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 Science and Engineering Degrees, by Race/Ethnicity of Recipients: 1997–2006. Detailed Statistical Tables NSF Arlington, VA. Available at 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

Victor H. Rivera-Monroy and Robert R. Twilley

8 “ Cold is what makes my language, my culture, my identity. What am I going to do without cold? ” Oscar Kawagley, Yup ’ ik Jay Dickman, National Geographic

Drought in the Sahel 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), 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? Communication Acronyms, jargon and, “low-context” Culture unfamiliar practices and divergent values Relevance Are 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? yes requires data yes requires 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 & a by doing collaborative science pull e & a by 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.