Research

ODKM Master’s Student Maggie Huang Receives Mentoring for Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Award

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:59:28 +0000

ODKM Master’s Student Maggie Huang Receives Mentoring for Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Award Andrew J Schappert Tue, 03/14/2023 - 13:59

Maggie Huang with her research poster: Receiving this grant ‘makes me feel like our experiences matter.’

Maggie Huang has a knack for being at the right place at the right time.

The decision to quit her job after more than six years at Google in San Francisco during the pandemic and move all the way to Washington, D.C., landed her at one of the universities in the nation that champions diversity and inclusiveness—George Mason University.

The relocation was the result of deciding to pursue her passion for helping people and organizations be their best. To do so, she enrolled in the Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) program at Schar School of Policy of Government. ODKM, directed by Schar School professor Tojo Thatchenkery, features an internationally renowned faculty that works to connect theory and practice in a student-centered learning experience geared to understanding and developing team-based, knowledge-intensive organizations and professionals.

Her move and her studies have led to this: In early February, Huang became a recipient of the spring 2023 Mentoring for Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (MARIE) Award, a presidential-level honor that includes a substantial monetary award intended to allow recipients to spend concentrated time on their projects under the guidance of a mentor. Mason President Gregory Washington created the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Taskforce in July 2020 to ensure the school develops an inclusive and equitable campus environment in which every member of the community, without exception, is valued, supported, and experiences a sense of belonging.

The award stems from Huang’s independent study course last summer that examines the professional experiences of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) women in the U.S. “I do not often see people who look like me widely represented in academic curricula, mainstream culture, or at leadership levels in organizations,” she said. The award, she said, verifies what she felt in her “heart of hearts” regarding AANHPI women and will help her continue her work.

Huang’s work will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at Mason and, by extension, further spotlight AANHPI communities, women of color, and intersectional communities beyond the Mason campuses.

“First, receiving this grant makes me feel like our experiences matter,” she said of the MARIE award. “Second, the grant is literally a financial lifeline that provides the resources and support I need to do my best work. Third, it facilitates an amazing opportunity that is not only personally meaningful but also intellectually stimulating, especially under the mentorship of the amazing Dr. Ann Romosz,” she said.

“Maggie is an exceptional student that represents the best of Mason,” said Romosz, the adjunct professor who guided Huang through the process of creating her study about [AANHPI] female experiences, including helping her use advanced research tools, developing a research poster, and presenting her findings at an ARIE conference. “I agreed to work with her outside of the scope of any course because we worked well together and her dedication and diligence were—and continued to be—infectious,” she said.

Eventually student and mentor submitted a grant proposal to Mason, “a first for Maggie,” Romosz said, “so we worked together, meeting regularly to discuss questions and best practices in research grant procurement.”

The result? “I was overwhelmed to find out that she received the full grant amount that she requested,” she said. “The support that we have received for this important work has been extraordinary. I am humbled and honored to work alongside Maggie and with the Mason community. It really has been a joy and a pleasure.”

As for working with Huang, Romosz added, “She is dedicated to being an ally and researching ways to improve the life experiences of minorities. She is diligent and kind and an absolute pleasure to work with.”

Topics

Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Taskforce

Organization Development and Knowledge Management

Schar School News March 2023

Team of Mason researchers win NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grant for STEM programs

Colleen Rich — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 19:07:48 +0000

Team of Mason researchers win NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grant for STEM programs Colleen Rich Mon, 08/29/2022 - 15:07

A team of George Mason University employees dedicated to building and maintaining more diverse faculty and staff has secured a National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Catalyst grant for just under $300,000 to help them with the process.

From left, Mason faculty Tehama Lopez Bunyasi, Jaime Lester, Girum Urgessa, Milagros Rivera, and Leigh McCue Weil. Photo by Anthony Bahizi

Team members for this project include Milagros Rivera, director of faculty diversity, inclusion and well-being, Office of the Provost; Jaime R. Lester, associate dean of faculty affairs, strategic initiatives, College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Kim Eby, vice provost for faculty affairs and development, Office of the Provost; Girum Urgessa, associate professor of civil, environmental and infrastructure engineering, College of Engineering and Computing (CEC); Leigh McCue-Weil, associate professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, CEC; and Tehama M. López Bunyasi, associate professor in the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

“I called for a group of people from science, engineering, and social sciences to have discussions about how we could frame the potential grant,” said Rivera.

This diverse group of scholars conducts multidisciplinary research that helped secure the grant, which was submitted in June 2021. In February 2022, they were asked to respond to technical questions from reviewers before the official notification of award was received in May.

Illustration by Getty Images

The grant marks the first step of a long-term project. “This is try number three and five years in the making, so we’re pretty excited that we were finally able to secure the grant,” said Lester.

NSF has three types of grants: Catalyst, Adaptation, and Institutional Transformation. Catalyst, the smallest of the grants, funds university research that will lead to innovative ideas and bigger grants to implement the ideas.

The goal of this grant program is to advance representation of women in higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and careers. For more than two decades, the NSF has invested millions of dollars to support these catalyst-funded projects at more than 100 institutions of higher education and STEM-related nonprofit organizations.

“Winning this coveted grant signals to the nation that George Mason University is an R1 institution that is serious about dismantling barriers to greatness,” said López Bunyasi. “It’s committed to preparing its diverse student body for the immense challenges that lie ahead.”

The team's research will focus on increasing diversity among faculty within Mason’s STEM programs. This research will also contribute to work begun with President Gregory Washington’s Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence initiative.

Currently, the faculty/staff demographics of Mason lag behind the diversity of the student body.

“Our numbers are low. Black faculty is not quite 6%, and Latinx faculty is not even 4%,” said Rivera. Approaching the lack of diversity among STEM faculty at a systemic level is how the catalyst-funded project plans to implement new equitable policies.

Although the grant is exclusively focused on faculty diversity, students will benefit in the long run. “Our students cannot be what they cannot see, and having more STEM faculty diversity will certainly be a motivating factor for them to pursue STEM fields, as well as for pursuing academic careers,” Urgessa said.

The team will focus on three general areas during their research: institutional culture, recruitment and hiring, and equity.

“Universities are ecosystems, you have different things supporting one another,” Rivera said. “When we improve institutional barriers that impede the recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, there are outcomes at the student level.”

The grant will reside in the Office of the Provost.

“Even though the grant is for STEM, the best practices really apply to the entire university. The result of having an ADVANCE grant is that it has a broader impact,” said Rivera.

Topics

Office of the Provost

Research