Abstract

The case ‘Maria Klawe – Promoting Gender Diversity and Inclusion in STEM Education at Harvey Mudd College’ is about gender diversity and inclusion in STEM education at the Harvey Mudd College (HMC). The case starts off with Maria Klawe’s (Klawe) announcement that the college had achieved a milestone in gender parity with 50 percent of the graduates in the STEM field being women in the year 2019. Klawe as President of HMC from 2006 had put in consistent efforts and initiatives to achieve gender parity, inclusion, and diversity both at the student and faculty level. The case details the career growth of Klawe over the years and her association with various organizations and educational institutions and also dwells upon STEM education and women’s representation across the world with some interesting statistics. The initiatives toward inclusion and diversity at HMC are discussed in detail. The impact of Klawe’s initiatives on HMC and other educational institutions is put forth in the case. The case ends with future initiatives that can be taken up by educational institutions and organizations toward gender diversity and inclusion. Will the gender diversity and inclusion initiatives taken by Klawe continue in HMC? Will other colleges tread the path taken by HMC? Will the technology industry adopt similar initiatives in their organizations? These remain to be seen.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the concept of diversity and inclusion
• Evaluate the various measures that can be taken by colleges and organizations to ensure gender diversity and inclusion
• Analyze the impact of women leaders in motivating the future generations of women to opt for education in STEM and take up roles in the technology field.

Keywords

Diversity; Inclusion; Women Leadership; Leadership Role Model