Effective Recruitment and Retention of African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans as Entrepreneurial Engineering Innovators

Zella Jackson, Michigan State University

Michigan State University is developing an educational and networking conference with follow-on support via the Internet to recruit and retain historically underrepresented minorities into the new discipline of entrepreneurial engineering innovation. The conference is modeled after the highly successful PhD Project Conference, which encourages underrepresented minorities to pursue PhDs in business, and thereby significantly increase the number of qualified individuals available to teach at the university level, and to become natural mentors as well as leaders in business and academia. This presentation details the situational analysis with proven solutions to recruit, retain, educate, and inspire future leaders to become full participants in the new opportunities that lie ahead.