Geoscience Currents #75 and #76: Impact of Federal Agencies, Professional Societies and Inquiry-based Teaching on the Professional Development of Early-Career Underrepresented Minority Faculty in the Geosciences

Alexandria, VA - The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) has released two final reports on the results of an April 2012 workshop for a cohort made up of underrepresented minority individuals seeking careers in academia. The workshop was hosted by AGI and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to disseminate information about opportunities available to future geoscience faculty from member societies, the federal government and by developing campus leadership. Over a 13-month period participants were polled on questions related to how they engaged these entities and what impact the workshop had on their professional development.

The workshop had a positive effect on attendees in the short and long term. In Currents #75 and #76, AGI focuses on the results of workshop sessions tailored to exposing the attendees to federal-level resources, to resources that professional societies provide and to the leadership opportunities for those pursuing academic careers. Evaluation of the workshop investigated the impact of these sessions on participants’ professional development. Attendees were surveyed to determine if their behavior had changed from before to 13-months after the workshop.

Read Geoscience Currents #75 and #76 here