A UF professor wants to address the lack of diversity in science and math fields.
Juan Gilbert, UF’s Banks Preeminence Chair in Engineering, teamed up with Jerlando Jackson, the chief research scientist at University of Wisconsin, Madison, to create a pilot program to fix the lack of diversity in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields. The program, run through the National Science Foundation, will allow Gilbert and Jackson to study how different doctoral programs are successful for minority students, Gilbert said.
The two will study practices from the national GEM Fellowships program, the Florida McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and Southern Regional Boards Doctoral Scholar Program.
While the U.S. has a large population, including those in minority groups, STEM fields don’t reflect the diversity of the country, especially from the black and Latino communities, Gilbert said.
“We had this idea of doing something that we knew hadn’t been done,” he said. “We
have an advantage, but we haven’t used that advantage.”
Gilbert said he hopes to see the research bring forward strategies that can be adopted nationally in underrepresented minority groups.
“Research tells us that when you bring people together from different backgrounds, different experiences, as you increase diversity, you get better ideas,” he said.
Mauricio Medina, a UF civil engineering junior, said cultural exchanges between people bring about innovative ideas. He said by encouraging those in minority groups to go into STEM, the fields will grow overall.
“There’s a lot of talent out there, and it’s not just in the U.S., it’s everywhere,” the 23-year-old said.
Gilbert said while the U.S. has a large quantity of people in STEM fields, he would like to increase the quality of their success.
“It’s going to help students be more successful in graduate programs to get their Ph.D.,” Gilbert said. “That’s the ultimate goal, to make this environment more inviting, successful in the path to the Ph.D.”
