Geo Opportunities for Leadership (GOLD): Sparks for Change

Sparks for Change is an effort to increase the diversity of the geosciences by improving departmental culture and support of underrepresented minority faculty, using small groups to induce change. The diversity of faculty in the geosciences remains far below the population as a whole, and attempting to fix this has an effect on attracting and retaining a diverse student body. The goal is to begin improving the retention of underrepresented faculty by using small groups comprised of junior faculty interested in broadening participation efforts (“sparks”), more senior partners in the same departments (“partners”) and experienced broadening participation experts (“sponsors”) to drive change.