National Directors of Graduate Studies in Pharmacology and Physiology

David AsaiHoward Hughes Medical Institute

asaid@hhmi.org

Truths

Diversity is good for science

Scott PageThe Difference, Princeton University Press, 2007

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhVrNKGZ_0s

1. …the field depends on groups of problem-solvers.

2. …the field benefits by adding different perspectives, interpretations, tools.

3. …the problem is difficult and when there is a large number of problem-solvers.

Scott Page, “The Difference,” 2007

Diversity trumps individual ability when….

19001910

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. tot

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.S. p

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19982000

20022004

20062008

20102012

20142016

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20220

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60Public K-12 Students

% m

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ities

0.00

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non-Hispanic White

all minorities

Pers

ons,

in m

illio

ns

2010 2050

Good news! Diverse U.S. talent pool

“What works to build and sustain diversity in science?”

Today…..not much to sustain

Today….we don’t take advantage of the diverse talent pool

NSF data for 2006, from Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation, National Academies, 2011.

U.S. talent pool

28.5%URM

Scientific workforce

White + Asian

URM

9.1% URM

Four numbers….

9

-127

30

dx/dt

U.S. PhDs

20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

20092010

0100020003000400050006000700080009000

Natural Sciences

20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

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0

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4000

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AllURMs

Biology

Biology PhDs:Natural Sciences PhDs:• 2001 270 URMs (7.5%)

441 URMs (7.2%)• 2010 553 URMs (10.2%)

775 URMs (9.2%)

dx/dt: achieving parity?

1970 1990 2010 2030 2050 2070 2090 2110

20%

10%

30%

40%

50%

Science Ph.D.s

U.S. population

2100

Myths and Metaphors

asaid@hhmi.org

Myth #1: “They’re not interested.”

NSF WEBCASPAR (2000-05)

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US population undergrads science science baccalaureates PhDs

Frac

tion

who

are

Und

erre

pres

ente

d M

inor

ities

(%)

URMs are interested in science but do not stay in science

Myth #2: “They’re not prepared.”

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

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Whites + AsiansURMs

Complete Persist Switch Drop out

URMs switch out of science at significantly greater rates

Myth #3: “It’s a pipeline”

Metaphors

are powerful and often useful

but can be constraining

http://www.sadeem.ae/Pipeline_at_Kuparuk.jpg

“Pipeline”

STEM Pipeline is Leaking Badly*

David Marcy, Cal Lutheran

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

STEM pipeline

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

Who is entering and how are they getting here?

Transfer and first-generation students are an important resource

(1) In 2010, earned credit at a community college: • 49% of all STEM baccalaureates• 36% of all STEM master’s degrees• 19% of all STEM PhDs

NSF, 2014

(2) 22% of all undergraduates and 16% of undergrads at 4-year institutions are first-generation students

Chen and Carroll, 2005; Saenz et al., 2007

(3) Ethnic minorities and persons from low income families are over-represented and under-achieving

URMs

First-g

eneration

Lowest

economic q

uartile

Highest eco

nomic quarti

le0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

2-year schools

4-year schools

URMs

Family in

come <$25,000

pre-calcu

lus in high sc

hool0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

First-generation

Parents with baccalaureate

Transfer First-generation

Inputs

Skomsvold et al., 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011152

Chen and Carroll, 2005. NCES. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005171.pdf

Outputs

attained baccalaure-

ate

dropped out0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2-year schools4-year schools

attained baccalaure-

ate

dropped out0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

First-generation

Parents with baccalaureate

Transfer First-generation

Skomsvold et al., 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011152

Chen and Carroll, 2005. NCES. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005171.pdf

Community College

High SchoolWork

First Generation

1

2

3

4

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

Who is leaving and where are they going?

Our business model

GATEWAY

We lose: 60% all,

80% URMs

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

Community College

First Generation

High School

Switch out

One taste

For many, the FIRST science course is also the LAST science course, and this is a huge opportunity!

• Teachers• Writers and journalists• Historians• Politicians• Businesspersons• Scientists • Parents• Voters

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

What is happening in the middle?

Students are not a commodity 1

2

3

4

Input

Output

Students

Many interventions aimed at fixing the students:• research experiences• bridge programs• mentoring/advising• remedial courses

1

2

3

4

Input

Output

Faculty are not a passive piece of pipe. We have responsibility.

Faculty

Myth #4: “I can’t do anything about it.”

4 suggestions

(1) Examine the evidence

Science graduate students who published a peer-reviewed research article:– Whites and Asians 48%– International students 40%– African Americans 17%

M.T. Nettles and C.M. Millett, 2006. Three Magic Letters, The Johns Hopkins University Press

(2) Establish clear expectations

• Selection criteria– Potential for future contributions or reward for

past accomplishments?

• Set clear and high expectations of students and faculty

(3) Adapt and adopt successful models

HHMI Meyerhoff Adaptation Project1. University of Maryland Baltimore County –

Meyerhoff Scholars2. University of North Carolina Chapel Hill –

Chancellor’s Scholars3. Pennsylvania State University – Millennium

Scholars

5 year experiment begun in 2014

UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars

• Begun in 1989• Strengths-based program– Community– High expectations– Resilience

• Top 10 in nation producer of African American baccalaureates who go on to: – PhD in life sciences– PhD in engineering

Top 11 U.S. baccalaureate-origin institutions of black PhDs in life sciences

1. Xavier, New Orleans2. Howard University3. Hampton University4. Spelman College

5. UMBC6. Florida A&M7. North Carolina A&T8. Southern University9. Tuskegee10. Morehouse College10. Morgan State University

National Science Foundation, 2013

http://www.ted.com/talks/freeman_hrabowski_4_pillars_of_college_success_in_science?language=en

Our experiment: 3 questions

(1) Can the components of the Meyerhoff program be successfully adapted and adopted at other research universities?

(2) For each of the components, what are the desired outcomes and how can we measure progress towards achieving the goals?

(3) What can we learn from the experiment that will be helpful to other universities who want to create their own programs?

(4) Learn the skills to work across differences

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MentorsMentees

Race Gender Talk about

differenceByars-Winston, Benbow, Leverett, Pfund, Branchaw, Owen, 2013.

What’s important?

Students Faculty0

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URM students and faculty

Communicating across differences

Intentional faculty training

(1) Implicit bias:Carnes et al., 2015. Academic Medicine

90 (1).

(2) Privilege, stereotypes, expectations:Barbara Berry – “one up” and “one

down”(3) Listening to understand:

Janice Eddy, Barbara Berry, Bill Page – “passive listening”

HHMI Gilliam Graduate Fellowships

• To ensure a diverse and highly trained workforce to assume leadership roles in science, including college and university faculty

• Support PhD students in years 3-5 of graduate school

Who can apply

• Eligibility:– From groups underrepresented in the sciences– Demonstrated commitment to the advancement

of diversity in the sciences

• Nomination:– By NIGMS T32 (non-MSTP) predoctoral training

grant PIs

4 selection criteria

(1) Student statement of commitment to diversity

(2) Thesis project(3) Mentoring plan by thesis adviser(4) Training environment

Nominations Sept 15 – Nov 19, 2015

Summary

• Diversity benefits science• We have not yet taken advantage of the diverse

talent pool in this nation• Linear strategies are not sufficient• Faculty can choose to take responsibility:– Examine the evidence– Specify expectations– Adapt and adopt successful models– Learn how to work across differences

http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/Sonia_Sotomayor(15).jpg

“…And race matters for reasons that really are only skin deep, that cannot be discussed any other way, and that cannot be wished away. Race matters to a young man’s view of society when he spends his teenage years watching others tense up as he passes….Race matters to a young woman’s sense of self when she states her hometown, and then is pressed, ‘No, where are you really from?’….Race matters to a young person addressed by a stranger in a foreign language, which he does not understand because only English was spoken at home. Race matters because of the slights, the snickers, the silent judgments that reinforce that most crippling of thoughts: ‘I do not belong here.’”

Schuette v. Coalition…(BAMN), 2014. Justice Sotomayor, dissenting

Race matters

http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/abc_geroge_darren_kb_141125_16x9_992.jpg

Implicit Bias• M. Bertrand and S. Mullainathan, 2004. Poverty

Action Lab 3: 1-27.• K.L. Milkman et al., 2014.• C. Moss-Racusin et al., 2012. Proc. Nat. Acad.

Sci. 109: 16474-16479.

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http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/blogger2wp/Gender-SexismMath.png

Defined by group vs. individual

Strategies to overcome implicit bias

1. Stereotype replacement2. Counter-stereotype imaging3. Individuating (vs. generalizing)4. Perspective-taking5. Increase opportunities for contact

Carnes, Devine, Manwell, Byars-Winston, Fine, Ford, Forscher, Isaac, Kaatz, Magua, Palta, and Sheridan (2015). Academic Medicine 90(1).

Listening to understand(Janice Eddy, Bill Page, Barbara Berry)

• Give the speaker the gift of your undivided attention.

• Only one person will speak at a time.• The listener will only listen. Eye contact. Body

language.• The speaker gets the full time allotted to speak.• The speaker’s comments will not be debated or

challenged.

Dynamics of privilege(Barbara Berry, Bill Page, Janice Eddy)

One UP• Oblivious• Assumes knowledge of

other’s experience• Limited awareness of

impact of own behavior• Preserves own comfort• Control• Silence

One DOWN• Studies the One UPs• Accommodates• Adapts, assimilates• Seeks confirmation• Survives• Horizontal violence

Myths….• are powerful BUT demand scrutiny

Metaphors….• are powerful AND limiting• the “pipeline” metaphor does not capture the rich

complexity and dynamics • students are not a commodity; they have agency• faculty are not an inert “pipe”; we have responsibility

watershednoun wa·ter·shed \ˈwȯ-tər-ˌshed, ˈwä-\

: a time when an important change happens

: the area of land that includes a particular river or lake and all the rivers, streams, etc., that flow into it

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

white Asian American

Latino Black Native American

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Most students leave STEM

5-year completion of 2004 STEM aspirants

Data from Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA

> 60% of all students and > 80% of URMs leave STEM

“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, 2013concurring opinion, Fisher v. U Texas

Testing the “mismatch hypothesis”M. Kurlaender and E. Grodsky. 2013. “Mismatch and the paternalistic justification

for selective college admissions.” Sociology of Education 86: 294-310.

• 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)• 491 chose to attend elite campus

• 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.

Findings….

(1) Meyerhoff Adaptation Project

How can we amplify what works?

http://phhp.ufl.edu/files/2011/11/Sartorius-Lecture_JSJ_IMG_0233LR.jpg

Our current approach

http://thelosangelesbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/4724592391_0160840d13_o.jpg

21st Century

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/lectures-didnt-work-in-1350-and-they-still-dont-work-today/281514/

14th Century

Active learning works

S. Freeman et al., 2014. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111: 8410-8415.S. Eddy and K. Hogan, 2014. CBE Life Sci. Ed. 13: 453-468.

“Let me tell you about me”

Faculty privilege

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 231. 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.

…..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.

“I know how you feel”

Sticks and stones…..But words will never hurt me

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Transfer and first-generation students

(5)Nearly 6-fold greater probability for successful completion of the baccalaureate degree among students who begin at 4-year institutions

(6)Nearly 3-fold greater probability for successful completion of the baccalaureate degree for students whose parents have a baccalaureate degree

Transfer students

URM

first-ge

neration

lowest eco

nomic quarti

le

highest

economic

quartile

6-year

bacca

laureate

succe

ss

not enro

lled, n

o degree

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

4-year schools2-year schools

Skomsvold et al., 2011. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011152

First-generation students

URM

family

inco

me < $25,000

attain

ed a bac

calau

reate

not enro

lled, n

o degree

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

Parents with baccalaureateFirst-generation

Chen and Carroll, 2005. NCES. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005171.pdf

U.S. PhDs in Biology

20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

20092010

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> $2 Billion

Working across difference

students science faculty0

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rcen

t URM

s

What’s important in mentoring?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

MentorsMentees

Byars-Winston, Benbow, Leverett, Pfund, Branchaw, Owen, 2013.

Race Gender Talk about difference

“I am an individual”

“I made it by pulling myself up by my bootstraps, and so should everyone who wants to be successful.”

“There was a time when most people who attended college were single white men, had high school diplomas, started college at age 18, graduated in four years, had all the academic preparation needed to succeed, and had few family responsibilities.”

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and TechnologyEngage to Excel, 2012

“In the 21st century, this is not true. Today, students come from diverse backgrounds, have widely divergent levels of preparation, may be returning to college after years in the workforce or serving in the U.S. military, and often are employed while in college to support themselves and families.”

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and TechnologyEngage to Excel, 2012