Dana Inc. and the University of Toledo have launched a partnership program that they hope will encourage more black high school students to pursue careers within the engineering field — and potentially place them in a job once they get their degree.

The Dana Excelling into Engineering Scholarship Program will begin with students preparing to enter their senior year in high school. Officials said students accepted into the program will be introduced to engineering careers, get help with the college-application process, and be mentored by Dana employees.

Some will be selected to receive a full scholarship to the University of Toledo.

Maumee-based Dana also will offer paid cooperative experiences and hopes to extend some job offers once students have graduated UT.

“We feel it’s a great opportunity for us to live some of our core principles in terms of diversity and inclusion, targeting students that are coming up in disadvantaged environments and giving them the opportunity to excel in the science and technology areas and help a company like Dana be successful long term,” said George Constand, Dana’s chief technology officer.

Dana has donated an initial $258,000 to fund up to five scholarships and to cover certain programming costs. The Excel program at the University of Toledo will help other students with tuition costs.

Attracting students to careers in the science and technology field has become a crucial initiative for companies and universities in recent years. And that’s doubly true for women and minorities.

Lesley Berhan, director of engineering diversity initiatives and associate professor of mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering at UT, said nationally only about 16 percent of people working in the engineering field are female.

Ms. Berhan said UT’s enrollment parallels that, with about 15 percent of engineering undergrads being women.

Ever fewer African-Americans go into engineering careers.

According to a 2012 report from the National Science Foundation, only about 5 percent of the 6.4 million Americans employed in science and engineering fields were black.

Ms. Berhan said the first step to changing that is getting minority students to consider those kinds of careers.

“It’s not something that’s unique to UT. This is nationwide,” she said. “There’s a lot of initiatives being taken at every level to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in engineering and STEM.”

Ms. Berhan said there are a number of reasons for that, including socioeconomic achievement gaps. But some hurdles are more simple. In the case of many minority students, they’ve just never met someone who looks like them or shares their background who works in engineering.

“Even if a student may think they like math and science, unless you actually know an engineer that may not be the first thing that comes to their mind,” she said. “Part of this initiative is giving students exposure to engineering careers.”

More information, including eligibility and how to apply for the program, is available at utoledo.edu/​engineering/​ab out/​diversity/​dana_excelling _into_engineering_program. html.

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6134.

First Published May 9, 2017, 4:00 a.m.