Plant Science, Racial Inequity &amp; Social Justice

Callis‐Duehl, Kristine; Walsh, Lisa L.; Kaggwa, Ruth J.; Arango-Caro, Sandra; Parsley, Kathryn M.; Funk, Amy

doi:10.1525/abt.2022.84.4.185

Cited by 2 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…These findings align with previous studies supporting the idea that these systemic issues present a major barrier to graduate student career success (Griffin, 2020; Miner et al, 2018; van Anders, 2004). Multiple intervention methods to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in plant science have been posited in recent years, including using anti‐racist pedagogy, allyship training, and using plant science for social justice (Butler et al, 2021; Callis‐Duehl et al, 2022; Pandey, 2020). Such interventions will be critical for academic programs and non‐academic sector employers to implement in order to recruit and retain the next generation of plant scientists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the landscape of plant science careers in the United States II: Academic perspectives

Walsh

Parsley

Sidoti

et al. 2023

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact StatementBotanical careers are more important than ever, given that environmental challenges such as climate change and deforestation threaten plants daily and because plants contribute to solutions to these problems. Plants act as our sources of food, medicine, textiles, and oxygen, which means finding ways to mitigate these environmental challenges is crucial. Despite this, little is known about what career opportunities exist for botanists outside of academia and how well academia is training graduate students for these careers. This study centers on the current state of academic botanical careers and how well students completing post‐baccalaureate degrees (herein referred to as graduate students) are being prepared to fill careers within the botanical workforce.Summary Plant science plays a crucial role in our society and in ongoing efforts to address many global challenges, including food insecurity and climate change. Despite a predicted increase in botanical career opportunities, little is known about how well academia is training graduate students for careers outside of academia. To further our understanding of the current state of academic training for botanical careers, we surveyed 85 faculty and 40 graduate students working in academia in the plant sciences in the United States. We found that the top challenges to university professors in academia are lack of support staff and funding, whereas students completing their post‐baccalaureate degrees cited finances and lack of supportive mentoring as their top challenges. Despite the fact that most graduate students surveyed wanted a career at a research‐intensive university, many botanists in academia are retiring without being replaced by more botanists. Faculty expertise is also misaligned with needs from industry and government employers, causing challenges to training graduate students for these careers outside of academia. Although our data point to a lack of career opportunities within academia, we also note that current graduate student education still emphasizes such careers and is not properly preparing graduate students for the careers they are more likely to obtain within the private and government sectors. We discuss the implications of these findings and present several recommendations for preparing future generations of plant scientists for more realistic career trajectories.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the landscape of plant science careers in the United States II: Academic perspectives

Walsh

Parsley

Sidoti

et al. 2023

Plants People Planet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…During the enzyme lab, students were assigned either alcohol, salt, or pH and had to determine whether these factors accelerated or decelerated the apple browning process ( 10 ). Browning occurred when catechol in the apple reacted with oxygen in the presence of catecholase (an enzyme found in apples).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The options for the independent variable were distance of light from the leaf discs, different colored light on the leaf discs, different wattages of light on the leaf discs, or other ideas the students had using the available supplies. The rate of photosynthesis was measured by the number of leaf discs that became suspended in the solution when introduced to the independent variable ( 10 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Biology Laboratory II, the investigations that were included in this study were a population genetics lab (“Is the ECU captive population of fruit flies in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?”; weeks 1 to 3 of the semester) and a phylogenetics lab (“Do the phylogenetic trees for morphological data and genetic data agree when classifying spider genitalia?”; weeks 4 to 6 of the semester). For the population genetics lab, each group extracted DNA from ECU captive fruit flies and used PCR to replicate the DNA ( 12 ). The students then used gel electrophoresis to separate the DNA according to molecular size, enabling the students to compare different DNA samples.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the phylogenetics lab, the groups explored the evolutionary relationships of spider species by analyzing morphological and molecular characteristics ( 12 ). The students compared the morphological traits of trapdoor spiders (genus Myrmekiaphila ) using pictures of genitalia morphology, as those traits are critical to identifying trapdoor spiders to the species level ( 14 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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