Mission
WPI has built its core mission on project-based learning, providing undergraduate students with multiple opportunities to work on teams. While working on teams has multiple documented benefits, research also shows students experience issues of conflict
and exclusion, with women and students of color in STEM experiencing these issues at higher rates. A recent analysis of 600 GPS student reflections revealed that these same problems exist at WPI, and female students, students of color, and lower-income
students are disproportionately affected. By building on team development and dynamics resources developed and piloted by GPS faculty, our leadership team is facilitating student, faculty, and staff understanding of teamwork and team advisement in
ways that value and utilize contributions of all team members through the development of a comprehensive program called “Supporting WPI through Effective and Equitable Teamwork”, or SWEET. We seek to elevate WPI’s team-based culture into one that
is more effective and equity-minded by implementing programs in both curricular and co-curricular settings in order to better serve our increasingly diverse student population.
Team
