Hammond emphasized that climates that don't support cultural differences - even when they exist in institutions with strong goodwill toward diversity - negatively impact how students and faculty feel. Climate must be openly addressed.
In addition to broadening the base for recruiting faculty, other recommendations included creating more defined mentoring policies and procedures.
"This is where consistency and accountability are really important," said Hammond. "Consistency means we actually design and define what a mentor is. We explain it. We train faculty so they understand what mentoring means."
"Outline in greater detail the role of the mentor," she added. "We're encouraging departments to design their mentoring programs so that the senior faculty feel some level of responsibility for engaging the junior faculty members. Everyone thinks mentoring is important, but the key is to show how it can be done consistently and implement a means of accountability that everyone can recognize and feel comfortable with."
After MIT President Dr. Susan Hockfield and Reif review the recommendations with the academic deans, Reif and the committee will meet with each school to discuss the report and how to implement its recommendations.
