Introduction to the Special Issue on Diversity

 Many articles have been written regarding diversity. Most of this writing is not targeted to or doesn’t reach the engineering community, but is relegated to journals and other media and organizations that are principally concerned with social issues. The Journal of Leadership and Management in Engineering has recognized its obligation to provide the engineering community with meaningful insight on the important and evolving issues of diversity in the workforce, and in particular within engineering.

In late 2005, the Journal board met in Reston, Virginia, with the ASCE staff to discuss current issues that should be recognized as important to our readers and to the practice. The recognition that issues of historical discrimination and the consequent need to address issues of diversifying the workforce emerged as a central theme from this discussion. It was determined that a special issue of the Journal would be appropriate as a venue to present a comprehensive overview of the types of discrimination that have been, and to a great extent still are, pervasive in the workforce, and in particular in the white-male-dominated practice of engineering.

Special issues of ASCE journals are typically edited by an outstanding member of the engineering community designated as a “special editor.” We were most fortunate in having Dr. James (Jim) H. Johnson Jr., Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Science at Howard University, consent to take on this important role. Jim has worked tirelessly with other outstanding leaders to put together this special issue to address diversity in a number of significant areas. I sincerely hope that our readers will find these articles enlightening and helpful in clarifying possible confusion and/or perhaps misunderstanding regarding the need for diversity in our engineering community. We cannot thank Jim and the contributing authors enough for taking their valuable time to contribute to this special issue.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Chick Glagola, Editor Emeritus