Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Mechanical Engineering's work on diversity, equity, and inclusion continues. Since the June 1, 2020 “Message of Support”, signed by over 100 ME faculty, staff, and students, we have been researching, thinking, and collaborating to forge a new pathway forward.
In addition to issuing its First Annual Report in June of 2021, the ME DEI Committee created a short video that describes the Committee’s formation and highlights a few first-year projects. The video was not designed as a summary of all of the Committee’s AY21 work, but rather aims to capture the continued urgency for the department to undertake targeted and long-term efforts to eradicate inequality and build a department where all students, all staff and all faculty feel welcome and valued.
The Second Annual Report was issued in July of 2022. The report describes the committee’s year 2 projects, and outlines recommendations for AY23 activities.
Student Self-nominations for the ME DEI Committee
Nominations were accepted 3/1/22 - 4/1/22
The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford invites all student members of the Mechanical Engineering community to participate in the development, implementation and continual improvement of initiatives to create a diverse, just, and inclusive environment for all, with a specific focus on addressing the effects of systemic anti-Black racism on our community. We encourage participation by undergraduates majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, or Biomechanical Engineering, ME co-terms, graduate students in departmental M.S. or Ph.D. programs, and postdoctoral fellows who are committed to understanding historical and current roots of racism, and working to change the systems that perpetuate that racism. We seek self-nominations for two important groups:
- The Mechanical Engineering Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and
- Application Readers.
The application for student self-nominations for the ME DEI Committee was available March 1, 2022 (Tuesday) through April 1, 2022 (Friday). An informational session about service on the Committee was held on March 8 (Tuesday) at 7pm in Building 550, Room 200 (550-200).
JEDI Awards
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs invited postdocs, faculty, staff, and students to nominate current Stanford postdoctoral scholars for the second Stanford Postdoc JEDI Awards through Sunday, July 10, 2022.
The Dean's Graduate School Advisory Council Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee offered two Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Awards in spring AY22.
Resource for Faculty:
Inclusive Course Design Checklist
There is a growing imperative for universities and faculty to create an inclusive learning environment that not only acknowledges the diverse needs of the learners but also focuses on creating meaningful learning experiences for all students, including the underrepresented and the marginalized students. In addition to enhancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in the classrooms, recent studies have also shown that inclusive learning environments lead to better student outcomes, retention, and engagement; the lack of such an environment acts as barriers to student learning outcomes. In acknowledging this need, faculty have been keen on creating an inclusive learning environment for students but often lack an understanding of how to integrate inclusive principles into their classrooms.
To address some of these challenges, a checklist has been developed to provide faculty with a framework of inclusive teaching practices, along with some easy-to-use resources, strategies, and examples. With input from several students, educators, and instructors, this checklist is primarily designed for Mechanical Engineering (ME) faculty with an emphasis on aspects such as design and laboratories but can be widely applied to other engineering courses as well.
This course design checklist brings a holistic approach to creating inclusive classrooms by encouraging instructors to proactively incorporate inclusive principles in various aspects of their course design (e.g., syllabi, content, assessment, pedagogy, laboratories, etc.) that help make students feel included or a sense of belonging.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee
The DEI Committee is identifying specific actions and activities to create a more just and equitable ME community around, for example, student and faculty recruitment and retention. DEI Committee members will engage with and support student organizations promoting community and inclusion, participate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities across Stanford, and regularly update the broader ME community on Committee discussions and actions. The Committee continues to develop long-term practices to ensure the continued viability of the Committee itself and an ongoing process for departmental improvement. The Committee meets monthly; student members are expected to commit 1-2 hours/week to this effort on an ongoing basis. Committee members are expected to participate for at least one year. Current members of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee are shown below. Community members should feel free to contact any of the current DEI Committee Members with questions, pointers, or suggested meeting topics.
The DEI Committee also holds Tag-up meetings. The goal of the Mechanical Engineering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Tag-up meetings is for the DEI Committee to connect with the broader community. The committee will provide some updates on their work, and hopes to receive any feedback, concerns, or questions that the community members may have. The Zoom meeting link and specific agenda information is available to the Stanford community.
We envision the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Sounding Board as a larger body, also with representation across the department, that gives periodic feedback to the DEI Committee on its activities and initiatives and helps to engage the department as a whole in this process. The DEI Committee will provide quarterly progress reports/presentations to the Sounding Board, and the Sounding Board will provide advice and feedback to the DEI Committee. The Sounding Board will ensure that the DEI committee considers a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Membership on the DEI Sounding Board involves a smaller time commitment (1-2 meetings per quarter), than the DEI Committee, but its role is equally important.
We envision the DEI Committee and Sounding Board as embodying the wide variety of opinions and perspectives of our department; a membership of creative problem-solvers who voice their ideas and concerns with respect, listen with empathy, and are eager to learn from each other and make progress in addressing these important issues.
Student, staff and postdoc involvement will be critical to the success of the DEI Committee and the D&I Sounding Board. The self-nomination process closed on August 31, 2020.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee members
Student-led Diversity & Inclusion Activities with major participation from ME Graduate students
Stanford Exposure to Research & Graduate Education (SERGE) – co-founded by a Black ME coterm, expanded and maintained by other Black ME graduate students by way of Black Engineering Graduate Student Association (BEGSA). Over the last two years, two Black SERGE participants have matriculated into the ME Department.
Learn more about SERGE in this 11/18/20 article.
Womxn of Color in Engineering (WOCE) – WOCE (pronounced “woke”) is an SoE student-led initiative launched in 2019 and facilitated by a Black ME PhD student that seeks to create opportunities to gather Womxn* of Color graduate students in the School of Engineering by supporting year-long student-led programmatic efforts and collaborations across campus. Anyone of any gender and from all backgrounds who supports these goals is welcome to attend events and join the group.
Other Diversity & Inclusion Committees at Stanford
Biosciences Commitment to Justice & Action
Chemical Engineering
Computer Science Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Chair: Prof. Moses Charikar
Management Science and Engineering
Stanford Medicine Diversity & Inclusion
Stanford Medicine Diversity Cabinet
Physics
Founding Chair: Prof. Risa Wechsler
MAE Seminar - Please join and nominate!
Our department is participating in an initiative which launched in Autumn 2020: “Future Leaders in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Celebrating Diversity and Innovation”. This nationwide online seminar series highlights research contributions by graduate students and postdocs from groups that are underrepresented among Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering faculties. In addition to providing exposure and mentorship opportunities to the speakers, the seminar series will create a network among underrepresented students and faculty allies in MAE departments across the country. To nominate a speaker, to volunteer as a faculty mentor, or to join the email list for future announcements, please visit MAEFutureLeaders. We encourage nominations or self-nominations of URM grad students and postdocs on a rolling basis.
Teaching Corner
Coming soon: practices that promote diversity and inclusion in the classroom and beyond
Faculty Women’s Forum celebrates 2022 award winners
Like our efforts on this important topic,
this web site is a work in progress.
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