Safer Science: Strategies to Protect At-Risk Researchers When Conducting Fieldwork: From Cornell. As a result of identity prejudice, certain individuals are more vulnerable to conflict and violence when they are performing scientific work in the field. To help create change and best practices, everyone within the scientific community will benefit from learning more about the risks some colleagues face performing fieldwork.
Small Pond Science EEB mentorship: We are pairing up students seeking support for fellowship and grad school applications with more experienced scientists who have agreed to give support and advice throughout the process. If you’re looking for a mentor, or you’d like to volunteer to be a mentor, please sign up!
SEEDS at NCSU: Ecological Society for America (ESA) Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) SEEDS was established by ESA in 1996 to reduce, over time, the serious under-representation within the field of ecology of individuals from certain minority groups. The first phase of the program (1996-2002) focused on institutional support of historically black colleges and universities. To learn more about the history of SEEDS, read “The First Six Years.” There is currently not an active SEEDS at NCSU group – interested faculty should contact Ben Reading, who was a previous faculty liasison.
CAALS 3D: Creating Awareness of Agriculture and Life Sciences Disciplines, Degree Programs and Discoveries: This is a CALS Dean’s Office Program designed by Lisa Guion Jones as a recruitment tool for URM undergraduates to NCSU, which provides short research experiences in the summer (typically around July). It is a week-long program and it involves the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in Durham and also other high schools in the state. URM students are provided with a summer research experience in agriculture or life sciences and then there is a symposium where the students present. LaTosha Bradley (latosha_bradley@ncsu.edu, in Harry Daniel’s Office) organizes it every year with Alex Graves (akgraves@ncsu.edu, Interim Director, CALS Office of Diversity Affairs). Ben Reading has been involved in this program since 2014 and he can provide more information about it (they are always looking for faculty volunteers to help host students!).
Lunch and Learn Conversations that Matter: These opportunities are sent out by CALS Office of Diversity and Inclusion (CALS ODI). They are free to attend, only registration is required. They are a bi-monthly series that enhances diversity awareness and builds cultural competencies for faculty, staff and students in CALS as well as university-wide. These shared lunches are meant to provide a safe space for the college community to come together to: explore different dimensions of diversity, gain skills they can use in the workplace and classroom, and foster a more inclusive environment. Contact LaTosha Bradley (latosha_bradley@ncsu.edu).
Opening Doors: This is a three-day overnight retreat that lays the foundation for personal and organizational growth. Participants deepen their awareness of diversity and enhance their ability to create inclusive organizations. The workshop addresses personal and professional change as part of an understanding differences initiative of multicultural organizational development. Contact LaTosha Bradley (latosha_bradley@ncsu.edu).
The Collective: A Space for Womxn of Color Community Connection: The Collective is a partnership between the Women’s Center and Prevention Services. The intention of The Collective is to create a space for existing and entering womxn of color at NC State to form a community, break silos, and deepen relationships through facilitated dialogue centered on truth-telling and testimonios.
Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS): SACNAS is an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM. Membership is open to people of any STEM major, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and disability status. The chapters at each University are committed to the advancement of BIPOC through engagement in professional development, community building, and outreach and education. The annual conference is the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country. If you’re interested in being involved, please reach out to us, or fill out the form here.
NC State’s GLBT Advocacy Programs: The GLBT Advocate Program is a continuing education and engagement program for faculty and staff designed to provide participants with ongoing opportunities to learn and show their support as allies and advocates of the GLBT community. Through taking an intersectional look at the incredibly diverse GLBT community, participants gain a stronger understanding of gender and sexuality, beyond our Project SAFE and Trans 101 workshop.
NC State’s African American Cultural Center: The African American Cultural Center promotes awareness of and appreciation for African American and other African descent experiences through activities and events that enhance academic excellence and strengthen cultural competence for the campus and surrounding communities. The African American Cultural Center stays actively engaged in the academic life of NC State with programs, resources and services that facilitate the cultural, intellectual and social growth of the entire university community.
Cultural Competence and Inclusivity Certificate Program: The Foundations of Cultural Competence and Inclusivity Certificate Program at NC States provides multiple levels of engagement in the areas of cultural competence and cultural intelligence. The program includes three components: 1) DiversityEdu for Faculty: Personal Skills for a Diverse Campus; 2) Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Assessment; and 3) Building Cultural Competence Knowledge and Skills. This program is for any faculty member who works with students, and involves online training to complete their certification. Register for the three-course Foundations of Cultural Competence and Inclusivity Certificate Program or register for individual sessions. All three courses currently cost $100, although the first module is free.
UNC’s Targeting Equity in Access to Mentoring (TEAM) ADVANCE: TEAM promotes accessible, equitable, and effective mentoring across the University, with emphasis on supporting women of color and white women in STEM fields. We provide educational materials and resources to chairs, deans, and administrators to support departmental mentoring. We also offer intersectionality-informed programs to improve faculty mentor and mentee experiences at each faculty career stage.
Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate at NC State: The AGEP-NC project, an Alliance of NC A&T State University, UNC Charlotte and NC State, provides a catalyst for departments wishing to build an infrastructure for their doctoral programs and a culture among dissertation advisors that successfully prepares underrepresented minority (URM) dissertation students for faculty careers in the sciences and engineering. Efforts currently being led by Brad Taylor.
500 Women Scientists: The mission of 500WS is to make science more open, inclusive, and accessible, and transform society by fighting racism, patriarchy, and oppressive societal norms.
Videos and Webinars:
Readings:
- Microaggression Theory: Influence and Implications, by Torino et al., 2019
- Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudices that Shape What We See, Think and Do by Eberhardt (2019)
- Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism, and Social Marginalization, by Cia Verschelden, 2017
- Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, by Thomas Tobin and Kirsten Behling, 2018
- Want to Reach All of Your Students? Here’s How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive – advice guide from the Chronicle of Higher Education
- Whistling Vivaldi: and other clues to how stereotypes affect us, by Claude M. Steele, 2010
- How To Be An Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi, 2019
- Advice for mentoring underrepresented minority students when you are white (opinion)
- Ten Simple Rules For Building An AntiRacist Lab part of the PLOS Computational Biology Series
- Mentors’ Motivation to Address Race/Ethnicity in Research Mentoring Relationships and Characteristics of Successful and Failed Mentoring Relationships: A Qualitative Study Across Two Academic Health Centers
- Rooted in the Soil: The Social Experiences of Black Graduate Students at a Southern Research University
- From Deficits to Possibilities: Mentoring Lessons from Plants on Cultivating Individual Growth through Environmental Assessment and Optimization by Beronda L Montgomery
- Assimilating the “Culture of No Culture” in Science: Feminist Interventions in(De)Mentoring Graduate Women