Efforts to improve diversity in engineering have stagnated over the last 10-15 years, despite numerous programs and other activities that have been developed over that time. The lack of progress suggests that it is not enough to simply "fix" the pipeline. Rather, efforts are needed to change the way all stakeholders in engineering education think about diversity. This project will revolutionize the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at Rowan University to radically increase diversity and achieve high retention and graduation rates of all CEE students. An ambitious plan for curricular and extracurricular reform is being used to increase the representation of women and Underrepresented Minority (URM) students and historically underserved groups. These measures will be deployed using a multi-pronged approach that includes revising admission criteria to promote a more diverse student body; enhancing the perception and understanding of diversity and equality among students, faculty and administrators to improve the culture of inclusiveness; developing an Advocate and Allies Mentoring Program for first year and transfer students; transforming the existing engineering curriculum in the second and third year from a narrow sub-discipline based approach to a more inclusive system-based approach; and enriching aspirations for all students by providing role models from industry and academia. Through these efforts radical changes will be made in the structure of the program: increase the percentage of women and ethnic/racial minorities (visible URMs) in the department from 19.3 percent to above 50 percent in the 5 year duration of the grant, while at the same time also increasing the percentage of all historically underserved groups; redesign curriculum, teaching and learning, and department systems and processes to promote inclusiveness that benefits all students; improve retention of all students from 85 to 95 percent; improve 5-year graduation rates of all CEE students from the current level of 68 to 80 percent; and incentivize the faculty to be active partners in the transformation

This transformative research project will generate new knowledge about the experiences of URMs in engineering. The main research questions include: (1) What is the perceived human capital (acquiring knowledge or skills), sociocultural capital (developing interpersonal relationships and networks), and personal capital (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) of URM engineering students? What are the similarities and differences in those perceptions across race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation? (2) How do the students perceive their self-efficacy and professional identity in (civil) engineering? (3) What aspects of faculty development training are most effective in promoting adoption of inclusive teaching practices and learning environment and creating an inclusive culture? These research questions will be used to obtain a better understanding of the perceived barriers for URMs in the field of engineering and identify strategies for developing a model of inclusivity. Strategies encompass admission and retention of students, faculty attitudes and teaching, and curricular changes that will impact the way students think and function in the professional workplace. The vision also extends to the students' professional growth with higher aspirations being cultivated by addressing and enhancing human, social, and cultural capital. The transformation will help the student internalize aspirations, develop self-efficacy and self-confidence that they belong in the field as leaders and advocates for inclusivity. The results from this project will be a transformation kit, which allows other engineering programs to make similar changes. This project will provide guidance on how to change the culture of engineering to one of inclusion, ultimately resulting in a more diverse engineering workforce prepared to address the challenges of the 21st century.