Research Funding

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Research Funding

• Major for research available through federal
  research agencies
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Grant proposal must receive support from
  university administration
• Proposal is then subjected to peer review
• Program officers play somewhat of a role in
  decision-making process

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Scientific career path

• Limited careers available to those with
  undergraduate science degrees
• In general, doctorate required to wield
  significant power within field
• Ph.D. required for
• Tenured faculty positions at universities
• Assistant, associate, full professorships
• Acquisition of research funding from federal
  agencies (NIH, NSF)
• Influential positions in industry

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Scientific Apartheid

• While overt discrimination is illegal, social
  group hierarchies persist
• Result under representation of minorities in
  science
• While some progress has been made, leaky
  pipeline exists
• Many successful minority science students decide
  to pursue other interests

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Why fight for change?

• Moral / ethical concerns
• Benefits of diversity!!
• Diverse ideas enhance science!

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US Bureau of the CensusPopulation Estimates

• Estimated composition of U.S. population (18-30
  year olds)
• Asian, 4
• Hispanic, 13
• Black, 14
• American Indian, 0.8

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Startling Statistics

• Blacks and Hispanics earn only 13 of SE
  undergraduate degrees, 7 of doctorates
• Black and Hispanic SE are
• Less likely than White faculty to be full
  professors
• Earn lower salaries than White SE (NSF, 2000)

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Startling Statistics, contd.

• only 13 African-Americans in nations top 50
  chemistry depts (lt0.8)
• Of 930 math faculty at highest-ranked univs., 4
  are Black (0.4)
• Of 1,224 physics faculty at highest-ranked
  univs., 7 are Black

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Startling Statistics, contd.

• Of 1,800 living members of Natl Academy of
  Sciences
• 70 are women
• 2 are African-American

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Summary Statistics

• Scientists and engineers in the U.S. labor force
  (1997)
• White, 82
• Asian/Pacific Islander, 10
• Black, 3.4
• Hispanic, 3.1
• American Indian, 0.3

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Add and Stir Approach to Multiculturalism

• Recent attempts to increase representation have
  involved recruitment of minority students
• Problem places responsibility of reform on those
  already marginalized by science
• System of science education must change, to make
  minority students feel welcome, remove feelings
  of inferiority

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System of ScienceWhy exclusionary?

• Denies students opportunity to see themselves
  reflected in curriculum
• Values courses designed to weed out students
• Emphasizes knowledge as commodity doled out by
  professors (not constructed by students)
• Ignores unequal academic opportunities that
  characterize different socioeconomic backgrounds

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What works?

• Incorporating multicultural perspectives into
  curriculum
• Structuring labs in a manner that fosters group
  work, collaboration
• Providing opportunities for all to succeed

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Minority Physicians

• Representation of minorities in medical field has
  varied throughout history
• In late 19th century, several medical schools
  founded for blacks
• Professionalization of medicine in early 20th
  century limited opportunities
• Internships, residencies required for
  specialization
• State medical boards

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Subtle discrimination

• Case of female molecular biologist Nancy Hopkins
  at MIT
• Less than 10 of senior faculty in natural
  sciences and engineering are women
• 5 at Harvard, 6.2 at MIT
• Numbers are half of what exists at junior faculty
  level

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The case of Nancy Hopkins

• 20 year career at Hopkins
• Course she had developed was taken over by male
  professors (in hopes to commercialize)
• Wrote letter to Pres. Charles Vest signed by
  other female colleagues
• Women met as a group with Dean of Sciences Robert
  Birgeneau

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Hopkins

• Women described experiences as death by a
  thousand pinpricks
• Granted permission for women to form committee to
  gather data committee opposed by dept. chairs
• Findings
• Senior male faculty members 280 sq ft of lab
  space female had 185 (same as jr. faculty)
• Number of university-granted awards was skewed
• Numbers of female faculty had not changed since
  1970s
• Women excluded from search committees encouraged
  to teach

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Hopkins

• Birgeneau immediately came up with plan to remedy
  situation
• Number of female science faculty has risen from
  22 to 34 (males dropped from 252 to 222)
• Lab space, awards granted
• Issues that still need to be addressed (e.g.,
  benefits, child care)

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Sample exam question

• Using Louis Agassizs theory of polygeny as an
  example, explain how scientific theories
  regarding race are often a reflection of the
  social / political climate that existed at the
  time the theory was developed, rather than being
  a reflection of sound scientific data.