendations and examples for engineering educators to make their own courses more inclusive.
Speaker // Stephanie Farrell
ASEE & Rowan University
Dr. Stephanie Farrell is Professor and Founding Chair of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University (USA) and the 2018-19 President of the American Society for Engineering Education. Dr. Farrell has been recognized nationally and internationally for contributions to engineering education through her work in experiential learning and promoting diversity and inclusion. Stephanie was the 2014-2015 Fulbright Scholar in Engineering Education at Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland). She was awarded Honoris Causa in Engineering Education from the Internationale Gesellschaft für Inginieurpädagogik (IGIP). She has been honored by the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) with several teaching awards such as the National Outstanding Teaching Medal and the Quinn Award for experiential learning. Her research interests include inductive teaching methods and the development of spatial visualization skills.