BioGrad Success Symposium: Navigating Identify and Allyship as BIPOC in STEM

2022 Biology Graduate Success Symposium

Being Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) in STEM

Wednesday February 23, 2022

2:15 - 3:00 PM (PST)

Download this guide HERE

Session Leaders:

• Lennice Castro

• Hema Kopalle

Goals:

The interdisciplinary fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) in the United States are historically racially homogenous. The goal of this session is to provide awareness of the current environment in STEM for BIPOC individuals, including challenges and brief advice. The resources provided here may be specific to UCSD’s Biological Science program.

Outline:

Goals: 1

Identifying systemic and structural biases in academia 1

Brief history of race and racial inequity at UC San Diego 2

Representation, Retention,  Retention and Action 2

Recruitment 2

Retention & Inclusion 3

Funding 3

Recommendations on how to navigate being BIPOC in Academia 4

Resources for BIPOC at UCSD 4

Identifying systemic and structural biases in academia

• When we talk about Black, Indigenous, People of Color it’s often presented as “others” and “white”. This is not the case outside the US and Western Europe, where a “Person of Color” is a person first. 

• Gentle reminder that systemic definitions of BIPOC are not disaggregated, and often obscure the marginalization of other identities and stereotypes. A good example can be found at The Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

• Recognize that “cultural capital” is defined by the dominant group: “(1) what constitutes cultural capital may vary by the racial position of the holder of cultural capital and (2) those who are dominant in the racial hierarchy contribute to determining what constitutes cultural capital for those they dominate according to their own interests” 1

While overt racism is often easy to identify, subtler systemic microaggressions can go unchecked for years. Some examples to help you recognize microaggressions:

• Repeated mispronunciation of names despite correction. This can extend into selective mispronunciation.

• Generalized statements about the quality of academia or publishing in specific countries.

• Removal of individuals from projects, publications, or presentations 

• Professors/advisers directing students to leave programs because students were not “one of them” 

• Making jokes related to race/ethnicity directly to students of color and international students

• Insinuating that grads of color are in their programs due to racial quotas rather than merit 

• Undergrad students writing racial stereotypes and commentary on the race of the TA in CAPEs/Departmental evals

Brief history of race and racial inequity at UC San Diego

UC San Diego has a history of racism and anti-Blackness that have repeatedly escalated to community-wide incidents. The GPSA has put together an 8 page document of Race on Campus that expand on these concerns.

• 2010: The 2010 “Compton Cookout” marked a turning point for UCSD Administration to address racial inequities with the establishment of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Division, and starting conversations about “recruitment, retention, success”.

  • In response to the Compton Cookout, the Black Student Union (BSU) published a “State of Emergency” address with demands for the establishment of cultural resources centers and actions.

• 2016: In 2016 Pro-Trump messages were chalked on campus sidewalks, prompting news outlets to report on the racial climate on campus. The analysis by the Lumumba-Zapata Collective in the San Diego Free Press offers a detailed analysis of campus data on BIPOC representation and climate.

  • Note that the Undocumented Student Services office was established before these incidents.

• 2020: Ten years after the initial BSU demands, following the global protests od the murder of George Flyd, the BSU released a follow-up statement reiterating many of the same demands.

  • It is important to note that BSU explicitly rejects the use of the term “People of Color” and “Communities of Color” as it fails to disaggregate the specific experiences of Black students.

• 2021: UCSD applied to become a Hispanic Serving Institution. This requires the institution to have enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application.

• 2021: The International Students and Programs Office reports that 20% of the total campus population is made of international students. Of those, 64% (12.4% of total population) are from: South Korea, Taiwan, China, and India.

• 2022: UCSD is in the process of applying to become an Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, Desi serving institution.

Representation, Retention, Inclusion, and Action

Recruitment

• We (BIPOC) know recruitment is important on all levels (K-12 to leadership) because it is the only way to hold the door open for others.

• This is the most visible part of most efforts. Unfortunately, this is also another avenue of unpaid labor for BIPOC. Find the balance of how much you want to participate, and don’t feel guilty for saying no. “We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are” — Anaïs Nin

Actions you can take (if you have the bandwidth):

• Take on undergraduate mentees and support their work/life balance. Help provide a space for them to express themselves in STEM while acknowledging they have life beyond the university.

• Participate in search committees and recruitment events across campus. BioSci recruits students, staff, and faculty. Ask your PI about their post-doc hiring process. Participate in the campus-wide searches for positions like the Dean of Health Sciences.

Retention & Inclusion

• Data on retention is often used as a program metric for DEI success, because it indicates how many BIPOC are present. This is obviously not sufficient – half the battle of increasing diversity is creating a climate where people want to be. Limas and colleagues identify “Minority Stress” as a contributor to mental health issues in historically marginalized groups. This can be compounded for individuals with marginalized identities in a dominant majority workgroup. 2

• This is also a subtle way to identify if an environment is a good place for you. How many people have left, and how many are staying. Of those who stay, do they feel comfortable expressing themselves (food, clothing, hair)?

Actions you can take (if you have the bandwidth):

• Encourage speaking about the lived experiences of your group. You can start small, discussing holidays or restaurants

• Hold optional “EDI Hour” or some other space for your group to talk about non-research stressors in life.

• Find and engage with your community

Funding  

• Systemic racism does not exclude the funding and award sphere. Though it’s assumed that funding structures are a meritocracy, awards and funds go to a select group of research labs. “35%–40% of NIH grant funding was indeed awarded to the top 10% of the investigator workforce” 3

Actions you can take (if you have the bandwidth):

• Collaborate with other groups to strengthen your grant applications?

• Share these data with administrators who are in a position to change the system

Awards

• “under-represented students innovate at a higher rate than majority students, but are less likely to be recognised for their contributions, termed the “Diversity–Innovation Paradox in Science” 4

• “awardees [of biomedical research awards] are overwhelmingly white (more than 90%)” 5

Actions you can take (if you have the bandwidth):

• Self-nominate!

• Nominate others for awards, including unfunded awards like “Inclusive Excellence”. It takes some time to write about others, but it’s worth it!

• Accept opportunities to serve on judging panels for posters, talks, and other awarding events. This serves two purposes: visibility of BIPOC in positions of power, and the inclusion of another perspective when providing awards.

Advocating for yourself and others

Actions you can take (if you have the bandwidth):

• Read the following:

  • Clemens, Khodakhah, and Fenton published an organized article “Navigating Clues to Success in Academia”. All three are BIPOC and include that experience in their paper.6

  • Hood Feminism

Recommendations on how to navigate being BIPOC in Academia

• As many of us know, representation matters, and is often a building block for forming a community. Seek out other BIPOC, first-gen, and immigrant students within your cohorts, the division, greater-UCSD, and even outside academia altogether because they will "get" it.

• It's exhausting to whitewash and "professionalize" yourself

  • The current climate does not reward non-white life and it won't change without systemic change, but chnage is something we can actively work towards

  • Don’t be afraid to be your whole true self in spaces that you feel welcome to do so. Sometimes this is in the lab, with your close friends, student orgs, etc.

  • Share your identity,, culture, and lived experience when YOU are comfortable doing so, not when you feel pressured to do so by others

  • Block time every week to just be, whatever that means for you

• Be mindful that power and marginalization are intersectional. Sometimes that means waiting and amplifying another community before your own

Resources for BIPOC at UCSD

1. Seminar Series

   1. DASL - https://www.ucsddasl.com

   2. Connections Events

2. Grad Student Orgs

   1. GPSA - https://gpsa.ucsd.edu/

   2. oSTEM - https://ostem.ucsd.edu 

   3. SACNAS - https://sacnasatucsd.ucsd.edu

   4. BUMMP - https://www.bummpucsd.org

   5. Girls Who Code - https://girlswhocode.com

   6. BioEASI - https://bioeasi.ucsd.edu 

   7. You can also reach out to undergraduate student organizations that may love support and mentorship from graduate students. Cultural student orgs can be found at: https://studentorg.ucsd.edu/Home/Index/9 

• Diversity and Science Lecture series (DASL)

• Graduate Christian Fellowship @ UCSD (GCF)

• Graduate Out In STEM (Grad oSTEM)

• International Graduate Student Ministry (IGSM) at UCSD

• Black Graduate and Professional Student Association (BGPSA)

• Parents and Caregivers at UCSD (PAC)

• Graduate Bioinformatics Council, (GBIC)

• Robotic Graduate Student Organization at UCSD (RoboGrads)

• Biology Education and Art for Science Innovation (BioEASI)

• Biotech Group at UCSD

• Journal of International Policy Solutions

• Opioid Use and Harm Reduction Student Interest Group (OpRed)

• Graduate women in computing (GradWIC)

• SCIENCE Class - a jail outreach program

• ECE Graduate Student Council (ECE GSC)

• Queer Graduate Student Association (QGSA)

• Triton Food Pantry (TFP)

• Bioengineering Graduate Society (BEGS)

• RE-volv_UCSD

• Grad oSTEM @ UCSD

• Green New Deal at UCSD (GND at UCSD)

• Graduate Women in Computing (GradWIC)

• Biotech Group at UCSD

• San Diego Tutoring Tree

• Association for Women in Mathematics at UC San Diego (AWM at UCSD)

1. Community Centers and Programs

   1. Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, Desi  Programs and Services - https://apimeda.ucsd.edu/index.html

   2. Intertribal Resource Center - https://itrc.ucsd.edu/index.html

   3. Women’s Center - https://women.ucsd.edu

   4. Black Resource Center - https://brc.ucsd.edu

   5. Cross Cultural Center - https://ccc.ucsd.edu

   6. LGBT Resource Center - https://lgbt.ucsd.edu

   7. RAZA Resource Center - https://raza.ucsd.edu

2. Optional: Additional Reading

   1. Thick: And Other Essays

   2. Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminists

   3. Hood Feminism (does not address the South Adian diaspora)

   4. Crying in H Mart

   5. Who is Wellness Fo

   6. Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

   7. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

   8. Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America

   9. Ask Hema for recommendations of really good fiction/sci-fi/fantasy books with BIPOC and stories that make us feel seen.

      1. Ex. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor 

References:

1. Cartwright, A. A theory of racialized cultural capital. Sociol. Inq. (2022) doi:10.1111/soin.12479.

2. Limas, J. C., Corcoran, L. C., Baker, A. N., Cartaya, A. E. & Ayres, Z. J. The impact of research culture on mental health & diversity in STEM. Chemistry e202102957 (2022) doi:10.1002/chem.202102957.

3. Dzirasa, K. Revising the a Priori Hypothesis: Systemic Racism Has Penetrated Scientific Funding. Cell 183, 576–579 (2020).

4. Hofstra, B. et al. The Diversity–Innovation Paradox in Science. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 117, 9284–9291 (2020).

5. Jan, Y. N. Underrepresentation of Asian awardees of United States biomedical research prizes. Cell 185, 407–410 (2022).

6. Clemens, A. M., Khodakhah, K. & Fenton, A. A. Navigating clues to success in academia. Neuron (2021) doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.09.043.