1. Persistence in Science by All Students
David Asai

4. 4 P’s
Perspective
Persistence
Privilege
Potential

5. 1) Perspective

6. Diversity benefits science.

7. Diversity…. 1. …..is a property of a group. Science depends on groups.
2. …..adds: (i) perspective, (ii) interpretation, (iii) tools.
Scientific breakthrough often results from a different approach, a different interpretation, and/or a different set of tools.
….trumps homogeneity and ability when:
(i) hard problem, (ii) multiple ways to look at the problem; (iii) large set of problem-solvers
- Scott Page, The Difference, 2007, Princeton University Press

8. Opportunity: increasingly diverse talent pool
Persons, in millions
“Majority Minority”:
All U.S. by 2042
18 yrs and younger by 2018

9. Challenge: we fail to take advantage of the diverse talent pool
U.S. talent pool
28.5%
URM
Scientific workforce
9.1% URM
NSF data for 2006, from Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation, National Academies, 2011.

10. dx/dt: achieving parity?
20%
10%
30%
40%
50%
Science Ph.D.s
U.S. population
2100

11. 2) Persistence

12. Undergraduate years are critical
US population undergrads science science
baccalaureates PhDs
Fraction who are Underrepresented Minorities (%)
NSF WEBCASPAR ( )

13. Percentage of 2004 STEM aspirants who completed STEM degrees
5-year completion
Data from Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA

14. Predictors of success in college
G. Huang et al., Entry and persistence of women and minorities in college science and engineering education. U.S. Dept. Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Predictors of success in college
5-year outcomes of students entering STEM programs:
Complete STEM baccalaureate in 5 years
Persist in STEM discipline
Switch to a non-STEM discipline
Drop out of school

15. Persistence of undergrad STEM aspirants
Complete Persist Switch Drop out
G. Huang et al., 2000, Entry and persistence of women and minorities in college science and engineering education, US. Dept. Education, National Center for Education Statistics

16. 3) Privilege

18. Faculty privilege
Our course is a rigorous attempt to link molecular structure with biological function All exams are answered with short essays or calculations (no calculators permitted!). The emphasis is on precise problem solving. For many, BIOL 231 proves to be the “weed-out” course.
Biology 231 is the third course in our four-semester core curriculum for Biology majors. In addition, many pre-professional students from other majors, like XXXX, also take BIOL Our course is a rigorous attempt to link molecular structure with biological function. We first focus on the macromolecules of the cell, including proteins, membranes, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates; in each case the message is that structure leads to function. We then discuss in quantitative detail the energetics of cell biology, including membrane potentials, the use of ATP in coupled reactions, the metabolism of glucose and oxidative phosphorylation to produce ATP, and photosynthesis. Then we put some of these pieces together, discussing in detail selected aspects of cell biology, including signal transduction, cotranslational insertion of membrane/secreted proteins, intracellular trafficking of membrane bounded organelles, and cell motility. All exams are answered with short essays or calculations (no calculators permitted!). The emphasis is on precise problem solving. For many, BIOL 231 proves to be the “weed-out” course.

19. “Majority rules”

20. http://www. nikkeiview

21. …is deciding what’s best for others.

22. “mismatch hypothesis”
“…as a result of the mismatching, many blacks and Hispanics who likely would have excelled at less elite schools are placed in a position where underperformance is all but inevitable because they are less academically prepared than the white and Asian students with whom they must compete.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, 2013
concurring opinion, Fisher v. U Texas

23. Testing the “mismatch hypothesis” M. Kurlaender and E. Grodsky. 2013
Testing the “mismatch hypothesis” M. Kurlaender and E. Grodsky “Mismatch and the paternalistic justification for selective college admissions.” Sociology and Education.
University of California
Elite: Berkeley, San Diego, UCLA (30% acceptance)
Not-quite-elite: Davis, Irvine, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz (59% acceptance)
2004, “Guaranteed Transfer Option” (GTO) (2,300 students)
Several hundred chose to attend elite campus

24. Findings…. GPAs of GTO students statistically same as elite students.
GTO students no more or less likely to drop out of elite schools.
GTO students less likely to drop out than peers who chose non-elite schools.
Mismatch effects no greater for minorities than for whites and Asians.

25. What can we do?

26. 1. Learn to talk about difference.

27. What’s important in mentoring?
Byars-Winston, Benbow, leverett, Pfund, Branchaw, Owen, 2013.

28. 2. Learn from other programs
Meyerhoff Scholars (UMBC)
Science Posse (Brandeis)
BSP (UC Berkeley)
BUSP (UC Davis)
(1) Research experiences
(2) Mentoring
(3) Community-building
(4) High expectations

29. 3. Change the metaphor

30. High school – 4 yrs
Undergrad for B.S. – 4 yrs
Graduate school for Ph.D. – 4 yrs
Post-doc 1 – 1 yr
Post-doc 2 – 2 yrs
Tenure-track faculty position

32. Watershed
Inputs from many different sources, different environments, different pathways.
Boundaries between stages are not always exact.
Outcome is huge (the ocean) and there are many different places for the water to eventually go.

33. Course-based Research Experiences
4) Potential
Course-based Research Experiences

34. Undergraduate student research
Apprentice-based research experience
Late
Expensive
Relies on selection
Course-based research experience (CRE)
Early
Scalable and less expensive
Emphasizes development of potential

35. SEA-PHAGES project
Created by Tuajuanda Jordan and her team at HHMI in 2007
Adapt PHIRE course developed by Graham Hatfull (U Pittsburgh)
Deliver the course nationally (2008-present)
In AY :
> 2,000 students (mostly first-year UGs)
75 schools (31 states, PR, DC)

36. Two semesters:
Mycobacterium smegmatis
GenBank

37. Scientific accomplishments:
> 3,000 new phages
> 48,000 genes (865 novel genes)
9 new clusters
82% of mycobacteriophage GenBank sequences contributed by SEA-PHAGES students
16 publications (10 with undergrad co-authors)
New insights from the aggregated data

38. Learning (from Jordan et al., 2013)
Grades in lecture course
Retention

39. Three S’s to a successful CRE
Science
(i) genuine scientific problem; (ii) lead scientist
Skills
(i) technical simplicity; (ii) minimal prerequisites
Structure
(i) flexible scheduling; (ii) parallel activities; (iii) clear milestones
Hatfull et al., PLoS Genetics 2: e92

40. 4th important element: $$
SEA-PHAGES: approx. $200 per student for supplies, EM, DNA sequencing (excludes salaries)
Informal survey of 15 research universities: average $47 (<$10 - $150) per student in intro Bio lab (excludes salaries)
Average $150 ($85 - $210) per student in advanced lab courses

41. Introductory courses = opportunity to make a difference
$47. Flip the equation.
Introductory courses = opportunity to make a difference

42. Perspective
Persistence
Privilege
Potential

43. “A great scientist looks like me”
(Mirror, mirror, on the wall…)

44. Geoffrey Beene