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Abstract Recruiting and retaining a diverse talent pool has been long recognized as essential to keep our nations' economic and intellectual preeminence but is an area in which we continue to fall short. Historical barriers could be lifted by providing institutional initiatives to support underrepresented students in higher education engineering programs. The XXX program was established in fall 2019 to address the needs of and provide support mechanisms for underrepresented minority (URM) groups pursuing baccalaureate degrees in engineering. Under a limited budget, three initiatives were designed to create a respectful and safe environment for students, faculty, and staff, to strengthen community bonds and contribute to the cultivation of diverse student retention in the engineering college: a Speaker Series, a Mentorship Program and Epic Fail. This paper presents the findings from our formative evaluation of the program. Positive preliminary program results were obtained, suggesting improved self-belonging, self- efficacy and career interest in participants. Areas for improvement were identified. It is the authors' hope that this work may provide context for other institutions as they develop initiatives to move towards a more equitable and welcoming space for all students in engineering programs.
Ozis et al. (Tue,) studied this question.