UVA Engineering Earns National Recognition for Focus on Diversity

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Virginia School of Engineering is among the first in the country to earn a bronze award from the American Society for Engineering Education's Diversity Recognition Program.

ASEE's program recognizes engineering schools "that make significant, measurable progress in increasing the diversity, inclusion, and degree attainment outcomes of their programs."

UVA Engineering has risen in multiple ways to the challenges of increasing diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields to meet America's workforce, technology and security needs. Action steps include the 2017 school-wide adoption of excellence through diversity as one of its core values. Faculty, staff and students now are collaborating to update the diversity strategic plan.

Through its Center for Diversity in Engineering, UVA also leads a national study aimed at analyzing achievement gaps between the majority of students and those from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in engineering. The study highlights effective interventions to improve achievement, including UVA's Summer Bridge program, developed and refined by the Center for Diversity in Engineering to prepare rising first-year students from underrepresented groups for success as UVA engineers.

UVA also is one of 10 U.S. engineering schools participating in the A. James Clark Scholars Program established by the A. James and Alice B. Clark Foundation to provide academic and financial opportunities for outstanding students from diverse backgrounds. UVA Engineering's second cohort of Clark Scholars is preparing to start its first semester at the University.

"Our world is increasingly complex, challenging us at nearly every level to improve how we live our lives," said Dean Craig H. Benson. "At UVA Engineering, we believe it will take people of many different talents and points of view to find solutions to humanity's biggest challenges, and we are committed to creating an environment that allows every person to feel valued, supported and successful. This is how we will make the greatest impact on society."

As a result of its many efforts, UVA is a top choice among public schools in the country for women earning undergraduate engineering degrees, of schools that award at least 75 engineering diplomas. At UVA Engineering, 33 percent of undergraduate students were women in 2018-2019, compared to the national average of 21 percent reported by the National Center for Education Statistics.

UVA also ranks among the top 10 U.S. public universities for its percentage of women earning bachelor's degrees in computer science – 29.5 percent, compared to the national average of 18 percent. The school's percentage of women graduate students is also well above the national average - 32 percent at UVA in 2018-2019, compared to the average of 25 percent.

In addition, due to UVA Engineering's focus on every student's success, UVA has the top graduation rate in the country among engineering schools surveyed by ASEE. At UVA, 83 percent of students who seek engineering undergraduate degrees earn their diplomas within four years. The rate climbs to 89 percent when it includes students who earn any type of degree from among UVA's comprehensive offerings. UVA also has the top U.S. graduation rate for African-American, Asian, Hispanic students and multi-racial engineering students.

"Research shows that women and people from other groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields seek opportunities to make a positive difference," said Pamela M. Norris, UVA Engineering executive dean and director of UVA CHARGE, a National Science Foundation ADVANCE program aimed at increasing the participation of women in faculty positions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Norris is leading UVA Engineering's diversity strategic planning effort, along with N. Scott Barker, associate dean for academic affairs. "We believe UVA Engineering's mission to make the world a better place appeals to and encourages success for all students."  

ASEE's bronze award was given to colleges and universities that signed and executed the ASEE Deans Diversity Pledge, developed in 2017, which seeks to institutionally transform issues of diversity, inclusion and equity at engineering and engineering technology schools. UVA is one of 220 universities out of ASEE's 330 member engineering colleges from around the country that pledged to:

• Develop a diversity plan with the help and input of national organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers.
• Commit to at least one K-12 or community college pipeline activity with explicit targeted goals and measures of accountability aimed at increasing the diversity and inclusiveness of the engineering student body.
• Commit to developing strong partnerships between research-intensive engineering schools and non-Ph.D. granting engineering schools serving diverse populations in engineering.
• Commit to the development and implementation of proactive strategies to increase the representation of diverse groups in the faculty.

The goal of the ASEE pledge is to spur notable growth in diversity enrollments, retention and graduation rates for engineering and engineering technology students and increase the diversity of faculty and workforce employment over the next decade.

For the awards program, colleges submitted applications that were peer-reviewed by engineering deans. Seventy-four institutions received bronze-level recognition; bronze must first be earned before an institution can be considered for silver or gold recognition.

Benson said, "I am proud of the ASEE recognition because our students, faculty and staff have worked diligently to make significant progress. We are determined to keep striving until diversity is no longer a challenge in engineering research and education."

About UVA Engineering: As part of the top-ranked, comprehensive University of Virginia, UVA Engineering is one of the nation's oldest and most respected engineering schools. Our mission is to make the world a better place by creating and disseminating knowledge and by preparing future engineering leaders. Outstanding students and faculty from around the world choose UVA Engineering because of our growing and internationally recognized education and research programs. UVA is the No. 1 public engineering school in the country for the percentage of women graduates, among schools with at least 75 degree earners; the No. 1 public engineering school in the United States for the four-year graduation rate of undergraduates students; and the top engineering school in the country for the rate of Ph.D. enrollment growth. Learn more at engineering.virginia.edu.

SOURCE University of Virginia School of Engineering

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