Download PDF Fall Bridge on Engineering a Diverse Future September 25, 2024 Volume 54 Issue 3 Guest edited by Wanda Sigur and Percy Pierre, this issue of The Bridge addresses the issues around sustaining a U.S. engineering workforce that builds on and integrates the talents and ideas of our diverse nation. Guest Editors' Note An Inclusive and Diverse Engineering Profession: Why It Is Important and How to Achieve It Thursday, September 26, 2024 Author: Wanda A. Sigur and Percy A. Pierre There are decisive moments in our nation’s history that drive change. Fifty years ago, the Nixon administration’s new affirmative action policy, called the Philadelphia Plan, built upon the policies of earlier administrations and required companies to meet certain hiring goals for minorities with a penalty of canceled government contracts for noncompliance. While the Philadelphia Plan did not focus on engineering jobs, engineering companies with significant federal engineering contracts saw the implications for their engineering workforce. For companies hiring engineers, industry responded by noting that there were too few minority graduates to meet any reasonable goal. Instead, they offered to work to increase the number of minority engineers, with a focus on African American engineering graduates, by promising to do more of the things they were already doing to support engineering education at universities. Realizing that that process was insufficient, a small group of key leaders across industry, non-profits, and universities developed a systematic and strategic approach. With the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, they helped create many minority engineering programs that still exist. The initial success was dramatic. In this issue of The Bridge, Percy Pierre (acting US secretary of the Army [former]; Glenn L. Martin Endowed Professor, University of Maryland College Park) and Catherine Weinberger (research associate, Institute for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research, UCSB) share the 50-year history of programs to encourage, welcome, and incentivize minority engineers by acknowledging and addressing the systems engineering aspect of the national state of engineering. This issue of The Bridge not only captures that history but acknowledges that times have changed. Affirmative action is gone. The Supreme Court has put up barriers to race-conscious programs, and states have cut funding for diversity programs. What has not changed are the challenges of addressing inclusion in our nation. And yet, the problem persists in new dimensions. The nation is highly dependent on immigrant engineers. About 24% of US engineers are immigrants. The significant growth of the Hispanic population over the next 25 years, the continued growth of the African American population, and the continued under-engagement of the US female population will only worsen the problem at current utilization levels of these populations. While we are fortunate to benefit from the immigration of many engineers, the need for foreign-born engineers will continue to grow if we cannot support our own populations. In his article, Norman Augustine (acting US secretary of the Army [former]; chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin [ret.]) discusses the challenges and introduces solutions that allow us to supplement America’s overall engineering capabilities by using the talents of its entire population. The inclusion of diverse voices has contributed to discoveries that would not have been possible otherwise. For example, the omnipresent transistors we use in electronics were only possible by including the ideas of engineers, physicists, materials scientists, and even a young Egyptian American and Korean American engineering team that provided solutions to address manufacturability. As we look forward to meeting future engineering challenges, this issue of The Bridge discusses the people of engineering, an undeniable element of our success. We rely on knowledge, creativity, commitment, and sheer workforce numbers as key resources to address our future problems. A systems analysis approach to ensuring the availability of each of these resources is proper. And while diversity of thought and talent are critical to driving creativity, we find ourselves at a point in time when even using words like “diversity” and “inclusion” is seen as politically charged. This issue of The Bridge addresses the issues around sustaining a US engineering workforce that builds on and integrates the talents and ideas of our diverse nation. A critical part of the pathways to engineering starts in K–12 education and continues into the workforce. What is needed is a systemic and strategic effort to make a difference and not just more of the same. This edition covers many aspects of inclusion and equity in engineering. As a roadmap to this issue we have asked the contributing authors to comment on various aspects of inclusion. We capture those topics as questions shown below: Why does inclusion matter? Norm Augustine reminds us why engineering is important, particularly in support of our national goals. Using data analytics that reflect opportunities for talent gains in view of the nation’s self-imposed limits on attracting talent, Augustine points to contrasts between the US and China, where an aggressive approach to technological dominance is playing out. He offers solutions that include reassessing America’s pre-K–12 education programs and priorities, providing adequate funding for necessary programs, and avoiding counterproductive laws and policies. Does inclusion play a role in innovation? Nicholas Donofrio (IBM Fellow Emeritus & EVP I&T [ret.]; CEO, NMD Consulting, LLC) challenges leaders to resolve the challenges of innovation by seeking inspiration from a new perspective and engaging those that might open the leader to new ideas. Through firsthand experiences, he shares how the diversity of the people included in an innovation enterprise made a difference. Using the theme of starting with a clear understanding of a problem rather than the answer, he gives multiple examples of when problem-solving was only possible when a nontraditional voice or perspective was included in an open, collaborative culture. How have we historically addressed the challenges of increasing representation in engineering? Underrepresented participation in engineering was addressed with participation by the NAE over 50 years ago. Percy Pierre and Catherine Weinberger share the national strategy that involved multiple corporations and universities, the government, the Sloan Foundation, and the NAE. They produced a solution that provided funding, incentivized action, and created a long-term resolution. What is the long-cycle performance of minority engineering “pipeline” programs? Catherine Weinberger shares her continued research on the minority engineering effort. It is undeniable that there has been an increase in the representation of women, African American, and Hispanic graduates within the college-educated workforce. However, in her long-cycle data assessment, Weinberger shows that although the success trajectory for the programs developed in the ’70s resulted in significantly increased ranks of African American students in accredited engineering bachelor’s degree programs, that trajectory peaked in 2000 and there was a downward shift after the first 30 years. Weinberger discusses strategies to reverse the downward trend. Is there a continued imperative to expand access to engineering? Kesha Moore (manager of research, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Thurgood Marshall Institute) and Amalea Smirniotopoulos (senior policy counsel and co-manager of the Equal Protection Initiative, Legal Defense & Educational Fund) discuss the roles that policy and law have historically played in encouraging opportunity for gifted Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people in STEM fields, including the roles that “pipeline” programs have had in increasing representation. They emphasize a key point: Programs that encourage representation remain lawful and have been critical to removing barriers. They share data on unequal opportunities, highlighted by racial and ethnic disparities in access to key entry programs for engineering and other STEM careers. Highlighting the importance of inclusion, they amplify many programs and resources that are not only legal, open to all, and carefully constructed, but also critical in ensuring increasing participation in STEM fields. Are there opportunities to address engagement and inclusion within our existing communities? Building on the evidence-based recommendations of the NASEM consensus study Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations: Beyond Broadening Participation (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2023), co-chairs Gilda Barabino (president and professor of biomedical and chemical engineering, Olin College of Engineering) and Susan Fiske (Emerita Eugene Higgins Professor, Department of Psychology, and School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton) provide a unique and accessible approach, sharing their perspectives on and promising practices in the next step in inclusion—going beyond tracking the numbers. Barabino and Fiske present a candid conversation that tackles uncomfortable words used to describe the environment, tough metrics that can quantify “welcoming” or the feelings of team members, systemic racism, lived experience, and personal perspectives on the wide-ranging recommendations of the study. Together, they share an optimistic view of the change that is possible. How can we ensure performance while supporting inclusion, career development, and our teams? What about those who are already in the workforce? Audrey Murrell (professor of business administration, psychology, and public and international affairs, the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh) and Samuel Allen (the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh) discuss retention and growth with a focus on mentoring and allyship supporting women in STEM. Although representation of women has increased significantly, they are still underrepresented in senior-level positions. They emphasize the imperative of alignment of organizational goals and performance or outcomes of an organization with those of the culture, including the organization’s inclusion, equity, and diversity efforts to drive sustainable solutions. With a focus on retention and development, Murrell and Allen point to a number of successful practices, but place emphasis on welcoming, developing, and modeling. Is there a vision for the future? Building on their work done during the Obama administration in support of growth and seeding opportunity in underrepresented communities in STEM fields, Megan Smith (CEO and founder, shift7, US chief technology officer [former]; Google executive [former]) and Puneet Ahira (Amazon and Google speculative technologies lead [former]; CEO and founder, Omission Studio; independent consultant) share historic lessons learned, and flag new opportunities for driving engagement, building inclusion, and supporting future STEM needs. Joined by Wanda Sigur (VPGM, Lockheed Martin SPACE [ret.]), they also highlight that challenges of inclusion may be perceived as a systems problem using lessons from community organizing models. Using networking, communities of practice, and data analytics, successful programs—from code camps to fab labs to storytelling—are shared as the means to elevate and scale existing successful efforts. Summary As we look forward to future opportunities driven by tomorrow’s challenges that will face America and the world, the issues of inclusion and equity continue to demand our attention and focus. As captured by Smith, Ahira, and Sigur in “Endless Talent Is the American Dream,” “To unleash the full creative and productive energies of the 342 million people alive in America today would be the greatest undertaking this country (or any) has ever made. Perhaps more than any other concerted effort, it has the power to vastly transform industry, commerce, trade, science, technology, the arts, politics, culture, health, and education in one fell swoop…Endless talent exists.” Let’s continue the journey. About the Author:Wanda A. Sigur (NAE) is retired vice president and general manager, civil space, Lockheed Martin Corporation. Percy A. Pierre (NAE) is Glenn L. Martin Endowed Adjunct Professor, the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the founding chairman of the NAE’s Racial Justice and Equity Committee.