This report provides an overview of activities to increase racial/ethnic and gender diversity in nursing and nursing education. Data are from a survey on gender diversity completed by 193 nursing education administrators in the 16 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states and the District of Columbia and a survey about the racial/ethnic composition of nursing students and faculty completed by 275 administrators. In 52% of the nursing education units, the racial/ethnic diversity of students increased in the last 5 years, and only 4% showed decreases in racial/ethnic diversity. The racial/ethnic makeup of faculty was unchanged in 60% of the nursing education units, but diversity increased in 29% of the programs. At the beginning of the 2000-2001 academic year, 89% of nursing students were women and 11% were men. Graduates in 2000-2001 showed similar proportions of men and women, but 35% of nursing education units reported increases in the number of male students and only 11% reported decreases. Only 5% of the nursing faculty in 2000-2001 were men, and projections suggest that this percentage will remain unchanged in the 2001-2002 academic year. Most nursing education units have recruitment partnerships with area high schools and some have recruiting partnerships with professional organizations. Few reported partnerships with youth organizations. Some ways to improve recruiting partnerships are discussed, as are methods for student and teacher recruitment and ways to increase funding. (Contains 14 tables.) (SLD)