Faculty

"A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize a virtual public workshop to examine the financial barriers – including educational debt burden – preventing Black people from entering or continuing education in science, engineering, and medicine (SEM). The workshop will also identify policies and practices that perpetuate those barriers and lay a foundation of knowledge for others to be better positioned to engage on these issues."

3 part workshop, 9 hours total. 

Change typically comes slowly in higher education, but these are not typical times. Most systemic change comes about precisely through exogenous shocks.

Dropping the GRE is just a first step toward holistic admissions. To further reduce bias in applicant evaluations, the UMass-Amherst geosciences program has changed the way it assesses students.

Dos and Don’ts for Submitting a Successful AGU Bridge Partner Proposal. 

Remember that the goal of the AGU Bridge Program is to improve equity in geoscience graduate education, representation will follow. Seek equity first rather than focusing solely on numbers of historically marginalized students. Consider reasons behind low representation of historically marginalized students in your department

Align expectations with your mentor, mentee, or project team with these Mentor Compact examples. 

Revist the subject through regular project meetings. 

Mentor Mapping exercise for Research Mentors and their students. 

Abstract: Physics departments are increasingly working to improve diversity in graduate programs by using more holistic strategies in their admission and retention practices. However, completion rates for traditionally underserved groups are still problematic. By understanding and accounting for faculty and student divergence on challenges faced in retention, graduate programs will be better equipped to enact change.

National Academies of Science News Release | October 30, 2019

"Earth and environmental sciences have some of the least diverse racial and ethnic representation in academia. To face profound future challenges, the fields need to address the inequities of the past and how they inform the present."

Abstract: Demographics of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and student body in the US and Europe continue to show severe underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Among the documented causes of the persistent lack of diversity in STEM are bias, discrimination, and harassment of members of underrepresented minority groups (URMs). These issues persist due to continued marginalization, power imbalances, and lack of adequate policies against misconduct in academic and other scientific institutions.