UC Merced’s School of Engineering has been recognized with a bronze award for its excellence in inclusiveness by the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).
To accelerate the achievement of the Diversity Pledge goals, the ASEE Diversity Recognition Program was created to publicly recognize engineering and engineering-technology colleges that make significant, measurable progress in increasing the diversity, inclusion and degree attainment outcomes of their programs.
“The school is proud to be recognized for its efforts in increasing the diversity of the future engineering workforce in this country,” School of Engineering Dean Mark Matsumoto said. “The engineering profession in the U.S. has a long way to go, but our efforts, as well as the other schools of engineering that have been recognized, are committed to this goal.”
Because the requirements for reaching higher award levels are so stringent and must be consistently sustained over three years, no schools have been recognized above bronze.
“The academic, business, and social value of diversity and inclusion has been well documented. Regardless of motivation, industry tells us they want and need a more diverse mix of engineering professionals and that these professionals need to be able to work effectively in a diverse, multicultural and global environment,” the ASEE said on its website. “…inclusive excellence is both about doing things right and doing the right thing.”
The diversity program is an initiative led by engineering deans, and awards are only given to units that are eligible to be members of the Engineering Deans or Engineering Technology Deans Councils at the college/school level or an appropriate level led by a dean or the equivalent.
Other California colleges earning recognition include UCs Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Santa Cruz and UCLA, as well as Cal Poly, San Diego State and University of the Pacific.
