University introduces Diversity Mentor Professor Initiative
By Ashley Garcia for FIU
The STEM fields have traditionally been male-dominated. Additionally, there is generally a low representation of minority faculty in the fields.
As a result, many of the roughly 600 minority female students on average over the last five years who graduated each year with a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field may not ever have been taught by a woman or minority STEM professor during their time at FIU.
FIU’s Diversity Mentor Professor Initiative is a special program aimed at recruiting multiple excellent STEM faculty with strong research programs to FIU who have a history of and commitment to the mentorship of women and underrepresented minority students in STEM, particularly Hispanic-American and African-American students.
Research has shown that having a female role model has a powerful positive effect on women’s performance in math and science classes. For this reason, Suzanna Rose — associate provost, Office to Advance Women, Equity & Diversity (AWED) — convinced Provost and Executive Vice President Kenneth G. Furton to fund FIU’s Diversity Mentor Professor Initiative and led the recruitment effort. The initiative is modeled on a successful program created by Victoria Sork, dean of Life Sciences Division in the University of California, Los Angeles College of Letters and Science. Michael Heithaus, dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, and John Volakis, dean of Engineering and Computing, together with the provost — committed four faculty lines to AWED for the program.
To learn more, read "FIU launches diversity mentor professorships in STEM."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn