Related Publications

• Standing Our Ground: A Guidebook for STEM Educators in the Post-Michigan Era
• How’s Your STEM Program?

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Standing Our Ground: A Guidebook for STEM Educators in the Post-Michigan Era

Emerging from a recent invitation-only think-tank sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Standing Our Ground provides legal guidance on two Michigan rulings that affirmed the importance of a diverse learning environment, but struck down the use of race as a quantitative “plus factor” in undergraduate admissions decisions. The mixed Grutter and Gratz messages, issued in June 2003, triggered confusion among academic, non-profit and federal institutions seeking to extend the benefits of education to all.

For more information, and to download the entire report, visit the Standing Our Ground webpage.

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How's Your STEM Program?

Prepared in conjunction with Standing Our Ground, “How’s Your STEM Program?” serves as a guide to using Standing Our Ground and the AAAS Center for Advancing Science and Engineering Capacity. 

Download the guide [PDF].

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Design Principles of Effective Programs / FAQs

Mission

How do diversity efforts fit into the larger institutional mission?

Justice O’Connor’s opinion in Grutter explicitly reaffirms a university’s first amendment right to include in its mission statement a commitment to diversity. Universities need to assume a strong leadership role that unambiguously states a commitment to diversity in their mission statements. All members of the university community should review both these statements and the institution’s affirmative action plan.

Intent of the Program

How does the program address overall university or organizational goals? What need does the program meet? What evidence led to the creation of the program?

After assessing the goals of your institution, programs should clearly state the program’s objectives using the same terminology, but modified to reflect its specific intent. The need for the program should also be explicitly laid out, preferably grounded in data that supply evidence that actions must be taken if valued outcomes are to be realized.

Target Population

What is the population to be served? How is this population linked to the intent of the program?

The population your program is intended to serve will be a natural outgrowth of program intent. While the legal interpretation of “narrow tailoring” makes the exclusive targeting of underrepresented minority groups harder to defend, it does not mean that targeting is forbidden.

Character of the Program

What does the program do? Where is it located?

The design and character of the program should cite evidence that supports whatever is planned as a means of advancing campus diversity and must be narrowly tailored to accomplish that goal.

Program Context

What is the institutional context? Does it matter?

Instituting programs demands knowledge of specific policies and practices at your campus that might impact the presence of underrepresented groups in STEM fields.

Evaluation and Research

What is effective? How much is necessary?

Dialogue should be open across the different schools and departments, involving department heads and administrators through the sharing of evaluations and outcomes. Through these efforts, a meta-analysis of institutional programming could identify, refine, and adapt “best practices” in new contexts on campus.

Faculty Recruitment and Retention

Is diversity-based recruiting permitted? What about rentention?

As federal contractors, colleges and universities are bound by Executive Order 11246, which carries a requirement to develop an Affirmative Action Plan that requires reaching out to diverse pool of candidates. Efforts to retain faculty and successfully move them through the tenure process are also encouraged. Faculty must be at the core of building a community that includes professionals from all backgrounds and is supportive of diversity efforts on campus.

Leadership

At what level? What do leaders need to know?

Campus leaders must declare the need for change in policy and practice. Institutionalization requires that positions, initiatives, and programs are well-formulated and based on substantial evidence of the benefits of change.