Massachusetts Institute of Technology Thriving Stars: Elevating support for diverse candidates [Pipelining: Attractive Programs for Women]

When Asu Ozdaglar, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Leslie Kolodziejski, professor and graduate officer at EECS, launched the Thriving Stars initiative, it was an ambitious, optimistic idea, meant to increase gender representation and inclusivity among the department’s graduate students. Although the “Thriving” in the name refers to the students themselves, the program itself could be considered to be, well, thriving, with impressive results after just a short while.