Unintended Consequences

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Unintended Consequences

• How science professors unintentionally discourage
  women of color
• 23 February 2007

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• To download this presentation and some of the
  papers it is based on
• www.smcm.edu/users/acjohnson/Duke

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2001 college grads
Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 28
Sept 2005
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2001 college grads
Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 28
Sept 2005
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2001 college grads
Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 28
Sept 2005
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2001 PhDs, working scientists
Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 30
Sept 2005
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The good news
Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/sex.htm,
Tables D-2 D-3, retrieved 20 Feb 2007
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The bad news

• African American, Latino and American Indian
  students are less likely to graduate in science
  than similarly prepared White and Asian students
  (Huang, Taddese Walter, 2000)
• At CU Boulder This pattern persists among
  declared science majors after controlling for
  financial need and preparation (Johnson, under
  review)

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Why this matters

• Equity
• Quality of science (Harding, 1991, 1993)
• Employment patterns altruistic science
  (Johnson, 2005)

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The question

• Why are women--especially women of
  color--under-represented in the sciences?

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Explanations
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(No Transcript)
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National Academies report
Executive summary, Beyond Bias and Barriers,
available at http//www.nap.edu/catalog/11741.html
, under download free
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National Academies report
Executive summary, Beyond Bias and Barriers,
available at http//www.nap.edu/catalog/11741.html
, under download free
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Subconscious bias

• Implicit Association test 71 associate science
  with men, 9 associate it with women.
• To take the test implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/d
  emo/
• For more info www.projectimplicit.net/research.p
  hp
• Nosek, B. A., Smyth, F. L., Hansen, J. J.,
  Devos, T., Lindner, N. M., Ranganath, K. A.,
  Smith, C. T., Olson, K. R., Chugh, D., Greenwald,
  A. G., Banaji, M. R. (2006). Pervasiveness and
  Correlates of Implicit Attitudes and
  Stereotypes.. Unpublished manuscript University
  of Virginia.

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Seemingly neutral conditions

• Seymour Hewitt (1997), Talking About Leaving
• 350 well-prepared students, 7 institutions
  across the country
• Some stayed in science, some left
• All reported similar conditions

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Seemingly neutral conditions

• Hard classes
• Bad teaching
• Competition
• Fast pace
• Heavy work loads
• Unsupportive culture

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Seemingly neutral conditions

• Masculine skill rising to a challenge, without
  nurture
• Most women we encountered had entered college at
  a peak of self-confidence, based on good high
  school performances, good or adequate SAT scores
  and a great deal of encouragement and praise from
  high school teachers, family and friends
  (255-256).

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Seemingly neutral conditions

• in treating male and female student alike,
  faculty are, in effect, treating women in ways
  that are understood by the men, but not by the
  women (260).
• White middle class skill focus on individual
  goals

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Seemingly neutral conditions

• Eisenhart Finkel (1998), Womens Science
• Study of science workplaces which women believed
  were good for women
• For the most part, the women actually found easy
  access and success only insofar as they worked as
  if they were prototypical white males (12).

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At last Women of color

• First Some seemingly neutral conditions which
  disadvantage women of color
• Next Your responses
• Then Some possible solutions
• And finally More good news

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My study

• Setting Large Research I university, 85 white
• Participants 6 Black women, 7 Latinas, 3
  American Indians, 4 Asian/Pacific Islanders
• Academic preparation comparable to other science
  majors

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Data

• 12 formal interviews
• Participant observation in classes and labs (gen
  chem, honors chem, physics, environmental bio,
  molecular bio, o chem, plant anatomy, human
  anatomy)

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Data analysis

• Searched for patterns of behavior and experiences
• Generated assertions
• Checked assertions against new data
• Presented findings to participants
• Focus groups with other women of color

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Findings

• 3 discouraging practices in science classes
• Large lecture classes
• Asking and answering questions in class
• Engaging in research

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Findings

• Two discouraging cultural values
• Focus on decontextualized science
• Presentation of science as meritocratic, raceless
  and genderless

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Large lecture classes

• The women
• Wanted to get to know professors
• (Many) came from urban or rural schools where
  they were cherished
• Found lectures alienating felt conspicuous but
  also invisible

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• It was a shock, literally a shock walking into
  my first class and seeing the teacher down there
  with the microphone, and seeing him like put up
  the screen on this hugeI mean, its bigger than
  our little theater in our town, Im just like oh
  my god, you know, I mean it was huge, and I just
  couldnt adjust to that.

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• And I couldnt adjust to the fact that I
  couldnt talk to this teacher, you know,
  face-to-face. One, I didnt have the time, and
  then they didnt have the time. Because they
  were always doing other things, and they had like
  five hundred students in the first class, so its
  just like, they cant take that much time just
  for you, you know.
• --American Indian woman, molecular biology major,
  now a pharmacist

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• Alexis was in cell biology with us that year.
  And towards the last exam, Alexis and I went to
  go talk to the professor who was teachinghes a
  really good teacher. He said strange, I dont
  recognize you guys from my class. Do you sit in
  the back? And in retrospect, I was like Dang!
  How could he miss us?? Me, Alexis and Derartu
  were the only Black people in the whole class!
  I was like do you not look up? I dont know.
  Next time well sit on your little podium.

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• Even though, you know, maybe he didnt
  recognize us legitimately, OK? Theres like
  three hundred people to stare at every day for
  six months or whatever. But still, I still just
  felt like not involved in the class, you know?
  Just kind of like a spectator of the class, like
  Im not really a part of the learning process,
  Im just kind of watching and hopefully getting a
  good grade.
• --Black woman, molecular biology major, now with
  a masters in public health

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Asking and answering questions

• Common tactic of professors
• Seems laudable
• Good way to be recognized by professors
• Some students take advantage of it more than
  others
• White men answered, white women asked, women of
  color were silent

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Asking and answering questions

• Socialized as women not to draw attention
• Felt conspicuous
• Feared they alone, out of 250 students, were
  confused
• All students seemed to have this opportunity but
  only some took it

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• Like the classes were, you know, theres a
  select few over-achievers who laugh at all the
  jokes, who ask questions, who ask the challenge
  the professor questions, who probably clone
  genes at home, I dont knowits like those
  select few and the professor, and everybody else
  is just either asleep or just scribing every word
  they can get. And thats just what I felt
  likethe class is just following along, and Im
  just sort of like along for the ride.
• --Black molecular biology major

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Doing research

• Some women in this study had outstanding
  experiences
• Some had spectacularly bad experiences

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• I like working in the lab because I get to go in
  there and I get to do all this stuff that you
  have no idea what youre doingbecause you work
  with things that you cant see, right? And so
  you do a lot of stuff, and you dont know what
  youre doing, you dont know if its going to
  work or whatever, and then you find out that it
  works, and youre just kind of like Wow, I did
  that, and it worked! And now I know that this
  species is not related to this species...

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• It was just all this work on trying to find out
  using DNA sequencing if some species were
  related, and how closely they were related. It
  was just learninglearning about things that you
  cant see by using things that you can see.
  After I graduate, I want to come back and do a
  doctorate, probably in genetics, some kind of
  genetics. And then I want to do research. I
  just find it fascinating! Youre always
  learning! Thats what I likeI like learning.
  Finding things out.
• --Latina molecular biology major, now a
  PhD-holding research scientist

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• I did research my freshmen year in an
  environmental biology lab and it was sooooo
  boring to me. I was looking into a microscope
  3-4 hours a day looking at fungi. How fun is
  that? I would go to the professor in charge of
  the lab with intent of getting course advice or
  help as far as what else my biology degree would
  get me. I was expecting a mentor, but that
  didn't happen. He was too busy for little ol
  me.

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• Also one of his grad students accused me of
  stealing his favorite pen, which ended up being
  in his lab pocket the whole time and he
  eventually apologized. That is why I switched my
  major.

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• Then I did paid research in a kinesiology lab my
  second year. That was cool, it was in a human
  cardiovascular lab. Then another student and I
  wrote a grant to go to Mexicothat was the best
  experience ever. And now I am doing my own
  independent stuff on diabetes in the
  Latino/Hispanic community.

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• Anyway, my mentor is acting like it is such a
  hassle to work with me, so I don't know or care
  what is up with him. He just seems so distant.
  The whole purpose of having a mentor is to have
  that person MENTOR you. My lab now is highly
  male dominated. Sometimes I just feel so
  inferior, not only because I am a female, but
  because I am an undergraduate. I feel at times I
  have a double stereotype, a woman of color.
• -Latina kinesiology major, masters in public
  health, now applying to doctoral programs

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Research Mixed results

• Intimate spaces, close contacts with professors
• Some labs let women express their interest in
  science
• Other labs amplified womens feelings of
  alienation and difference

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Decontextualized science

• Lectures and labs focused on minutiae of science
• Seldom gave a big picture
• Seldom talked about why information was
  interesting
• just pouring information at you in a sort of
  condescending way

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Decontextualized science

• Reasons women in the study liked science
• Its interesting
• Means to a health career
• Interested in the human body
• Felt slighted or alienated when these motivations
  were not acknowledged

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Decontextualized science

• Professors centered interactions around science,
  not around students

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• Some science professors only look to the science
  aspects, theyre only into the intellectual
  thing. I guess they have to be if theyre
  teaching that, butI cannot expect them to be
  open-minded about different things, like your
  life, when you do get advice from them. Many
  people are just like OK, this is the career,
  this very intellectual, Ph.D., Masters, that
  kind of thing. I think they should ask the
  question like what do you want to do? What
  makes you happy?
• --Asian American molecular biology major,
  completed PhD in biomedical sciences, now in
  medical school

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• Merima Whenever I go talk to molecular biology
  professors, they make me feel, I dont knowhes
  a nice teacher, but they make me feel stupid.
  Chris Monica Uh-huh. I couldnt even
  divide ten thousand by tenI was so nervous. One
  time he said did you understand what I just
  said? I said uh-huh, so he said repeat in
  your own words, and I couldnt. The hard thing
  is that for med school, they want you to have two
  science recommendations. This summer Im going
  to work with somebody, but I dont know who else
  I could get a recommendation from. Im not just
  going to go up to somebody, just because I went
  to their office hours.

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• Angela What are they doing that makes you feel
  stupid?
• Monica They put you on the spot.
• Merima And theyre not too friendly. If you
  dont know the answer, they just wait.
• Chris Its like they expect you to know the
  answer. And then, if you dont, they just wait.
  They dont tell you the answer.
• Merima And I can tell you a lot of molecular
  biology students feel like this. Its not just
  me or Chris.

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Meritocracy

• Belief that success in science comes only from
  talent
• Well-intentioned belief, but
• Made some of the women feel like special cases,
  even more different

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• I was doing my report on Graves Disease a
  couple weeks ago. Theres different genes
  related to Graves Disease, for different
  ethnicities, and for a long time, they were like
  OK, its just this one gene, but it was only
  found with white people. And I thought that was
  really interesting. But then in my presentation,
  I was like should I mention the part about
  African Americans having a different gene? And
  women get affected a lot more. And I thought
  damn, thats kind of messed up, that I should
  re-think presentingits as normal to the disease
  as its symptoms, know what Im saying? But
  still, I sort of felt damn, should I not mention
  that?

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• In class, if theres one black person and youre
  the only other colored person, you know that
  youre going to get to know that person, just by
  that person being brown, because its just
  likeyou always get called out in class, and you
  have nobody else to talk to, because they dont
  know how it is to be brown, and in school, and it
  is totally different.
• --American Indian pharmacist

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• In a class where theres me and then like one or
  two other people of color, we all seem to stick
  together, and somehow we all end up being lab
  partners, or something like that. Some people
  may feel like theyre being left out, or they
  cant interact with the white people in the
  class, or something like that, because it seems
  like whenever Im sitting there and its time to
  pick your lab partner, whoever else is the
  minority in the classroom will come and find me.
  Most of my lab partners have been minorities.
• --Latina molecular biology major, now pursuing
  PhD in the biomedical sciences

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Meritocracy

• Made race and gender patterns seem like personal
  choices
• Obscured common reasons women of color studied
  science

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Conclusions

• Women in this study faced the same difficulties
  all science students faced
• Weed-out courses
• Multiple choice exams
• Inaccessible professors

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Conclusions

• They also faced unique difficulties
• Felt conspicuous
• Didnt like to draw attention
• Felt conflicted between their altruism their
  professors decontextualized science
• Interpreted decontextualization as hostility or
  lack of caring
• Were skeptical of claims about meritocracy

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Difficulties came from

• Pragmatism (big classes)
• Good intentions (asking and answering questions
  in class, taking on research assistants)

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Success in these settings required

• Comfort with attention
• Knowledge of how to succeed in an unsupportive
  environment
• Comfort with personal interactions centered on
  information, not relationship
• Race- and gender-blindness

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But the setting seemed fair

• Because rhetoric of meritocracy obscured racial
  and gendered patterns
• Both the women in the study professors
  explained womens non-participation in individual
  terms--lack of interest, lack of preparation,
  lack of ability

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Feedback

• Does this data--and my arguments about it--seem
  convincing?
• Other seemingly neutral practices?

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Some solutions

• Recognize that science has a culture which
  certain types of students may not be familiar
  with
• Occasionally put science in context
• Establish rapport with students during office
  hours or research
• Mention race gender where they make sense

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Other solutions??
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Altruism

• Subset of previous sample
• 3 Black women, 4 Latinas, 3 American Indian
  women, 4 Asian/Pacific Islanders
• Still in contact with them 5-6 years after
  original study
• 13 of the 14 expressed specific altruistic
  values, often tied to science

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• No matter what I choose to do, Im sure it will
  be something like a doctor, a teacher, a
  counselor, something where Im involved with
  other people and working, trying to help other
  people.
• --African American biology/psychology major, now
  an M.D.

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Altruism and science careers

• Career goals as undergraduates
• Teaching science (4)
• Using science to preserve the environment (3)
• Health professions (10)

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Medicine as altruistic science

• And so, with medicine, I could have patients,
  and I could do clinical research, and stuff like
  that. Anything that I can do to help people
  would really make me feel good
• --Latina molecular biology major, now working on
  a PhD in biomedical sciences

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Medicine as altruistic science

• 1. medicine is fun, fascinating, 2. it is a
  career that will keep me interested and
  challenged, 3. the opportunity to serve many
  different people
• --2005 email, American Indian biology major, now
  an M.D.

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Medicine as altruistic science

• Seven students specified desire to work with
  under-served populations

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Medicine as altruistic science

• From what I see, theyre the ones who dont have
  all the means necessary to keep them really
  healthy. So I want to work with people of
  color. And Im a person of color, and I want to
  see them be healthy, and do well, and help them
  succeed, just like I did.
• --American Indian M.D.

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Race and altruism

• 5 students connected their altruism with their
  experiences as women of color and residents of
  medically under-served areas

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Race and altruism

• If youre often put in a lesser position, or
  something like that, and you manage to get above
  that, but you see other people being subjected to
  it, then you want to do what you can to help them
  out of it, and make them see that theres another
  way.
• --African American M.D.

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Altruism as a buffer

• In science settings
• I get the feeling I do when I walk through
  somebodys house with shoes on. Like Im in
  somebody elses home and Im improperly walking,
  when Im in science
• --African American molecular biology major, now
  in public health

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• Sophomore year was like the year I was going to
  switch and become a teacher, and get my
  mastersI dont know what I was going to do, but
  it was going to be something else, and the
  director of an enrichment program for students of
  color in science was like no, there is a way to
  find the union between social issues and science.
  Just stick with it. And on that faith, on
  faith that he was right, I decided, well, Ill
  try it.
• --African American public health worker

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• I dont really have a feel for the science
  department. But working with other people, and
  being active with other communities of color, you
  learn about their struggles and this or that, and
  so when you apply both of them togetherbiology
  and working with peopleI can see that medicine
  is one way to connect them all. So thats
  helping me achieve my goal.
• --American Indian M.D.

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Altruism as a bridge to science

• I wasnt as excited to work on plants as I was
  to work on animals, just because it didnt really
  affect me whether or not this family belonged to
  this family or not, but now that Ive been doing
  it, its really interesting, just like seeing the
  way that they go about doing it.
• --Latina molecular biology major, now working on
  PhD

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• I remember studying about genetics and the base
  primers and blah blah, and here I am, doing it in
  real lifelife a mad scientist. I used to think,
  this is just a job to provide the means for the
  ends (graduation). But now I am doing so well in
  this job and have learned how the worlds of hard
  science meet public health.
• --2005 email, Latina kinesiology major, on
  working in a kinesiology lab to put herself
  through her masters in public health.

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7 years later.

• Engaged in research (natural or social sciences)
  with altruistic applications 7
• AIDS prevention
• Maternal and child health
• Organ transplants
• Infection in American Indian populations
• Pharmaceuticals

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7 years later.

• Health professionals (5)
• Applying to medical school (1)
• Organizing and recruiting women or women of color
  in the sciences (3)

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???

• Your ideas of how any or all of this could be
  used to retain more able women of color in the
  sciences???