Inclusion and Support: Campus Resources
A variety of centers and programs at Caltech work to provide access and support to individuals with diverse experiences and perspectives as a way to foster community. While their focus varies, the overarching goal of these groups, many of which are student run, is to allow the broadest possible range of individuals to thrive at the Institute.
Caltech Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CCID)
CCID provides education, advocacy, and allyship to create a community of equity and inclusive excellence at Caltech. The center achieves its goals through a variety of programs and services, including access to information and resources, workshops and trainings, and the creation of inclusive spaces and skill-building opportunities for all members of the community to engage with issues related to their individual identities.
Summer Research Institutes:
The Freshman Summer Research Institute (FSRI) is a comprehensive program meant to ease the transition between high school and the Caltech experience for students from underrepresented and/or underserved communities. Each year, incoming first-year students come to the Institute during the summer for an orientation to campus and to gain experience with hands-on research and proof-based mathematics.
The Graduate Summer Research Institute (GSRI), which launched in the summer of 2020, is designed to introduce incoming underrepresented and/or underserved first-year graduate students to graduate education at the Institute. Through programming focused on mentoring, professional development, and skills-based workshops, students become better prepared to navigate their first year and thrive as graduate students at Caltech.
Now in its fifth year, the WAVE Fellows program aims to foster diversity at the Institute by increasing the participation of underrepresented students in science and engineering PhD programs, and to make Caltech's programs more visible and accessible to students not traditionally exposed to the Institute, including underrepresented minorities, women, first-generation college students, geographically underrepresented students, educationally or financially disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities. WAVE Fellows carry out research with Caltech faculty mentors during a 10-week period over the summer.
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship
The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is a prestigious national program focused on increasing the number of underrepresented students who will pursue doctorate degrees in core fields in the arts and sciences. Fellowships include mentoring, research stipends, and travel support (conferences, graduate school visits, etc.).
Black Scientists and Engineers of Caltech
Run by graduate students, Black Scientists and Engineers of Caltech (BSEC) works to advance the careers of Black scientists and engineers by providing support, professional development, and networking opportunities. A primary goal of the group is to build a community and a social network for Black/African American students. The group serves undergraduate, graduate students, and postdocs, and is a student chapter of the National Society for Black Engineers.
The student-run group Club Latino is committed to supporting Caltech graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who identify as Latinx or Hispanic.
Caltech Latino Association of Students in Engineering and Sciences (CLASES)
CLASES is committed to advancing Latinx undergraduates in their future careers as scientists and engineers. CLASES aims to support Latinx students and enrich the broader Caltech community by sharing their diverse culture. CLASES is also a student chapter of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE).
The Women's Engagement Board (WEB) comprises students, postdocs, and staff, and endeavors through quarterly meetings to influence cultural change and build toward a more inclusive campus. The board’s leadership includes representatives from many campus groups including: Caltech Postdoctoral Association Diversity Committee, Diversity in Chemistry Initiative, Towards a More Inclusive Astronomy, Women in BBE, Women in Chemistry, Women in Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Women in GPS, Society of Women Engineers (Caltech chapter), Chen Institute of Women in Neuroscience, Women in Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and Women in PMA.
The Women Mentoring Women (WMW) program began in 2002 as a way to connect women postdoctoral scholars and graduate students looking for career advice, matching 11 graduate students with postdoc mentors. It has since grown to include staff members and undergraduates, and now has more than 90 mentor-mentee pairs.
Caltech Disability Coalition
Founded by two graduate students, the Caltech Disability Coalition aims to give disabled students, staff, and faculty at Caltech a community to turn to. The coalition is also a space where allies can begin to learn about different disability issues and how to best advocate for their disabled colleagues.
PRISM is Caltech's LGBTQ+ student and postdoc association. PRISM strives to improve all facets of LGBTQ+ life with social and academic events, and an oSTEM chapter. LGBTQ+ and allies are invited to join in socials, awareness building, and education around gender, gender identity, sexuality, and the intersections of being LGBTQ+ in STEM.
The California Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (California Alliance) focuses on increasing diversity in the academic fields with the greatest national underrepresentation of minorities: the mathematical, physical, and computer sciences, and engineering. The California Alliance consists of Caltech, the UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Stanford University. It was established to provide a clear path for underrepresented minority PhD students from California's top research institutions, in much larger numbers, to aspire to and populate the ranks of the postdoctoral population, the faculty at competitive research and teaching institutions, the federally funded national laboratories, and scientific think tanks.
Faculty and staff from five divisions came together to launch FUTURE Ignited, a one-day conference that provides insight into the life of a graduate student for aspiring young scientists of color. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in science discussions with current graduate students of color and faculty on topics ranging from challenges, research topics, building community, the application process, and more. The first FUTURE Ignited conference took place on October 17, 2020.