Example

 1:    Contributions  to  Diversity    

I  have  long  been  committed  to  diversity,  and  recognize  the  barriers  faced  by  women  and  other  
minorities  in  engaging  in  science.  While  a  graduate  student,  I  participated  in  my  university’s  K-­‐12  
outreach  program  to  engage  female  high  school  students  in  science  for  three  years.  I  volunteered  to  
work  with  a  student  for  10  weeks  each  summer,  and  met  with  them  regularly,  under  the  guidance  of  
my  advisor.  I  worked  hard  to  give  them  a  positive  and  welcoming  experience  in  science.  Several  of  
these  students  have  been  co-­‐authors  on  published  papers.      
 
At  my  current  institution,  as  an  assistant  professor,  I  was  faculty  advisor  for  the  Women  In  Bio  Sciences  
group,  and  I  actively  recruited  and  mentored  two  women  students  during  the  summer  as  part  of  our  
national  organization’s  distributed  mentors  program.    
 
As    a  professor,    I  am  interested  in  working  with  campus  to  expand  this  kind  of  “lab-­‐based”  outreach  to  
K-­‐12  educators  from  low  performing,  high  minority  middle  schools,  so  they  can  help  ignite  the  interest  
of  their  students  in  science.  With  help  from  campus,  I  will  recruit  an  educator  each  year  to  work  for  the  
summer  on  research  in  my  lab,  expose  them  to  new  ideas  and  developments  in  my  research  area,  and  
encourage  them  to  bring  some  of  these  into  their  curriculum.  I  would  also  work  to  engage  other  faculty  
in  science  as  part  of  their  NSF  Broad  participation  in  their  research  grant  proposals.        
 
Example  2:    Contributions  to  Diversity    
While  an  undergraduate  at  Yale,  I  became  involved  in  a  number  of  programs  for  minority  students,  and  
these  have  had  a  profound  influence  on  me.    They  provided  support  and  mentoring  as  I  struggled  
through  a  difficult  program  for  which  I  was  somewhat  unprepared  by  my  high  school  experience.    One  
of  my  mentors  strongly  encouraged  me  to  attend  graduate  school  for  a  Ph.D.,  although  that  was  far  
from  my  original  intention.  To  my  surprise,  I  have  become  a  tenured  professor  who  loves  his  teaching  
and  research.  At  each  phase  of  my  education,  I  have  had  opportunities,  support  and  role  models  that  
were  necessary  for  me  to  succeed.  Advancing  diversity  requires  all  of  these  components  for  minority  
students.  I  describe  below  my  current  and  proposed  efforts  in  advancing  diversity.      
At  my  current  university,  I  have  taken  an  active  role  in  building  retention  and  outreach  programs  
targeting  students  from  underrepresented  groups.    While  we  have  been  successful  in  recruiting  
women  (students  and  faculty),  this  has  not  been  the  case  for  underrepresented  minorities.  To  
overcome  this,  I  serve  on  the  Advisory  board  and  co-­‐organize  a  summer  bridge  program  based  on  the  
ones  I  experienced  myself  as  so  important  to  my  own  development  as  an  undergraduate.    I  also  
developed  and  taught  a  course  that  fulfilled  a  diversity  course  requirement  for  majors  in  my  area.  In  
addition,  I  have  been  successful  in  getting  graduate  student  training  funds  (NSF  IGERT  grant)  with  a  
focus  on  recruiting  underrepresented  students.      
 
In  the  future,  I  would  like  to  take  an  active  leadership  role  in  furthering  diversity  at  UC  Berkeley.  I  will  
continue  to  actively  recruit  and  retain  students  from  underrepresented  groups  through  your  summer  
programs,  and  if  necessary,  create  an  additional  program  in  my  department  or  school.  I  will  continue  to  
pursue  funds  to  actively  recruit  and  train  minority  graduate  students  in  my  area,  and  to  provide  
mentoring  workshops  from  such  funding  for  both  female  and  minority  students  to  encourage  them  in  
academic  careers.  I  also  have  a  strong  interest  in  working  with  middle  schools  and  teachers  with  large  
minority  or  underprivileged  populations  to  use  technology  for  promoting  science  and  engineering  
careers,  and  hope  to  build  on  some  of  the  current  activities.    I  also  propose  to  build  relationships  to  
facilitate  research  collaboration  with  faculty  and  students  at  historically  underrepresented  institutions  
(HBCU’s  and  HSI’s)  and  to  pursue  internal  and  external  funding  to  support  this  type  of  collaboration.      
 
Example  3:    Contributions  to  Diversity    
Concerns  with  diversity,  equity  and  inclusion  have  been  central  to  my  research,  teaching  and  advising  
at  Harvard.  As  a  sociologist,  my  research  broadly  focuses  on  the  socioeconomic,  civic  and  political  
integration  of  post-­‐1965  immigrants  and  their  children,  as  well  as  its  implications  for  the  future  of  
ethnic  and  racial  inequality  in  the  U.S.  in  the  coming  decades.      
 
In  my  advising  capacities,  I  encouraged  my  students  to  ponder  the  roles  they  might  play  in  the  
alleviation  of  the  vast  inequities  that  continue  to  shape  our  world.  As  a  resident  tutor  at  Lowell  House,  
one  of  Harvard  College's  twelve  residential  houses,  I  formally  chaired  the  committee  on  race  relations  
for  three  years  and  continue  to  be  informally  involved  with  diversity  advising  through  the  Harvard  
Foundation  for  Intercultural  and  Race  Relations.  
 
Looking  forward  to  my  role  as  a  new  professor,  I  intend  to  focus  my  research  on  issues  of  immigration,  
diversity  and  inequality.  In  addition,  I  want  to  serve  as  a  mentor  and  advisor  to  underrepresented  
groups  to  prepare  our  students  to  be  active  citizens  in  an  increasingly  diverse  society.