Making Black Scientists

Linguistic Biases in Letters of Recommendation for Radiation Oncology Residency Applicants from 2015 to 2019

“…The reasons for this striking disparity are certainly multifactorial and may be related to broader structural issues. There has been considerable attention paid recently to disparities in the pipeline of students studying science, technology, engineering, and medicine (STEM) [ 21 , 22 ], but more recent studies have also shown that Black and LatinX students who choose to pursue a STEM degree are more likely to drop out or switch disciplines [ 23 ]. Racism, discrimination, and explicit bias are, unfortunately, still endemic within the medical profession [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Supporting Black women's pursuits in STEM

“…They held each other accountable and felt inspired by those who met marks of achievement—performance in classes, publications or presentations at conferences (Perna et al, 2009). In other studies, Black students (both women and men) also reported the HBCU environment as nurturing, in part because faculty members often treated their students as “kin” (Borum & Walker, 2012; Gasman & Nguyen, 2019). This relationship regulated the degree to which faculty members dedicated enormous time and resources to uplift their students during times of personal and academic struggle.…”

“…This creates a culture of STEM that signals, to Black women, limited access to opportunity structures, or opportunities that allow an individual the vision and capacity to traverse a social hierarchy that allocates achievement along lines of race, gender, and social class (McGee & Bentley, 2017; Tickamyer & Duncan, 1990; Winkle‐Wagner, 2009). In STEM, examples of opportunity structures may include tangible experiences, such as invitations to work in a lab, which allow students to cultivate research skills or expose them to the hidden and unspoken cultural norms of scientists, thereby allowing them to navigate majority spaces (Carlone & Johnson, 2007; Gasman & Nguyen, 2019). By leaning on The Unchosen Me concept, our inquiry focuses on the opportunities that facilitate the empowering possibilities of future Black women STEM graduates, who have chosen to earn their education at an HBCU.…”

“…HBCUs were founded in the mid‐19th Century and structured to provide opportunity for Black students during a time when access to historically White institutions was illegal and socially unacceptable (Anderson, 1988; Gasman, 2007). Despite the unconstitutionality of racial segregation in higher education, HBCUs continue to be a popular college choice for Black students, especially in light of the increasing physical and symbolic violence brought onto Black students and communities in the past decade (Gasman & Nguyen, 2019). Bounds of research have documented the power of these institutions to affirm Black students and offer them forms of support that reflect the interdependent (e.g., community oriented, attending to the needs of others before one's own) norms and practices of many Black communities and families (Allen et al, 1991; Fleming, 1984; Gasman et al 2015; Perna et al, 2009; Wood & Palmer, 2014).…”

Career Search Self‐Efficacy and STEM Major Persistence

“…These postsecondary retention rates are disproportionately lower for Black, Native American, and Latinx students and women interested in STEM fields (de Brey et al, 2019). Social factors, such as stereotype threat, racism, and an overall lack of support for underrepresented racial minorities and women, contribute to these high STEM attrition rates (Beasley & Fischer, 2012; Gasman & Nguyen, 2019). Other potential reasons students do not persist in STEM include (a) academic issues, such as harsher grading practices in STEM undergraduate programs compared with non‐STEM programs (Rask, 2010); (b) students perceiving STEM coursework as being too challenging (Chen, 2015); and (c) institutional barriers that limit students' ability to take STEM coursework during their 1st year of studies.…”