Diversity in the Fulton Schools

The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering is dedicated to diversity and inclusion as a core value.

How does the Fulton Schools stack up?

No. 5

Bachelor’s degrees awarded to Underrepresented Minorities

No. 7

Bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanics

No. 8

Bachelor’s degrees
awarded to women

No. 14

Bachelor’s degrees awarded to African Americans

No. 7

Master’s degrees awarded to Underrepresented Minorities

No. 10

Highest number of female tenured/tenure-track faculty

Rankings based on 418 schools reporting. Source: 2022 ASEE Engineering and Engineering Technology By the Numbers

Diversity and Inclusion in practice in the Fulton Schools

K-12 Outreach

The Fulton Schools’ outreach team inspires K-12 students, their families and teacher throughout Arizona about STEM fields and engineering practices. We are designing and implementing sustainable long-term partnerships and programs that incorporate hands-on activities and curriculums that show how engineering impacts our lives every day.

Student orgs

There are dozens of Fulton student organizations and teams ranging from honors and professional associations to groups creating underwater robots, concrete canoes, and launching rockets. Students orgs are also an excellent opportunity to learn about career possibilities through partnerships with professional societies and national competitions.

Partner with us

From recruiting talent to philanthropic opportunities to community events, it’s easy to find a partner at the Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Learn how you can support our student programs, help students make a difference or join us at our next big event.

Diversity and Inclusion Initiative

In spring 2020, we awarded our first round of DII@FSE funding for projects to increase diversity and inclusion in the Fulton Schools. Learn more about these projects below.

ASU-ACCEL combination image of a sketch and a prototype of an adjustable stand for a camera that connects to a tablet device. Designed by an ASU-ACCEL student team for a visually impaired individual.

ASU-ACCEL

The Arizona Center for Comprehensive Education and Life Skills has collaborated with ASU allowing undergraduate students to develop or modify assistive devices.

top-down view of a black woman's hands typing on a laptop

Fulton Schools Diversity Difference programs

Diversity Difference programs offer learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to engage in active dialogue on topics related to diversity, especially within the university.

Jennifer Bekki and Brooke Coley stand together, arms around each other, holding their awards from ASU

FSE Equity Book Club

The FSE Equity Book Club strives to cultivate an environment where education and awareness regarding racism in society and academia are fostered among faculty and staff through reading, discourse and engagement.

Kenan Song, principal investigator of the MIME program

Minority Involvement in Manufacturing Engineering

The MIME program aims to increase student diversity in ASU’s manufacturing engineering program and has already increased participation by students from underrepresented groups since the start of the program in July of 2020.

Deana Delp, Maria Dixon and three other support people for the EASE program at ASU

Employment Assistance & Social Engagement (EASE)

The Employment Assistance & Social Engagement (EASE) program provides peer mentoring for Fulton Schools students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to assist with the transition to college life, and later, career readiness skills.

ASEE Diversity Recognition Program DII@FSE

Diversity and Inclusion Initiative at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

In January 2019, the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering launched a new initiative focusing on diversity and inclusion — core values to the Fulton Schools and ASU, as exemplified in the university charter. This initiative is called DII@FSE.

Our DII@FSE task force has articulated a vision to follow strategies and practices that support environments where individuals feel included, valued and respected and where different kinds of people can succeed.

The DII@FSE has submitted a proposal to the American Society for Engineering Education’s (ASEE) Diversity Recognition Program. That proposal was awarded bronze status (the highest entry status a university can be awarded).  Next steps for the initiative will be working together to realize the plan’s goals.

Goals

  1. Create and maintain a student body and workforce across the Fulton Schools that is diverse in multiple dimensions and inclusive for all.
  2. Empower faculty, staff, students and academic associates at the Fulton Schools to embrace the core values and practice of diversity, equity and inclusion.
  3. Be a global leader in diversity, equity and inclusion in engineering.

RAPID DII: Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in a Digital Environment

Purpose of opportunity: Provide funding to encourage projects that further the 10 strategic objectives identified in the DEI Plan in the context of distributed, digital, remote and virtual environments.

The Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in a Digital Environment program solicits projects that are using creative solutions to foster diversity, equity and inclusion across faculty, staff and students in the context of adapting to remote working and teaching. Projects that focus on connectivity, community building, resiliency, building relationships or mentoring are of interest.

See the project requirements

DII@FSE
Request for proposals

The deadline to submit a proposal for 2020 has passed.

Learn more about the DII@FSE plan

Excerpt from the 2020-2022 FSE Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan

Read the entire plan: HTML or PDF

The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering (FSE) at Arizona State University (ASU) is committed to cultivating a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion through the implementation of programs and initiatives that support a collaborative and inclusive environment. With this plan for 2020-2022, FSE outlines a set of strategic goals, objectives, and initiatives that build on our current accomplishments and enable further advances in making the school an accessible and welcoming leader in engineering education.

1. DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) FSE uses the following definitions to frame this plan:

  • Diversity can be defined as membership that represents a range of identities and of identifying features within a group or organization (e.g., a university). Diversity has frequently been discussed with respect to factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, culture, sexual orientation, religion, age, physical abilities, and socioeconomic status. However, diversity can also be considered in terms of ideas and expertise (e.g., academic disciplines and methodologies). In engineering, underrepresented minorities (URMs) often include women, persons with disabilities and three racial and ethnic groups—Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians or Alaska Natives (as defined by the National Science Foundation).
  • Equity argues that persons should have equal or equivalent opportunities to succeed and thrive regardless of their background or “starting place”—differences in personal or social circumstances should not be allowed to create permanent obstacles. Thus, a more equitable organization is one that (pro)actively works to identify, remove, or mitigate such circumstances and obstacles. Notably, equity is often misunderstood to mean “treat everyone the same.” However, equity does not imply equal treatment, but instead demands providing and personalizing resources, without bias, such that everyone has opportunities for equal outcomes.
  • Inclusion can be defined as the extent to which (a) members of an organization are invited to meaningfully participate in the mission, operation, and leadership of that organization, and (b) the contributions of those members are clearly acknowledged and valued. An organization is considered more inclusive when it not only comprises diverse members, but those members (and their ideas, needs, and perspectives) are welcomed and valued.

With this plan, FSE prioritizes DEI as key factors to our collective success in the 21st century.

2. VISION

Our vision is to embed inclusivity as a core tenet of FSE so that all faculty, staff, academic associates, and students achieve their full potential enabled by an environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive. We aim to achieve global leadership in engineering education, aligned with an access mission, by recognizing diversity and inclusivity as a source of strength to our collective success.

3. OUR NEED

ASU represents students, faculty, and staff from all 50 states, three territories and over 135 countries, many of those enrolled in FSE. We are one of the largest colleges at ASU and one of the largest, most comprehensive engineering colleges in the United States. As of 2019, FSE is serving over 24,000 students. As such, we share the responsibility and vision to embed inclusivity as a core tenet of engineering education and practice, as well as the drive to incorporate it as a guiding principle in how FSE operates on a daily basis. All FSE students, staff, faculty, academic associates, and their colleagues should be supported in achieving their full potential, empowered by an environment that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable. Our responsibility further extends to global leadership. Our aim is to be a leader in inclusive, 21st century engineering education and practice, by recognizing and promoting diversity as a fundamental source of strength essential to our collective success.

4. GOALS & INITIATIVES

FSE prioritizes three overarching goals to frame this plan:

  1. Create and maintain a student body and workforce across FSE that is diverse in multiple dimensions and inclusive for all.
  2. Empower faculty, staff, students, and academic associates at FSE to embrace the core values and practice of diversity, equity and inclusion.
  3. Be a global leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering.

Building on our accomplishments to date, we will continue designing and implementing activities that target the 10 strategic objectives outlined below. Accomplishing these objectives has the potential for the most immediate and impactful change to our culture.

  1. Commit to balancing the diversity of students at all levels to reflect population statistics for female and URMs in Arizona
  2. Improve student recruitment, persistence and success of target populations
  3. Increase coordination with industry to increase career-readiness of targeted populations and connect committed employers with these populations
  4. Foster a culture of inclusion among graduate and undergraduate students and provide an encouraging and supportive environment for all students, faculty, and staff
  5. Ensure all undergraduate students acquire the knowledge, experience, and cultural competencies necessary to succeed in a multicultural, globally connected world and contribute to the Fulton culture of inclusion
  6. Balance the diversity of faculty and staff hires, at all levels, with those who are committed to thriving in a DEI environment
  7. Provide training to students, faculty, and staff to improve DEI awareness
  8. Establish metrics for faculty and staff evaluations that assess DEI contributions
  9. Recognize and honor participation and accomplishments related to DEI
  10. Establish procedures for periodic assessment of diversity and inclusivity and for adjustment of DEI initiatives

Implementation of the strategic objectives dovetail with current FSE- and ASU- efforts (see Narrative) and will target students, faculty, and staff. Specific objectives, activities, and metrics aligned with the goals are articulated below.

Read the entire plan: HTML or PDF

Student and faculty spotlights

A bright idea

A bright idea

Mojdeh Khorsand Hedman received a 2024 NSF CAREER award to determine how best to integrate distributed electricity resources into the power grid

Perfecting the pulse of haptics

Perfecting the pulse of haptics

Hasti Seifi, an assistant professor of computer science, has been awarded an NSF CAREER Award for her work in making touch technologies more accessible