The preeminence of ethnic diversity in scientific collaboration

Demographics in general surgery programs: Relationship between female faculty and proportion of female residents

INTRODUCTION

We hypothesized that general surgery programs with more female faculty and leadership may be associated with more female residents.

METHODS

The Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database Access system (FREIDA) was assessed for chair gender, program director gender, percentage of female faculty, and percentage of female residents at general surgery residency programs. Programs were stratified by type: university-based (UB), community-based/university-affiliated (UA) and community-based (CB).

RESULTS

304 general surgery programs reported a mean of 38.4% female residents which did not differ by program type. Chairs were more likely female in UB programs (12.8%) versus 5.5% in UA and CB programs (p = 0.05). There were more female faculty at UB programs (23.3%) versus UA (21.7%) and CB (17.4%) (p = 0.04). Chair (p = 0.21), program director (p = 0.98) and faculty gender proportion (p = 0.40) was not associated with female resident complement.

CONCLUSIONS

In general surgery programs, faculty and leadership gender composition was not associated with proportion of female residents.

Promoting Individual and Collective Creativity in Science Students

Creativity is a scientific skill necessary to develop a successful research career. We expose the importance of a growth mindset, divergent, lateral, and associative thinking, serendipity, and being part of a nonhierarchical and diverse research team to improve both individual and collective creativity.

The extent and drivers of gender imbalance in neuroscience reference lists

Similarly to many scientific disciplines, neuroscience has increasingly attempted to confront pervasive gender imbalances. Although publishing and conference participation are often highlighted, recent research has called attention to the prevalence of gender imbalance in citations. Because of the downstream effects of citations on visibility and career advancement, understanding the role of gender in citation practices is vital for addressing scientific inequity. Here, we investigate whether gendered patterns are present in neuroscience citations. Using data from five top neuroscience journals, we find that reference lists tend to include more papers with men as first and last author than would be expected if gender were unrelated to referencing. Importantly, we show that this imbalance is driven largely by the citation practices of men and is increasing over time as the field diversifies. We assess and discuss possible mechanisms and consider how researchers might approach these issues in their own work.

Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology

Disparities remain in the representation of marginalized students in STEM. Classroom-based experiential learning opportunities can increase student confidence and academic success; however, the effectiveness of extending learning to outdoor settings is unknown. Our objectives were to examine (a) demographic gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) major completion, college graduation, and GPAs for students who did and did not enroll in field courses, (b) whether under-represented demographic groups were less likely to enroll in field courses, and (c) whether under-represented demographic groups were more likely to feel increased competency in science-related tasks (hereafter, self-efficacy) after participating in field courses. We compared the relationships among academic success measures and demographic data (race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, first-generation, and gender) for UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students admitted between 2008 and 2019 who participated in field courses (N = 941 students) and who did not (N = 28,215 students). Additionally, we administered longitudinal surveys to evaluate self-efficacy gains during field-based versus classroom-based courses (N = 570 students). We found no differences in the proportion of students matriculating at the university as undecided, proposed EEB, or proposed other majors across demographic groups. However, five years later, under-represented students were significantly less likely to graduate with EEB degrees, indicating retention rather than recruitment drives disparities in representation. This retention gap is partly due to a lower rate of college completion and partly through attrition to other majors. Although under-represented students were less likely to enroll in field courses, field courses were associated with higher self-efficacy gains, higher college graduation rates, higher EEB major retention, and higher GPAs at graduation. All demographic groups experienced significant increases in self-efficacy during field-based but not lecture-based courses. Together, our findings suggest that increasing the number of field courses and actively facilitating access to students from under-represented groups can be a powerful tool for increasing STEM diversity.

Are You Still a Postdoc? How My Scientific Identity Intersects with My Immigrant Status

Academics in non-tenure-track positions encounter a unique set of challenges on the road toward tenure. Institutionalized policies and lack of mentors are additional burdens for foreign scientists, resulting in representation differences. Becoming a scientist has been a personal and moving journey in which my multiple selves intersect and clash every now and again. My identity as a scientist is a life project and has intersected with my other identities: a young Latina immigrant in Western Europe.

Academics in non-tenure-track positions encounter a unique set of challenges on the road toward tenure. Institutionalized policies and lack of mentors are additional burdens for foreign scientists, resulting in representation differences. Becoming a scientist has been a personal and moving journey in which my multiple selves intersect and clash every now and again. My identity as a scientist is a life project and has intersected with my other identities: a young Latina immigrant in Western Europe. This crossroad has molded, and at times, challenged my participation in science.

Collaboration across Time and Space in the LTER Network

The scale of ecological research is getting larger and larger. At such scales, collaboration is indispensable, but there is little consensus on what factors enable collaboration. In the present article, we investigated the temporal and spatial pattern of institutional collaboration within the US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network on the basis of the bibliographic database. Social network analysis and the Monte Carlo method were applied to identify the characteristics of papers published by LTER researchers within a baseline of papers from 158 leading ecological journals. Long-term and long-distance collaboration were more frequent in the LTER Network, and we investigate and discuss the underlying mechanisms. We suggest that the maturing infrastructure and environment for collaboration within the LTER Network could encourage scientists to make large-scale hypotheses and to ask big questions in ecology.

Fostering Inclusion through an Interinstitutional, Community-Engaged, Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

Creation of an inclusive environment requires a culture of equity, justice, value and respect for diverse backgrounds, and opportunities for students to engage with communities while addressing issues in science and society. These tasks are particularly challenging for institutions lacking a diverse population. Here, we demonstrate evidence of a successful model for creating an inclusive environment in an interinstitutional course between a large, public, historically black institution and a small, private, primarily white institution. Because many individuals from underrepresented minority groups tend to value communal goals of working together and helping their communities, we incorporated two high-impact practices of community-engaged learning and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) focused on health disparities research in neighboring communities. Although the research projects varied each semester, they were linked by their impact on and engagement with the community. Students practiced cultural competency skills in both small group projects within the class and engagement activities in the community. We measured the efficacy of CURE components (novel authentic research, scientific process skills, iteration, collaboration, and broader impact) through a combination of direct and indirect assessments, quantitative and qualitative analysis. More than simply scientific skills, students from both institutions developed lasting interest in working with diverse populations as well as respecting and valuing different backgrounds. This inclusive environment, combined with increased interest in research, suggests that this course could potentially serve as a model for interinstitutional collaborations in creating inclusive environments that support the future success of diverse students, eventually changing the STEM research culture.

The Science and Value of Diversity: Closing the Gaps in Our Understanding of Inclusion and Diversity

Diversity drives excellence. Diversity enhances innovation in biomedical sciences and, as it relates to novel findings and treatment of diverse populations, in the field of infectious diseases. There are many obstacles to achieving diversity in the biomedical workforce, which create challenges at the levels of recruitment, retention, education, and promotion of individuals. Here we present the challenges, opportunities, and suggestions for the field, institutions, and individuals to adopt in mitigating bias and achieving greater levels of equity, representation, and excellence in clinical practice and research. Our findings provide optimism for a bright future of fair and collaborative approaches that will enhance the power of our biomedical workforce.

Underrepresented faculty play a disproportionate role in advancing diversity and inclusion

A diverse and inclusive scientific community is more productive, innovative and impactful, yet ecology and evolutionary biology continues to be dominated by white male faculty. We quantify faculty engagement in activities related to diversity and inclusion and identify factors that either facilitate or hinder participation. Through a nationwide survey, we show that faculty with underrepresented identities disproportionally engage in diversity and inclusion activities, yet such engagement was not considered important for tenure. Faculty perceived time and funding as major limitations, which suggests that institutions should reallocate resources and reconsider how faculty are evaluated to promote shared responsibility in advancing diversity and inclusion.