Their numbers in grad schools are growing, but women and minorities in nearly all science and engineering fields hit recruitment and retention barriers as faculty at U.S. colleges and universities, states a 2007 National Academies report chaired by University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala. As a result, concludes Beyond Bias and Barriers, this nation is losing a significant talent pool.

Hoping to combat that trend and reinforce institution-wide diversity, UM’s SEEDS (Scientists and Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success) initiative, established by Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc, will study how to improve diversity and gender equity in hiring—and make some recommendations.

“More and more women are becoming graduate students in the sciences,” explains Kathryn Tosney, Department of Biology chairperson and director of SEEDS. “What’s happening is we’re losing minorities unnecessarily at every transition—from graduate to post-doc, to assistant professor, to associate professor, and to full professor.”

To add educational and mentorship opportunities for early-career faculty, SEEDS is inviting noted female academics to the University for conferences and networking. In April, for example, Maria Assonção F. Silva Dias, of the National Institute for Space Research, is slated to deliver a seminar and discuss her career path.

SEEDS, funded by a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant, is part of NSF’s ADVANCE: Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers.

Tosney serves as the primary investigator. Deans Michael Halleran (College of Arts and Sciences), James Tien (College of Engineering), Otis Brown (Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmos- pheric Science), and Pascal J. Goldschmidt (Miller School of Medicine) are co-investigators.