Background and purposeNational reports call for improving America’s leadership in scientific research, accelerating degree attainments, and diversifying the scientific workforce to foster innovation. However, slow progress and persistent disparities across growing U.S. populations are evident on key science workforce indicators, from degree attainment to career achievements. The purpose of this article is to provide a conceptual basis and overview of a national effort funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that advances inclusive science practice and systemic change. We introduce the context, features, and rationale that drive practice and evaluation in the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC) approach, which is an experimental program to implement and evaluate evidence-based and novel practices to expand and diversify the biomedical workforce.Key highlightsDespite decades of federal investment for biomedical research training, researchers identified disparate adjusted rates of R01 grant awards by scientists’ race/ethnicity. This motivated NIH to fund the DPC approach as a set of highly integrated initiatives that empower institutional change agents to create scalable, evidenced-based strategies to enhance diversity in biomedical research and health science training. Key DPC elements include: 1) A systemic approach to enhance science preparedness involving students, faculty, and institutional-capacity development; 2) Collaboration, partnerships and networks across individuals and organizations, and especially between NIH, 10 undergraduate Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) sites, the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), and the Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC); and 3) Increased focus within and across key career stages for expanding training and ultimately diversifying the scientific workforce. A new framework for inclusive science practices and discussion of systemic change challenges provide insights into DPC processes and activities.ImplicationsCollectively, the DPC establishes a national learning collaborative to implement and evaluate multidimensional components of training and program interventions, accelerate the adoption of promising or effective practices, and disseminate lessons to the broader extramural scientific community. Linking practice with evaluation research will identify exemplars that others may adopt to advance the goals of inclusive science in promoting and sustaining innovation, accelerating equity in science careers and, ultimately, address challenging health problems in an increasingly diverse nation.
Background/Context Although academic departments have more tools to advance faculty diversity than ever before, many still downplay their own responsibility throughout the hiring process. This results in a cycle of apathy that activates once searches are already under way, and structural change is out of reach. Yet few studies empirically outline what structural change entails so that departments can play a more active role in improving search processes before hiring begins. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study materializes the underlying mechanics of academic hiring by describing the process of departmental hiring priorities, and identifies how adjusting them can create the optimal conditions for supporting faculty diversity. Population/Participants/Subjects Participants were 23 academic personnel spanning four academic departments, including deans, department chairs, equity administrators, and faculty search committee members. Research Design This qualitative study uses a blend of multiple case study and grounded theory designs. The multiple case study method guided the site, case, participant selection, and data collection procedures. Grounded theory was employed primarily in the data coding and analysis phases. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected from an institutional site fictitiously named Northfield University, a research-intensive four-year university located in the western region of the United States. Four departments were selected as case studies based on convenience sampling from four broader divisions: social sciences, life sciences, humanities, and physical sciences. Twenty-three participants spanning multiple positions and departments participated in a total of 31 semistructured interviews. These data were initially coded and analyzed using the constant comparative method and then further analyzed using cross-case analysis. Findings/Results Findings reveal the primary determinants of departmental hiring priorities that bred subfield conservatism, or the hesitancy to expand the department in new and different hiring directions based on resource constraint and subfield reproduction. This was a realistic yet troubling organizational response that inhibited opportunities for diversity before searches even began. Results also document the steps that departments took to thwart subfield conservatism in order to more aptly attract and elevate racially minoritized candidates. Conclusions/Recommendations This study highlights the untapped potential that hiring priorities hold for advancing faculty diversity. Department chairs and deans are uniquely positioned to implement initiatives that rearrange the structural conditions of faculty hiring that empower faculty to create equity-oriented positions beyond traditional departmental boundaries.
This study applied social exchange theory to examine 74 faculty members’ perceptions of culturally diverse mentor training activities at 10 undergraduate institutions in the early stages of implementing grant-funded interventions focused on determining the most effective ways to engage and retain racially diverse students in biomedical research.
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