National Academy of Engineering
To enable the planning subcommittee (established by NAE’s Racial Justice & Equity Committee) and NAE staff to conduct a literature review and landscape scan on five topical areas to identify collaborators and existing best practices
The urgency of the Black Lives Matter protests and ongoing attention to racial justice has moved many National Academies into action—including the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). This grant supports Elizabeth Cady who, along with Percy Pierre, is shepherding work at NAE’s Racial Justice & Equity (RJ&E) Committee. The Committee’s objectives are to achieve a diverse engineering population; reverse disappointing trends of decreasing college enrollment and degree completion in engineering over the last 10 years; provide access to successful careers in engineering through nontraditional routes; and provide the necessary tools both to retain underrepresented minorities in engineering and enable them to thrive. Grant funds will allow Cady and Pierre to commission, oversee, and disseminate a landscape scan and literature review focused on five topical areas (increased awareness of racial injustice and inequity; mentoring for minority engineering students and early-career minority engineers; nondegree training for high-tech positions; development of data and relationships to support machine learning algorithms; and efforts to increase the participation of minorities in engineering and technology); develop a framework for action informed by the landscape scan and literature review; and then use this framework to inform the ongoing work of the RJ&E Committee.