Howard Hughes Medical Institute has announced a $30 million grant for its science education initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in science education.
Under the Inclusive Excellence initiative (IE3), the grants will be awarded to 30 colleges and universities to review campus culture and make subsequent changes in order to have students from diverse backgrounds enrolled in science-related fields.
The 30 schools selected from the pool of 1,400 institutions will be eligible for $1 million each over a five-year period.
“These grants are helping schools build their capacity for inclusion,” said David Asai, HHMI’s senior director for science education. “That’s key for fostering an environment that supports students from all backgrounds, including transfer students, people who are the first in their family to attend college, and those from underrepresented racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.”
This year, Howard Institute has put more focus on faculty development, and the participating schools will be asked to develop a roadmap showing how their activities will have a lasting impact on their institutions.
At the same time, the selected schools will need to choose to focus on one of three challenges: evaluating effective and inclusive teaching, improving the introductory science experience, and forming effective partnerships between two- and four-year institutions.
Interested schools can apply for the grant by first submitting their intent by July 31.
Initiative Invests $6.9 Million to Increase Diversity Among STEM Students