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Archives for September 2018

What NSF’s new diversity grants say about attempts to help minority students

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Ted Hodapp has spent the past 5 years helping boost the number of minority students pursuing U.S. graduate degrees in physics. But Hodapp, who works on education and diversity issues at the American Physical Society in College Park, Maryland, knows the society’s Bridge Program will at best make only a small dent in the nationwide dearth of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans working in all science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. He wanted an opportunity to show that Bridge’s approach—which starts by encouraging graduate schools to de-emphasize scores on the standardized GRE entrance exam in the student selection process—could work in other STEM disciplines and, in doing so, promote the value of diversity in U.S. higher education.

Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, gave Hodapp $10 million to make that happen. The grant was one of six 5-year awards that the agency announced on 6 September under its new Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) initiative, which NSF Director France Córdova rolled out in 2016 as one of her priorities. The $57 million outlay marks NSF’s first major investment in INCLUDES.

Being a Two-Career Couple Requires a Long-Term Plan

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Dual income couples are now the norm: over two thirds of couples in Canada and the UK, and 60% of couples in the U.S. They are beginning to realize they may each be the other’s most significant career asset. Not only can your working spouse mitigate risks like being made redundant, they can also serve as a trampoline to allow you a shot at your dream, whether it’s a novel or a non-profit, a start-up or a soap opera, and whether you grab it in your thirties or your sixties. But to make sure you’re both on the same page, be intentional about your lifelong plan. Will you embrace an “old school” model of a lead career and a follow career? Or will you take turns? Will you try to both charge ahead as ambitiously as possible? Or will you find careers that complement each other? Having these conversations regularly is the best way to make sure both partners get what they need at home and at work.

Do Chief Diversity Officers Help Diversify a University’s Faculty? This Study Found No Evidence

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When Baylor University began considering the creation of a chief-diversity-officer position a few years ago, many of James E. West’s colleagues said the role could help diversify the institution’s faculty.

That got West, an economics professor, thinking: What influence does an executive-level diversity position have on faculty demographics? West, whose work focuses on higher education, and three Baylor colleagues tried to find out.

In a working paper submitted to the National Bureau of Economic Research, West and his colleagues analyzed the faculty diversity of 462 research institutions in United States before and after they hired chief diversity officers. The paper, which the authors say is the first study of the topic, also looks broadly at faculty hiring and student demographics.

The authors were unable to find any statistically significant increase in faculty diversity after the creation of a chief-diversity-officer position. But, as the paper notes, many other factors can affect faculty diversity, such as underrepresentation in the Ph.D. pipeline.

Should we steer clear of the winner-takes-all approach?

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Researchers reflect on an initiative in New Zealand to make science more inclusive.

Scientists in New Zealand held the first ‘Kindness in Science’ workshop in December 2017 at the University of Auckland, hoping to kick-start a movement that will offer a kinder, gentler and more inclusive scientific culture. The group’s mantra is “Everyone here is smart and kind — don’t distinguish yourself by being otherwise.”

At a time of great global divisiveness, moves are afoot to make the research culture more welcoming, respectful and responsible. Kindness, the workshop participants argue, should apply to the tone of peer review, to conference behaviour and to laboratory etiquette, among other areas. The winner-takes-all model is not the only way to make big breakthroughs in research, they suggest.

The group’s working definition of kindness in science is “an inclusive approach that fosters diversity, respect, well-being and openness, leading to better science outcomes”.

Nature interviewed seven researchers at various career stages to ask what such a culture shift might mean for them.

From Poverty To Rocket Scientist To CEO, A Girl Scout’s Inspiring Story

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Sylvia Acevedo grew up on a dirt road in New Mexico. Her family was poor, living “paycheck to paycheck.”

After a meningitis outbreak in her Las Cruces neighborhood nearly killed her younger sister, her mother moved the family to a different neighborhood. At her new school, young Acevedo knew no one. Until a classmate convinced her to become a Brownie Girl Scout.

And from that moment, she says, her life took on a new path.

On one camping trip, Acevedo’s troop leader saw her looking up at the stars.

“I didn’t know that there were planets,” Acevedo remembers, “I didn’t know there were constellations.” Her troop leader pointed out the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and a few planets. Later, when the girls were earning badges, Acevedo’s leader remembered her fascination with the stars and suggested she try for her science badge.

Acevedo writes about this pivotal moment in her new memoir, Path to the Stars.

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Contact

Ahna Skop, PhD, DSc
University of Wisconsin-Madison
2426 Genetics
Madison, WI 53706
608-263-1593
skop@wisc.edu

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