Bhoomi K. Thakore

The Academy for Future Science Faculty: randomized controlled trial of theory-driven coaching to shape development and diversity of early-career scientists

BackgroundApproaches to training biomedical scientists have created a talented research community. However, they have failed to create a professional workforce that includes many racial and ethnic minorities and women in proportion to their representation in the population or in PhD training. This is particularly true at the faculty level. Explanations for the absence of diversity in faculty ranks can be found in social science theories that reveal processes by which individuals develop identities, experiences, and skills required to be seen as legitimate within the profession.Methods/DesignUsing the social science theories of Communities of Practice, Social Cognitive Career Theory, identity formation, and cultural capital, we have developed and are testing a novel coaching-based model to address some of the limitations of previous diversity approaches. This coaching intervention (The Academy for Future Science Faculty) includes annual in-person meetings of students and trained faculty Career Coaches, along with ongoing virtual coaching, group meetings and communication. The model is being tested as a randomized controlled trial with two cohorts of biomedical PhD students from across the U.S., one recruited at the start of their PhDs and one nearing completion. Stratification into the experimental and control groups, and to coaching groups within the experimental arms, achieved equal numbers of students by race, ethnicity and gender to the extent possible. A fundamental design element of the Academy is to teach and make visible the social science principles which highly influence scientific advancement, as well as acknowledging the extra challenges faced by underrepresented groups working to be seen as legitimate within the scientific communities.DiscussionThe strategy being tested is based upon a novel application of the well-established principles of deploying highly skilled coaches, selected and trained for their ability to develop talents of others. This coaching model is intended to be a complement, rather than a substitute, for traditional mentoring in biomedical research training, and is being tested as such.

Coaching to Augment Mentoring to Achieve Faculty Diversity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose The Academy for Future Science Faculty (the Academy) is a novel coaching intervention for biomedical PhD students designed to address limitations in previous efforts to promote faculty diversity. Unlike traditional research mentoring, the Academy includes both group and individual coaching, coaches have no research or evaluation roles with the students, and it is based on social science theories. The authors present a qualitative case study of one of the coaching groups and provide statistical analyses indicating whether one year in the Academy effects students’ perceptions of the achievability and desirability of an academic career. Method The authors tested (July 2012–July 2013), with Northwestern University ethical approval, the Academy via a longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Participants were 121 latter-stage biomedical PhD students. The authors collected data via questionnaires, interviews, and meeting recordings. Results The case study shows how group career coaching can effectively supplement traditional one-to-one research mentoring; provide new role models for underrepresented minority students; and provide theory-based lenses through which to engage in open conversations about race, gender, and science careers. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed that perceived achievability increased in the Academy group from baseline to one-year follow-up (mean, 5.75 versus 6.39) but decreased in the control group (6.58 versus 5.81). Perceived desirability decreased significantly less (P < .05) in the Academy group (7.00 versus 6.36) than in the control group (7.83 versus 5.97). Conclusions Early results suggest that an academic career coaching model can effectively supplement traditional research mentoring and promote persistence toward academic careers.

Career Coaches as a Source of Vicarious Learning for Racial and Ethnic Minority PhD Students in the Biomedical Sciences: A Qualitative Study

Introduction Many recent mentoring initiatives have sought to help improve the proportion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities (URMs) in academic positions across the biomedical sciences. However, the intractable nature of the problem of underrepresentation suggests that many young scientists may require supplemental career development beyond what many mentors are able to offer. As an adjunct to traditional scientific mentoring, we created a novel academic career “coaching” intervention for PhD students in the biomedical sciences. Objective To determine whether and how academic career coaches can provide effective career-development-related learning experiences for URM PhD students in the biomedical sciences. We focus specifically on vicarious learning experiences, where individuals learn indirectly through the experiences of others. Method The intervention is being tested as part of a longitudinal randomized control trial (RCT). Here, we describe a nested qualitative study, using a framework approach to analyze data from a total of 48 semi-structured interviews from 24 URM PhD students (2 interviews per participant, 1 at baseline, 1 at 12-month follow-up) (16 female, 8 male; 11 Black, 12 Hispanic, 1 Native-American). We explored the role of the coach as a source of vicarious learning, in relation to the students’ goal of being future biomedical science faculty. Results Coaches were resources through which most students in the study were able to learn vicariously about how to pursue, and succeed within, an academic career. Coaches were particularly useful in instances where students’ research mentors are unable to provide such vicarious learning opportunities, for example because the mentor is too busy to have career-related discussions with a student, or because they have, or value, a different type of academic career to the type the student hopes to achieve. Implications Coaching can be an important way to address the lack of structured career development that students receive in their home training environment.

Racial Exclusion in the Online World

As the internet has become an integral part of everyday life, it is understood that patterns of racial stereotyping and discrimination found in the offline world are often reproduced online. In our paper, we examine two exclusionary practices in an online environment for adult toy collectors: First, the exclusion of non-white individuals who are expected to form immediate friendships with other non-white members; and second, the essentializing of racial issues when concerns over the lack of racial diversity in the toys are discussed. This dismissal is often directly connected to non-white members’ decisions to no longer participate, resulting in a new form of segregation within virtual space.

The burden of being “model”: Racialized experiences of Asian STEM college students.

This qualitative study used narrative methodology to investigate what becoming a scientist or engineer entails for Asian and Asian American college students stereotyped as “model minorities.” We present the narratives of 23 high-achieving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college students who self-identified as Asian or Asian American as they focused on the social contexts in which they encountered racialized bias in their academic environments. This study was guided by epistemological and methodological assumptions and beliefs, which influence how the data were interpreted, analyzed, and reported and were based on a 5-step phenomenological research design. Results included how these students experienced, negotiated, challenged, and managed distress from externally imposed stereotypes. The students constructed personal narratives mediated by symbolic cultural systems to make meaning of their experiences, which more often disputed than confirmed the model minority stereotype. This research has larger implications for STEM college education programs throughout the United States, which should not simply accept the normalization of successful Asian STEM students without robust understanding of the stereotypes they endure.

Providing Social Support for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minority PhD Students in the Biomedical Sciences: A Career Coaching Model.

This study explores whether academic career “coaching” is a potential source of social support for PhD students in the biomedical sciences. For many of the underrepresented racial and ethnic minority PhD students, coaching provided additional social support in the form of emotional, informational, and appraisal support that they might not have received within their home institutions.

Wonderful When It Works… A Case Study of Electronically Mediated Guest Lectures

Ubiquitous technology theoretically allows for the creation of a global classroom with students engaging scholars, activists, and other professionals from around the world. Technical and pedagogical issues, however, can result in less-than-effective presentations that in turn result in negative learning outcomes. Using a case study approach, we discuss the key considerations, common pitfalls, and outcomes of using Skype to facilitate a guest lecture with three presenters in three different locations.

Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Vietnam

Vietnam is a nation-state located in Southeastern Asia, sharing borders with Cambodia and Laos to the west, China to the north, the Gulf of Tonkin to the east, and the South China Sea to the south. It spans more than 331,210 sq. km, which compares in size to New Mexico in the United States. It is a country historically rife with conflict. In part, this can be traced to ongoing legacies of colonialism. The following chapter is organized under five general themes: (1) general demographic trends, (2) Vietnam in the racialized world system, (3) ethnic conflict and inequality in Vietnam, (4) intergroup conflict outside of Vietnam, and (5) future trends and what can be expected. In each of these sections, we sketch an empirical overview describing various historical and contemporary trends, and then we offer some theoretical assessments and explanations of these data. Though our analysis is not exhaustive, it nonetheless highlights a number of social problems that merit further examination and scrutiny if ethnic inequality in Vietnam is to be reduced.

Maintaining the Mechanisms of Colorblind Racism in the Twenty-First Century

The events of February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida will be remembered by man for years to come. That night, George Zimmerman, a 26-year-old half-Peruvian, phenotypically white man was on neighborhood watch and spotted Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black teenage boy who was staying in the area at the time and walking back to the house of his father’s girlfriend. The following events took place over the span of approximately 8 minutes. First, Zimmerman called 911 to report the suspicious activity. On the recording, we heard the 911 operator tell Zimmerman not to take action against the individual, but Zimmerman did anyway. Unidentified yelling follows. After that, the details of what transpired differ. Zimmerman claimed that he responded in self-defense. Witnesses claimed that they saw a fight between the two individuals, but it is unclear how or why it started. What is known is that an altercation between the two men ensued, and ended in Martin’s murder. The State of Florida charged Zimmerman with the murder, and the case went to trial on April 11, 2012. Zimmerman’s supporters pointed to the ‘‘stand your ground’’ policy, a law in Florida that permits anyone who perceives great bodily harm or death to use deadly force in order to protect themselves. However, even though Zimmerman’s lawyers did not use the ‘‘stand your ground’’ policy in their defense, their counterarguments led the jury to rule against the prosecution. On July 13, 2013, Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Martin’s murder. Regardless of the nuances of legal policies and judicial debates, it is likely that this crime was motivated by racial attitudes and racist assumptions. As Rachel