GDEP is funded by NSF GEO 01-19891 Geography Diversity Initiatives at California State University, Long Beach: The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program

GDEP is funded by NSF GEO 01-19891

Geography Diversity Initiatives at California State University, Long Beach: The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement

Program

Christine M. RodrigueChristine M. Rodrigue

Professor and ChairProfessor and ChairDepartment of GeographyDepartment of GeographyCalifornia State University California State University

Long Beach, CA 90840-1101Long Beach, CA 90840-1101http://www.csulb.edu/geography/http://www.csulb.edu/geography/


Geography Major Enrollments in the California State Universities

Undergraduate Geography Majors in the California State Universities

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Fall semesters

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og

rap

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Geography in the CSU slid 30% from 1,184 in F/92 to 829 in F/02

Geography major enrollments in the CSU have eased back up 10% from F/02 to 910 in F/05


Geography at CSULB Compared with AllCalifornia State Universities

Geography @ The Beach dropped from 9% of all CSU geography majors in F/92 to 7% in F/00

CSULB relative enrollments have shot up to 13% of the whole in F/05

CSULB accounts for fully 64% of the total system growth in geography from F/02 to F/05!

Undergraduate Geography Majors at CSULB compared with CSU System

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CSU

CSULB


Geography Initiatives at CSULB to Increase the Diversity and the Number

of Majors

Geography has tried to find out where our majors come from and then worked on cultivating those sources: Community college transfers General education advising by Academic Advising and other

offices advising the undeclared major Geography has developed friendly relationships with

other programs in similar circumstances and there are a number of win-win collaborations

The one I’ll focus on today is the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Project (GDEP)


Relative Size of Geography & Cognate Majors at CSULB as a Function of

Diversity Geography,

Geology, Anthropology, and Environmental Science & Policy enrollments as a percentage of their maximum enrollments F/97-F/05 by the percentage of their majors who are non-Hispanic white

As diversity drops, so do enrollments!

Percent of Maximum Enrollment in a Department by Percentage Non-Hispanic White, CSULB, F/97-F/05

n = 30, r = 0.53, r2adj = 0.25, prob = 0.003

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 55.0 60.0 65.0 70.0 75.0

Percentage non-Hispanic white

Pe

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xim

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GDEP: Interdisciplinary Partnerships To Improve

Opportunities for Students A 3 year teaming among CSULB faculty in Geological Sciences,

Geography, and Anthropology Committed to working across departments and colleges and with

5 community colleges (CC) and 5 LBUSD high schools -- to provide interdisciplinary earth system science research opportunities

Dedicated to closing the gap between community demographics and 4-year college geoscience student demographics (i.e., fewer underrepresented students in geosciences compared to their community populations)

Activities include assessment of attitudes toward geosciences among CSULB,

community college, and LBUSD students intensive eight-week summer research institute involving 25-40

CSULB, LBUSD, CC students, and faculty)


GDEP Partners & Field GDEP Partners & Field SitesSites

0 4 miles

CSULBLBUSD HS

CC

Red = Low Income Areas


GDEP Outcomes Extensive Summer Research Program:

Student involvement: 29 students involved over 3 years (27 from underrepresented groups)

Faculty involvement: >30 CSULB, community college, and high school faculty

Observable Changes in Participant Attitudes: Students: greater self-confidence, higher educational aspirations,

nearly all in the geosciences Community college and high school faculty: more hands-on

class activities, more knowledge of geoscience career possibilities CSULB faculty : better understanding of challenges students face –

particularly students from urban, lower income areas; more interest in community-based, interdisciplinary, earth systems science research projects

Dissemination: Publications: 5 papers published or in press in geoscience and/or

education oriented journals, 1 with student co-authors Abstracts of presentations: >30, about half with student co-

authors Website: http://www.csulb.edu/geography/gdep/


GDEP Outcomes: Growth and Diversification

CSULB GDEP Program Major Enrollments and Ethnicity

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F/00 F/01 F/02 gdep F/03 gdep F/04 gdep F/05

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Other

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Latino/a

White


GDEP Outcomes: Growth and Diversification in

Geography

CSULB Geography Major Enrollments and Ethnicity

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Semester

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jors

Other

Asian/PI

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White


GDEP and Gender: Geography Is Still Lagging

Percentage Female among the Three GDEP Majors and the University

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GEOL

ANTH

CSULB


Conclusions Enrollments in geography CAN grow

IF departments reach out to others with common interests, e.g., in the earth and environment, both on the same campus and at other institutions nearby

IF departments creatively explore advising channels on their campuses and among source campuses

IF departments implement structures and programs that reward working together, such as the GDEP research experience for undergraduates

Our appeal cannot be confined to a declining demographic Success in recruiting increasingly demands catching the

attention of underrepresented minority students, especially in California and other border states

It also requires appealing to the job-centric working class and poor student, particularly in comprehensive urban universities … and universities with rural service areas

Gender balance has improved but there are still expansion possibilities in recruiting women and girls


Acknowledgments and More Information

All of us who participated in GDEP would like to thank and acknowledge the National Science Foundation We received $852,000 under NSF GEO 01-19891 Geography, Geological Sciences, and Anthropology at

CSULB Long Beach City College, Cerritos College, El Camino

College, Saddleback College, Orange Coast College, Irvine Valley College, Long Beach Unified School District high schools

Information about GDEP and Geography @ “The Beach” http://www.csulb.edu/geography/gdep/ http://www.csulb.edu/geography/ http://www.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/research.html#education


Documents

GDEP is funded by NSF GEO 01-19891 Geography Diversity Initiatives at California State University, Long Beach: The Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program