Faculty Affairs and Academic Programs
Advancing Faculty Diversity in Berkeley Engineering
UC Berkeley, 2017-2018
Project Principal Investigators
Shankar Sastry, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Phil Kaminsky, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Kara Nelson, Blum Chancellor's Chair in Development Engineering Professor
Project Abstract
With strong commitment by the leadership and plans for substantial hiring in 2017-18, this project focused on four broad categories: increasing the diversity of applicant pools; emphasizing and requiring contributions to equity and inclusion; improving evaluation and reducing bias; and increasing the effectiveness of interviews, recruiting, and professional development. In addition to employing best practices already promoted by the campus and ensuring they are implemented well, this project implemented additional interventions, including those identified in year one of the Advancing Faculty Diversity program and from UC Berkeley’s own Search Committee Chair Survey conducted from 2012- 16. The interventions included revisions to position announcements, targeted outreach, required diversity statements, expanded startup funding, equity advisor meetings for candidates, evaluation of candidates by a student committee, multi-criteria rubrics, a centralized review committee, increased pool of finalists, support for partner/spouse careers, and postdoctoral support.