Outreach K-16 Programs to Enhance Diversity in the Science and Engineering Fields

--Minorities are an underrepresented group in science and engineering fields. Factors that impact on this include lack of role models, home environment, economics and educational opportunities. The changing technological global economy requires an increase in the diversity of our scientists and engineers in both industry and academia. To accomplish this goal, K-16 programs funded by industrial, governmental and philanthropic organizations have been developed all over the world. To increase diversity in science and engineering, we must reach children at an early age and to educate and excite them about the various careers associated with these fields. At New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) initiatives were taken to achieve diversity goals about thirty years ago. The current K-12 hands-on programs have a strong basis in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. The experimental exposure can be on bench scale or pilot plant scale sized laboratory equipment. These K-12 programs may or may not be student linked to our NJIT research programs and the, which are for undergraduate students. Whereas the goal of our K-12 program is to increase the underrepresented, undergraduate student education pool, the aim of the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) and Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Programs is to increase the number of underrepresented advance degree recipients. The URE Program, which is open to all levels was initiated in 1990, has graduated 140 students, of whom, approximately 90 percent have gone on for advanced degrees. The NJIT Ronald E. McNair Post baccalaureate Achievement Program fosters a desire in underrepresented students to obtain a Ph.D. degree and enter the field of higher education in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM). Since its inception, 44 students have been enrolled in the program with 22 of the 44 graduating and enrolling in Graduate School. Index Terms --K-12 programs, undergraduate research, underrepresented students, diversity, post-baccalaureate achievement INTRODUCTION As we enter the 21 Century with globalization is a given fact of life and there is a need to expand the engineering manpower pool and to increase its diversity. Programs must be developed that interest individuals from underrepresented groups in science and engineering. The K-12 Programs at NJIT and elsewhere have their origins about 30 years ago and were aimed at increasing the pool of minorities entering engineering and science programs. At NJIT, in the past decade, research programs for undergraduates have been added to further increase this pool. These programs, are the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) Program and the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program. Undergraduate research at New Jersey Institute of Technology has been an integral part of the curriculum, as a three credit hour elective course in each of the two senior year semesters, since the 1960’s. The courses are senior level but on occasion juniors have been allowed into these courses for credit. The Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) Program and the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program were added in the past decade but the objectives of these programs differ from the undergraduate research elective courses and in some cases grant curriculum credit. Thus, the need to expand the engineering manpower pool and to increase its diversity has led to a K-16 program at NJIT. THE K-12 PROGRAMS Among the earliest of the K-12 programs was NJIT’s Urban Engineering Program for High School Students [1]. New Jersey Institute of Technology is ideally located in the heart of Newark, New Jersey, a city that typifies the urban crisis felt throughout the nation. In cooperation with the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) at NJIT and bordering on an inner city High School the programs began to evolve. Also at NJIT, Levine [2] began to focus on attracting young women into science and engineering. This was the start of the Females in Engineering, Methods, Motivation, and Experience (FEMME) Programs. These programs were developed throughout the United States under National Science Foundation initiatives. Other programs at NJIT were developed [3]. Anderson-Rolland [4] reported on the “Women in the Applied Sciences and Engineering Program (WISE) at Arizona State University, which was added in 1993. Gennelo, Windom, Kimberly, Jolly, and Semple [5] reported in the Program for Women in Science and Engineering (PWSE) initiated in 1987 at Iowa State University. Johnson, Diamond, and Stowich [6] reported on the Carnegie Melon University program to teach the City of Pittsburgh high school girls about engineering and science using female faculty. National Science Foundation commitments led to workshops dealing with this topic [7]. In 1996, the NSF issued its eighth report to Congress and the Government entitled “Women Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering”. An entire chapter in the report was devoted to pre-college education [8]. McCartney, Reyes, and Anderson-Rowland [9] reported on the Arizona State University program for underrepresented minority students and their teachers from eight high schools. Kelly and Heywood [10] discussed a K12 program in the British Isles. Moore [11] chaired a conference session on “ Issues in K-12 Internet Usage”. Papers were presented by Rude on “The Role of Universities in K-12 Internet Access”, Moore on “Internet Access Resources: Searching, Newsgroups Presentation Software, K-12 Resources, Blocking Software” and by Trilling on “Approaches to Dissemination of Experimental Programs”. Similarly, Agogino [12] chaired a session on “Bringing Engineering to K-12 through Interactive Multimedia and Internet (Panel)”. Hirtzel [13] discussed the declining interest in science and engineering coupled with declining high school enrollments and the subsequent importance of outreach programs. In 1997, Walker and Ziebarth [14] discussed the outreach programs with super computer applications. Mengel [15] discussed the K-12 students and the worldwide web. Thiele, Razvan, and Lesko (16) discussed the “Development of Engineering Measurements Laboratories"; a concept used by the authors in the NJIT K12 programs. At the 1997 Fall Regional Conference, Mid Atlantic Section, ASEE, an entire session with six papers was devoted to K-12 education. At the Annual ASEE meeting in St. Louis, June 18-21, 2000, a number of sessions were devoted to K-12 programs. Barbara Christe developed a session on K-12 Diversity in Engineering Technology (Session 1648). Barbara Bogue developed a session on K-12 Programs that Work (Session 1692) and Chalmers F. Sechrist developed a session on K-12 to ECE Education (Session 2332). Since the start of K-12 programs, the ASEE has been a leader in reporting on a large number of K-12 Programs throughout the United States and a few overseas programs. New Jersey Institute of Technology has a social, economic, and academically diverse student body of about 5800 undergraduate and 3000 graduate students with the undergraduate population composed approximately of onethird women, Hispanic, and Afro-American) minority. The institution has, for the most part, consisted of students who were the first in their families to seek a college education. Over the last 30-40 years, however, the ethnic background of the children of immigrants has changed. NJIT has a long history of outreach programs for elementary through college level students. The outreach programs developed by the Office of Pre-College Programs serves more than 4500 elementary and secondary school students and teachers annually through an array of precollege programs. The Office of Pre-College Programs, which originated in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry about 30 years ago, developed these K-12 programs. It is, therefore, not unusual to find departmental faculty being involved in the development and teaching of various minority outreach programs. Some of those programs in which the authors have taught are: • The Summer Academy (11 grade students) • Females in Engineering: Methods, Motivation and Experience (FEMME) • Introductory FEMME for 4 and 5 grade students) • FEMME Continuum (6 and 7 grade students who have completed) • Senior FEMME (8 and 9 grade students) • Chemical Industry For Minorities in Engineering (CHIME, 7 and 8 grade students) • Upward Bound, Mathematics and Science Program (9-12 Newark, NJ High school students)