SSRI Plan to Foster Diversity 2004-2009
A Framework to Foster Diversity at Penn State: 2004-2009 Progress Assessment Report of the Social Science Research Institute
SSRI's mission of supporting interdisciplinary research to solve complex social problems fosters a culture of diversity within the institute. Research topics of SSRI's faculty are centered on social problems defined along race/ethnic, gender, socioeconomic, and international lines. These topics are echoed in the prioritized hiring of underrepresented project staff, seed grant programs focused on the social problems disproportionately felt by underrepresented populations, the commitment of financial resources for the recruitment of minority students by NIH training and NSF grants, the development of training grants to support students from developing nations, the co-sponsoring of university colloquia and workshops focused on minority populations, and assistance in recruiting minority social science faculty. These activities are reviewed below.
Challenge 1: Developing a Shared and Inclusive Understanding of Diversity
SSRI has promoted a shared awareness of supporting cultural diversity among its staff through:
- Encouraging participation in diversity education programs and university colloquia.
- Promoting awareness by encouraging staff in SSRI's monthly staff meetings to visit the university's website on fostering diversity.
- Evaluating staff members' performance regarding issues of acceptance of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
- Hosting numerous widely advertised and well-attended brown bag lunches on topics highly relevant to diverse audiences.
- Disseminating the diversity calendar to all SSRI employees, as well as to PRI associates and affiliates.
Over the next five-year period we will continue to use the five mechanisms described above.
SSRI does not currently have a diversity committee. Responsibilities for fostering a positive climate for diversity fall primarily on the institute's directors. While this has served us well to date, we will create an SSRI diversity committee so that more of our employees can feel ownership of creating a shared and inclusive understanding of diversity. In 2007, the SSRI will hold discussions within its internal advisory board to plan for the creation of a diversity committee. We will then recruit participants, and formulate initial goals for its functioning, and begin to think about enhancing staff programming on diversity and inclusiveness.
Challenge 2: Creating a Welcoming Campus Climate
SSRI has promoted a welcoming campus climate through:
- Partnering with university units to co-sponsor colloquia and research initiatives focusing on race/ethnic groups, immigrant populations and both genders. This has included:
- Co-funding research projects with the Africana Research Center whenever possible throughout the last five years. Dr. Keith Wilson, Director of the Africana Research Center has agreed to join the Children, Youth, and Families Consortium steering committee beginning in fall 2006. He has committed to a three-year term. Dr. Wilson will be the first African-American to serve on our steering committee and we look forward to his salient contributions. In addition, Dr. Ann Crouter, SSRI's Director, has agreed to join the Advisory Board of the Africana Research Center.
- Cosponsored events with the Center for Human Development and Family Research in Diverse Contexts.
- Financial and logistical support of a weekly meeting of a faculty/graduate student discussion group focused on social problems defined along race/ethnic lines (group started in 2002). Although this group recently disbanded, we will continue to support these kinds of efforts.
- Financial and logistical support of an annual conference at Penn State, the National Family Symposium, which often addresses social problems confronting minority families and women living in poverty.
- Hiring a female African-American graduate student to act as the primary coordinator of the National Science Foundation grant we have which focuses on the recruitment, mentoring, and retention of under-represented minority doctoral students.
- Supporting the NSF diversity grant by providing both financial and in-kind support. Two SSRI employees have been centrally involved on this project, meeting with faculty and students to help create a welcoming climate, improve graduate student recruitment, mentoring, and retention. Should the grant be renewed after 2007, we plan to continue our support of this endeavor.
- Supporting a number of underrepresented faculty members with financial support and consultation assistance to assist in the development of their program of interdisciplinary research. Over the next five years we are committed to proactively seek to support diverse faculty members. This will occur via departmental faculty meetings, as well as through SSRI/PRI/CYFC-initiated contacts with underrepresented faculty.
- Developing a comprehensive, up to date, on-line listing of all social science conferences, colloquia, brown bag series, etc. occurring at Penn State. Many of these will be of particular interest to underrepresented faculty, staff, and students.
- As part of the NSF grant, covering the cost of the Methodological and Statistical Consulting Center to provide free consulting services to all underrepresented graduate students from Psychology, Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, and Curriculum and Instruction.
Challenge 3: Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Student Body
SSRI has fostered the recruitment and retention of minority students in PRI's demography dual-title program and its NIH pre- and post-doctoral training programs. The specific forms of support have been:
- Meeting annually with the training directors to review strategies for recruiting outstanding minority candidates
- Providing additional financial support to supplement NIH postdoctoral stipends to aid in the recruitment of minority fellows
Challenge 4: Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce
Like the university, SSRI has actively attempted to recruit support staff from under-represented groups. We have had very little success. The main barrier is structural -- the small minority population in the local labor market - a problem shared by all research units.
SSRI has had significant success, however, in attracting and retaining women in its technical positions within the computing, geographic information analysis (GIA), and survey cores - positions in which women are traditionally underrepresented. Over the last five years, SSRI has five women working in technical positions. In addition, flexible scheduling has been encouraged and has allowed SSRI to retain two women in staff support positions. A telecommuting arrangement has also facilitated the retention of SSRI's webmaster (female).
In terms of faculty recruitment, SSRI has been actively involved in the recruitment of underrepresented faculty. The SSRI directors routinely meet with faculty candidates to discuss how the institute can support the candidates' research programs and to showcase the range of research activities focused on under-represented groups. Over the past five years, these efforts have yielded fruit. The CYFC has now successfully assisted in the recruitment of two African-American (both women), one Asian-American, and eleven other female co-funded faculty members. Moreover, the SSRI has assisted a number of departments successfully recruit a number of diverse faculty members. These departments include African and African American Studies, Biobehavioral Health, Agricultural Extension and Education, Health Policy and Administration, the Africana Research Center, and others.
- Over the next five years we will continue to assist in the interviewing of job candidates to showcase opportunities for research emphasizing cultural diversity, as well as to ensure that they are well informed about our financial support, service provision, and consulting assistance.
- Over the next five years, we will assist social science departments' strategic hires of underrepresented faculty members by providing financial support (e.g., salary, start-up) to help make it attractive for them to come to Penn State.
Challenge 5. Developing a Curriculum that Supports the Goals of Our New General Education Plan
SSRI has no response to this challenge since it does not have a degree granting function.
Challenge 6. Diversifying University Leadership and Management
SSRI's institute and center directors consist of a director and assistant director and four research center directors. These administrators are drawn from the university faculty. The SSRI/CYFC and PRI directors are both women. Unfortunately, none of the faculty administrators are from under-represented minority groups. This remains a concern for the unit. Over the next five years, we plan to increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty who are connected (in any capacity) with the SSRI. In so doing, we will identify underrepresented minority faculty who could serve in strategic leadership roles within the SSRI.
SSRI's core service directors consist of an assistant director of the SRC, and directors of computing, GIS, administrative services, and information dissemination. Of these, 3 are women (the assistant director of the SRC, and the directors of administrative services and information dissemination). None are members of under-represented minority groups.
Challenge 7. Coordinating Organizational Change to Support Our Diversity Goals
As noted above, SSRI has devoted substantial financial and logistical resources to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty and graduate students. SSRI has also devoted resources to encourage research that aligns with the university's diversity goals. Commitments such as these reflect the embeddedness of the university's diversity goals within the SSRI's core mission.
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