Implicit Bias in STEM American Association for the Advancement of Science December 12, 2016 Jo Handelsman Associate Director For Science White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Presidential Goal Produce 1 million more STEM college graduates who reflect the demographics of the college population by 2022

Diversity — It’s Our Strength1 Take advantage of our greatest resource in science Enhance the intellectual vigor of science through human diversity President Obama, Speech at 2016 Science Fair

Diverse groups produce…. more feasible and effective solutions to problems (Cox, 1993; McLeod, 1996) better, more defensible decisions (Nemeth, 1985; 1995) more innovation in teams (Kanter, 1983) NSF ADVANCE

Diversity — It’s Our Strength Take advantage of our greatest resource in science Enhance the intellectual vigor of science through human diversity Practice our American belief in equity It’s the law.

Bias — It’s Our Weakness A substantial body of research shows that virtually all people carry unconscious biases Biases shape attitudes and behavior Behaviors include hiring, mentoring, and promotion These behaviors affect inclusion of women and minorities in the STEM workforce

Example of Bias Research RCT Job Applicant and Tenure CVs of a real professor were assigned a male or female name, randomly, and sent to 238 academic psychologists CV at time of job application CV at time of early tenure decision Respondents more likely to hire if male name on job application Gender of applicant had no effect on respondents’ likelihood of granting tenure Steinpreis et al., 1999

However…… CV’s were returned to researchers There were “cautionary comments” in margins of tenure package four times more often on those with woman’s name: “We would have to see her job talk.” “It is impossible to make such a judgment without teaching evaluations.” “I would need to see evidence that she had gotten those grants and publications on her own.” Steinpreis et al., 1999

Example of Bias Research Yale Study of Scientists 127 biologists, chemists, and physicists Six top research universities Sent participants a student description Randomly assigned name “Jennifer”or “John” Questions about student Hire as lab manager? Competent? Provide mentoring? Salary?

John was more likely than Jennifer to be thought competent to be hired to be mentored Jennifer was more likely than John to be liked

How much would Jennifer or John be paid? t(125) = 2.94, p < .01, d = .51

Did the faculty gender matter in their evaluation of Jennifer or John?

What can we do to mitigate the impact of bias in the STEM workforce?

Bias Mitigation Interagency Policy Group (IPC) Holdren-Cobert Memorandum on Increasing Diversity in the STEM Workforce by Reducing the Impact of Bias (October 16, 2015) Establish interagency policy process Inventory best/promising evidence-based practices in Federal STEM agencies Report recommending policy options (15 participating Federal agencies and EOPs) “Reducing the Impact of Bias in the STEM Workforce: Strengthening Excellence and Innovation,” Nov 2016

Best, Promising, and Emerging Practices Best Practices Analyses of mandated workforce data sets Implicit bias training Conflict resolution Work flexibility

Best, Promising, and Emerging Practices Promising Practices Diversity change agents Diversity tool kits Technical qualifications board Grant proposal review experiments

Best, Promising, and Emerging Practices Unconscious bias training targeted at search committees Bias training for the entire workforce Hiring and promotions safeguard pilots New inclusive workforce tools

Top Strategies at the Federal-Academic Interface Proactive use of diversity, equity, or inclusion grants Family-friendly policies and programs Compliance reviews Institutional access to bias mitigation resources

Recommendations Federal STEM Workforce Exercise leadership at all levels, including senior officials, STEM program and administrative managers, human capital officials, and diversity and inclusion officials (or their equivalent), to reduce the impact of bias in their internal operations

Recommendations Federally funded institutions of higher education Federal agencies can incorporate bias mitigation strategies into the proposal-review process and offer technical assistance to grantee institutions to implement bias-mitigation strategies

Recommendations Cross-cutting government leadership—STEM workforce and Federally funded institutions of higher education OSTP, OPM, and the Department of Justice (DOJ), as appropriate, should exercise leadership to reduce the impact of bias in the Federal STEM workforce and Federally funded institutions of higher education

Implementation and Next Steps Interagency body to coordinate and review Government-wide implementation, scaling, gap identification, tool development, living inventory development Public engagement campaign Institutionalization plans Accountability measurement

@jo44 http://www.ostp.gov https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/12/12/increasing-diversity-stem-workforce-reducing-impact-bias https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp-opm_bias_mitigation_report__20161129.pdf