SWE Graduate Community Blog Series for a Diverse and Inclusive Campus:
Perspectives from an international future Ph.D. towards creating best practices for academic retention of historically underrepresented college faculty
Dear SWE Graduate Community,
As part of the GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) blog series, the D&I team has interviewed Lisbeth Vallecilla Yepez, a Ph.D. candidate in the Biological Systems Engineering department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lisbeth shares her perspectives on creating best practices for historically underrepresented college faculty academic retention.
Interview:
Can you please describe initiatives that create a higher education institution more diverse and inclusive?
An institution's inclusion and diversity are reflected not only in its membership demographics, but also in its structures, policies, practices, and its affiliates' values. Increasing the number of historically underrepresented scholars in higher education seems a challenge for most academic institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2018, Black and Hispanic college faculty held 14% of tenure-track positions and only 11% of tenured roles in the U.S. campuses.
Some higher education institutions respond to this situation by stating that they can't hire minority faculty because there are hardly any. One approach these institutions can use is to grow their own; they could recruit them from their current Ph.D. students. I have seen how some institutions let their minority Ph.D. students go—especially those who want to pursue an academic career. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diversity is defined as "the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization," Based on this definition, most institutions could argue that they are diverse. However, inclusion is "the act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded," and here is where many institutions face a problem.
In which ways do institutions practice diversity and inclusion towards retaining faculty members?
Many diverse faculty members work on campuses where structures and policies are not welcoming and accessible. These institutions still mistakenly assumed "inclusion" strategies such as tokenism, among others. For instance, it is common to find celebrations and/or commemorations events of X or Y underrepresented identities; however, when campus policies and structures are reviewed: surprise! There are no strategies to support and foster inclusiveness in practice.
Nevertheless, some very well-intentioned institutions want to commit to diversity. I would say that diversity is the new black. However, many of these institutions still take the traditional approach in the hiring process: let us bring some diverse faculty to the campus, and then we are fine. In my opinion, it is not only about hiring but also about retaining; it is about bringing diverse people to the campus and offering a climate that says, we want you here. Although many institutions are spending more resources to recruit minority faculty, do not be surprised that many of them are no longer there a few years later. Why? I do not have the answer for this, but I can say that isolation could be one possibility. One example is the pipeline programs that exist to increase underrepresented faculty, which often only add one or two faculty at a time. These faculty are often isolated from each other and the dominant culture and then decide to leave. Another possibility is that people find better opportunities and leave; yes, that is also a valid answer.
Moreover, traditional hiring practices only touch the surface of inclusive campuses, creating spaces ill-prepared and unreserved for diverse faculty. These simple approaches or accommodations for faculty inclusion only emphasize structures that reinforce the vulnerability of those these practices want to support. A first step to fight those traditional discourses is to recognize that they are not working and that it is necessary to find different strategies to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty. After all, hiring minority faculty is a different business, and institutions should do business differently.
How can Institutions start implementing best practices for diversity and inclusion?
Colleges can start generating spaces where the historically underrepresented faculty can see themselves. One way to do this is to commit to understanding and creating new knowledge about diversity, inclusiveness, and relationships across members of the college. Some other strategies have already been adopted for some institutions in the retaining process consist of,
These are some reflections that I have as a triple minority, a woman in STEM, a black person and Latina, and as a future professional that would like to join the higher education community in the future.
Bio:
Lisbeth Vallecilla Yepez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biological Systems Engineering department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her doctoral research focused on investigating ways toward sustainable biomass utilization. Her current research project aims to produce succinic acid through microbial fermentation of corn fiber sugars. Corn fiber is a byproduct of the bio-ethanol industry and is presently cataloged as waste, underestimating its value as a carbohydrate platform. Current methods of SA production using petroleum generate serious pollution problems. Therefore, her process is desirable because of its focus on production alternatives that utilize renewable resources and mitigate harmful greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide consumed during SA fermentation. She also investigated the use of sorghum waste as a raw material to obtain polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB), a bioplastic with mechanical properties similar to petroleum-based plastics. Her biggest dream is that the technologies people use are clean, consume less energy and water, and do not generate waste. When not in the lab, Lisbeth loves spending time talking with her family in Colombia, spending time with her husband, and visiting places surrounded by nature. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and dancing to Latin music.
Contact information:
E-mail: lvallecillay@huskers.unl.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisbeth-vallecilla-yepez/
Yareni Lara-Rodriguez
Content Creator Diversity & Inclusion Team
SWE Graduate Community
As part of the GradSWE Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) blog series, the D&I team has interviewed Lisbeth Vallecilla Yepez, a Ph.D. candidate in the Biological Systems Engineering department of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lisbeth shares her perspectives on creating best practices for historically underrepresented college faculty academic retention.
Interview:
Can you please describe initiatives that create a higher education institution more diverse and inclusive?
An institution's inclusion and diversity are reflected not only in its membership demographics, but also in its structures, policies, practices, and its affiliates' values. Increasing the number of historically underrepresented scholars in higher education seems a challenge for most academic institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2018, Black and Hispanic college faculty held 14% of tenure-track positions and only 11% of tenured roles in the U.S. campuses.
Some higher education institutions respond to this situation by stating that they can't hire minority faculty because there are hardly any. One approach these institutions can use is to grow their own; they could recruit them from their current Ph.D. students. I have seen how some institutions let their minority Ph.D. students go—especially those who want to pursue an academic career. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diversity is defined as "the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization," Based on this definition, most institutions could argue that they are diverse. However, inclusion is "the act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded," and here is where many institutions face a problem.
In which ways do institutions practice diversity and inclusion towards retaining faculty members?
Many diverse faculty members work on campuses where structures and policies are not welcoming and accessible. These institutions still mistakenly assumed "inclusion" strategies such as tokenism, among others. For instance, it is common to find celebrations and/or commemorations events of X or Y underrepresented identities; however, when campus policies and structures are reviewed: surprise! There are no strategies to support and foster inclusiveness in practice.
Nevertheless, some very well-intentioned institutions want to commit to diversity. I would say that diversity is the new black. However, many of these institutions still take the traditional approach in the hiring process: let us bring some diverse faculty to the campus, and then we are fine. In my opinion, it is not only about hiring but also about retaining; it is about bringing diverse people to the campus and offering a climate that says, we want you here. Although many institutions are spending more resources to recruit minority faculty, do not be surprised that many of them are no longer there a few years later. Why? I do not have the answer for this, but I can say that isolation could be one possibility. One example is the pipeline programs that exist to increase underrepresented faculty, which often only add one or two faculty at a time. These faculty are often isolated from each other and the dominant culture and then decide to leave. Another possibility is that people find better opportunities and leave; yes, that is also a valid answer.
Moreover, traditional hiring practices only touch the surface of inclusive campuses, creating spaces ill-prepared and unreserved for diverse faculty. These simple approaches or accommodations for faculty inclusion only emphasize structures that reinforce the vulnerability of those these practices want to support. A first step to fight those traditional discourses is to recognize that they are not working and that it is necessary to find different strategies to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty. After all, hiring minority faculty is a different business, and institutions should do business differently.
How can Institutions start implementing best practices for diversity and inclusion?
Colleges can start generating spaces where the historically underrepresented faculty can see themselves. One way to do this is to commit to understanding and creating new knowledge about diversity, inclusiveness, and relationships across members of the college. Some other strategies have already been adopted for some institutions in the retaining process consist of,
- Facilitating the identification of multiple mentors and providing peer mentorship with a paid mentor (to emphasize the importance of mentorship),
- Providing professional development opportunities and networking,
- Encouraging faculties to participate in professional organizations across the campus and nationally.
These are some reflections that I have as a triple minority, a woman in STEM, a black person and Latina, and as a future professional that would like to join the higher education community in the future.
Bio:
Lisbeth Vallecilla Yepez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biological Systems Engineering department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her doctoral research focused on investigating ways toward sustainable biomass utilization. Her current research project aims to produce succinic acid through microbial fermentation of corn fiber sugars. Corn fiber is a byproduct of the bio-ethanol industry and is presently cataloged as waste, underestimating its value as a carbohydrate platform. Current methods of SA production using petroleum generate serious pollution problems. Therefore, her process is desirable because of its focus on production alternatives that utilize renewable resources and mitigate harmful greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide consumed during SA fermentation. She also investigated the use of sorghum waste as a raw material to obtain polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB), a bioplastic with mechanical properties similar to petroleum-based plastics. Her biggest dream is that the technologies people use are clean, consume less energy and water, and do not generate waste. When not in the lab, Lisbeth loves spending time talking with her family in Colombia, spending time with her husband, and visiting places surrounded by nature. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and dancing to Latin music.
Contact information:
E-mail: lvallecillay@huskers.unl.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisbeth-vallecilla-yepez/
Yareni Lara-Rodriguez
Content Creator Diversity & Inclusion Team
SWE Graduate Community
