Inclusive science: strategies to broaden participation

Preparing for Academic Careers in the Geosciences Workshop 2013

Raj Pandya

Why is diversity important to science?

Think about why is it important to scientists, people who use science,

people who fund science.

Signs of disconnect

• Performance on international tests• Enrollment in STEM• Minority participation• Public understanding• Politicization• Unrealized research

Why is enhancing diversity especially relevant for the geosciences?

[1] Chart made from data at National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. 2010 Science and Engineering Degrees, by Race/Ethnicity of Recipients: 1997–2006. Detailed Statistical Tables NSF 10-300. Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10300/.

PhDs in Atmospheric Sciences by Race/Ethnicity and Citizenship

US citizens - majority

Temporary Residents

US citizens from under-Represented groups

Kate Golden/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

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Held et al, 2005.

Why is Diversity so hard?

What about science makes it hard to attract and advance students from

historically underrepresented groups?

Biases that may be shared

Faculty participants rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant

Moss-Racusin, C. A., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J., & Handelsman, J. (2012). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(41), 16474-16479.

Letter writers were more likely to use “communal” words when describing female applicants and “agentic” terms when describing male applicants

Madera, J. M., Hebl, M. R., & Martin, R. C. (2009). Gender and letters of recommendation for academia: Agentic and communal differences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(6), 1591.

Why?

CommunicationAcronyms, jargon and, “low-context”

Culture unfamiliar practices and divergent values

RelevanceAre science questions aligned with community priorities?

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Marin Luther King, Jr.

What has worked?

Design Principles (not à la carte)• Institutional leadership• Targeted recruitment• Engaged faculty• Personal attention• Enriched research experience• Bridging to the next level• Continuous evaluation

who does the question come from?

scientist-inspired community-inspired

does it require community participation?

yesrequires data

yesrequires data and

knowledge

no

scientist-led science

push education & application

contributory science

is science already available to answer

the question?

pull e & a

community-directed science

no yes

research question

does it require community

participation?

yes no

co-created science

push e & aby doing

collaborative science

pull e & aby doing

• Solutions-oriented• Multidisciplinary• Inclusive• Participatory

Community- Inspired Science

Managing Meningitis in the Sahel

Accept Bias and build processes to negate bias

“Blind auditions increased the probability that a woman would advance from preliminary rounds by 50 percent.”

Rouse and Goldin, American Economic Review, 2001

Implicit Association Tests• Introduced in 1998 to measure automatic associations• Most people who take the test “prefer” the following associations

– Young and good– Euro-American and good– Thin and good– Females and Liberal Arts– Males and Science– Career and Males– Family and Females– Straight and good

• Associations may be counter to self-efficacy– e.g. African-Americans also hold negative associations about African-Americans, though

at a lessor rate than other groups.

• Associations may differ from stated beliefs, values, or actions• Exposure is the antidote

What are willing you try?

1. What institutional goals can you build on?2. What examples have you seen that work?3. Who can help you?4. What connections do you have to diversity?

Inclusion, not diversity

Diversity is who does our science, inclusion is about what science questions we ask, how we answer them, and who we work with.

rpandya@agu.org