PIECE: Project for Inclusion in ECE
Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) as a discipline struggles to recruit and retain women and underrepresented minorities. Diversity and inclusion in ECE is a complex problem with many contributing factors, and the solutions are not often straightforward. To address this issue, Purdue ECE launched PIECE: Project for Inclusion in ECE.
PIECE evolved from a study group that was funded by NSF grant #1636446: Understanding the Professional Formation of Engineers through the Lens of Design Thinking: Unpacking the Problem of Diversity and Inclusion. The grant was part of the NSF’s Research in the Formation of Engineers program.
This project acknowledges three interrelated problems currently recognized in the professional formation of engineers: the gap between school experiences and practice, the perception of engineering as solely technical, and the lack of diversity and inclusion in engineering. The ECE DEI Committee is approaching these not as separate problems, but as issues that are linked and deeply connected to engineering culture, curriculum and practice, and require a processual, contextual and integrative approach to solve.
“Inclusivity means approaching students with the intention of helping them not only survive, but thrive, grow, and become empowered through their time here,” says Carla Zoltowski, Assistant Professor of Engineering Practice and chair of the ECE DEI Committee. “Although these practices are especially vital to the success of underrepresented students, who often enter with low confidence and low capital, all students will benefit.”
The committee’s current initiatives include TA training on diversity and implementing an undergraduate professional development seminar sequence. The committee has developed a tip sheet to help faculty learn ways to can foster an inclusive culture within ECE. An ad-hoc working group, which includes PIECE members, is developing a departmental Broadening Participation Plan to provide institutional context, define specific goals and metrics, and outline programmatic activities to achieve these goals. Moreover, for the first time, the PIECE committee participates in faculty interviews and discusses these issues with potential ECE faculty members.