Infusing Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion into
Engineering Curricula
and Culture
Changes Galvanized by the
Penn State DEIBig10++ Summit
Sarah Zappe, Penn State
Karen High, Clemson U.
Fatima Alleyne, UC Berkeley, and
Laura Grossenbacher, UW-Madison
Agenda
Panel will proceed in this order:
Sarah Zappe, Penn State
Karen High, Clemson Univ.
Fatima Alleyne, UC Berkeley (now APS)
Laura Grossenbacher, UW-Madison
General Q&A
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Sarah Zappe
Director of the Leonhard Center for
the Enhancement of Engineering
Education
Assistant Dean for Teaching and
Learning
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In 2021, the Engineering Deans of the
Big Ten+ requested that ABET
incorporate DEI principles into the
General Criteria for Accrediting
Engineering Programs.
ABET responded by including draft
statements relating to DEI in the
criteria for faculty and the curriculum,
which were open to public comment
in 2022.
The criteria are still being piloted and will be optional
for the 23-24 accreditation years.
Criterion 5: Curriculum
• “The curriculum must include…content that ensures awareness of
diversity, equity, and inclusion for professional practice consistent with
the institution’s mission.”
Criterion 6: Faculty
• “The program faculty must also demonstrate knowledge of applicable
institutional policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion and demonstrate
awareness appropriate to providing an equitable and inclusive
environment for its students that respects the institution’s mission.”
https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-
engineering-programs-2023-2024/ -
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In order to prepare for the
upcoming changes to ABET, a
Summit was held at Penn
State in October of 2022.
A total of 71 participants from
20 institutions attended the
meeting.
• https://www.engr.psu.edu/equity-inclusion/dei-summit-
22.aspx -
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The Summit was held across 3 days and consisted
of speakers, reflection, and team working time.
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The Summit also featured two phenomenal guest
speakers.
Tracie Marcella Addy
Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning
Lafayette College
Ebony Omotola McGee
Professor of Diversity and
STEM Education
Vanderbilt University
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The last day of the
Summit, teams did a
speed networking
event.
• Two 45-minute rotations.
• Presented their plans on each
criteria to 2 other teams
• Heard the plans for each criteria
from the other teams
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An ASEE paper will
summarize the
evaluation and findings
from the Summit.
• Overall, the Summit went extremely well.
• Participants enjoyed discussing the topics with
individuals from other institutions.
• Major concerns included:
• Faculty buy-in
• Lack of time/money
• Leadership support
• Strategizing DEI Curriculum
• Faculty Training
• The participants want the Summit to continue
annually and to keep the community working
together.
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Karen High
• CU ABET Visit Fall 2023
• CU Pilot in DEI Fall 2023
• KAH PEV
• KAH ASEE Faculty
Development Division (FDD)
• KAH Sabbatical at PSU
• Participated in DEI Summit
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Clemson - Inclusive Excellence
Strategic Plan
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Example for ABET/DEI
Strategic Priority Education and Training
Divers e curricula r experiences
Focus Area
for s tudents
Increa s e cours es tha t
Goal
promote divers ity
Objective Annua l works hop s eries
Start/ End Dates 2022/ 2026
Pla n/ s chedule/
Action Steps
communica te
Meas ures Inventory of
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curricula r exper.
14
Example for ABET/DEI
Strategic Priority Education and Training
Divers e curricula r experiences
Focus Area
for s tudents
Increa s e cours es tha t
Goal
promote divers ity
Objective Fa culty Incentives
Start/ End Dates 2022/ 2026
Develop/ communica te/
Action Steps
provide incentives
Meas ures Inventory of
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curricula r exper.
15
Example for ABET/DEI
Strategic Priority Education and Training
Focus Area Divers e cours e offerings
Support content to
Goal
promote divers ity
Objective Annua l works hops
Start/ End Dates 2022/ 2026
Action Steps Inventory/ fa culty credit
Meas ures Attenda nce
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Example for ABET/DEI
Strategic Priority Education and Training
Focus Area Divers e cours e offerings
Goal Enha nce communica tion
Objective Enga ge cons ulta nts
Start/ End Dates 2021/ 2024
Action Steps Cons ulta nts / meet
Meas ures Reports
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Fatima Alleyne, PhD
Chief Diversity and Ethics Officer,
American Physical Society
Founder, BeyondDEIBA
former Director, Community
Engagement & Inclusive Officer,
College of Engineering, UC Berkeley
former Director, Faculty Engagement
College of Engineering, UC Berkeley
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Engineering’s Strategic Plan
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Engineering’s Strategic Plan
New Faculty Orientation
Faculty Engagement Fund
EMPOWER
Merit & Promotion
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Faculty Knowledge of DEI
Criteria 5: Faculty
“The program faculty must also
demonstrate knowledge of
applicable institutional policies on
diversity, equity, and inclusion and
demonstrate awareness appropriate
to providing an equitable and
inclusive environment for its
students that respects the
institution’s mission.”
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EMPOWER Certificate Program
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Communities of Practice
June 2, 2020
January 6, 2021
Equitable Grading
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Merit and Promotion
Contributions to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and
Belonging
Letter from the Dean
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Best and Promising Practices
Development Implementation
Recognize where you are Recognize where you are
Engage with stakeholders Identify appropriate resources
Listen to the room Start Small and Scale Up
Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate
Multiple touchpoints
Collaborate to grow your
Establish a diverse working impact
group/team Connect with current awards/
Fit into big picture processes
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UW-Madison’s team of 4 is putting into practice
the ideas we generated at the DEI Summit.
Chris Dakes, Director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE)
Chris Castro, Associate Dean for Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity in Engineering (IEDE)
Kathy Prem, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Laura Grossenbacher, Director of Undergraduate Program Review and Teaching
Faculty in Engineering Ethics
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We have established a Community of Practice with goals that
will build IEDE awareness within our College of Engineering.
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We’ve been working on Phase I, which involves three aims that align
well with the proposed changes for ABET Criteria 5 and 6.
1. Teamwork: Strengthen teamwork pedagogy and tools for measuring student learning (with
some emphasis on “collaborative and inclusive” team skills
1. IEDE in current ethics pedagogy: Integrate IEDE components into existing engineering ethics
curriculum and align with assessment of student learning
1. IEDE in at least one other required course: Identify at least one required course in each
engineering program where IEDE might be reasonably integrated
I am directly involved in Aim #2.
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Our students work in teams to
analyze ethics cases – we
write our own cases and
develop them further with our
students.
We are folding in social justice
and equity issues that might
add unique pressures for
decision-making.
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In preparation for case discussions, we explore how the
different Codes of Ethics address respect for diverse
perspectives.
For example, we note
that the newly revised
(Oct. 2020) ASCE
Code has added some
emphasis in a few
areas.
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Our aim is for the social/diversity challenges in an
ethics case to demand careful consideration of
questions like . . .
Does it make resolving the ethical dilemma(s) any more difficult if
the key decision-maker or a key stakeholder community is of a
different race, gender, ethnicity, class, age group, etc.?
Would it change anything about how to communicate the
problem to other people?
Could it affect any pushback from management? If so, how
might you respond?
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A couple of cases we have used are available
as a handout – but I’ll describe them briefly..
Meat-packing labor and supply chain case Facial recognition in city transportation – “smart streetlights”
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The social
justice element
is embedded in
a section of our
rubric on the
ethical analysis.
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How is it going? Undergraduates find these
discussions challenging, but they’re eager to have
an open discussion.
Our students know diversity leads to better engineering – and they are
interested in practicing difficult conversations about ethics and
identity..
We see more pushback on our approach when we use it to discuss
ethics with practicing (adult) engineers, though.
Some feel that “they did their inclusivity training already,” and they
want to keep ethics and DEI in different silos.
A few have accused us at UW as “ruining ethics with wokeness.”
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I’m happy to discuss our approach at length
with anyone who is interested!
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Questions for the Panel?
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Further Readings and Helpful Resources
Engineering Ethics and Cognitive Science Readings – For DEI-Infused Ethics Cases
Bazerman, Max, and Ann Tenbrunsel. Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about It. New Jersey: Princeton
University Press, 2011.
Gentile, Mary. Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When you Know What’s Right. Yale University Press, 2010.
Johnson, Mark. Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Starrett, Steven K., Ph.D., P.E., Amy Lara, Ph.D., and Carlos Bertha, Ph.D. Engineering Ethics: Real World Case Studies. ASCE Press.
2017.
Werhane, Patricia H., Laura Pincus Hartman, Crina Archer, Elaine E. Englehardt, and Michael S. Pritchard. Obstacles to Ethical
Decision-Making: Mental Models, Milgram and the Problem of Obedience. Cambridge University Press. 2013.
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