The University of San Diego announced today it was awarded a five-year, $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to increase the number of women science and technology professors, especially minorities.
The money will be used to recruit female professors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as the social and behavioral sciences.
Mary Boyd, dean of USD's College of Arts and Sciences, said women are awarded 40 percent of the doctorates in those disciplines nationally, but make up only about one-third of college faculties.
"We're excited about the opportunity to become a model for undergraduate institutions that want to increase their diversity and provide a supportive environment for female faculty," Boyd said.
She said blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans make up about 10 percent of college professors around the country.
At USD, 41 percent of the professors in technology and science are women, but only five of them are minorities, according to Boyd.
