Below we highlight published items of interest to current/future postdocs and other PhD professionals. We are especially interested in drawing attention to policy issues, minority postdocs, and national/regional postdoc diversity affinity groups. For busy PhD professionals, we will scan the diversity literature and news outlets.
Another popular [faculty diversity] approach: Postdoctoral fellowships designed to bring early-career scholars of color and women to campuses, with funding for their work and a shot at a tenure-track faculty position. The website MinorityPostdoc.org tallied nearly 200 diversity-oriented postdoc programs sponsored by universities, government agencies and nonprofit groups.
"Over the past 50 years the diversity of higher education faculty in the mathematical, physical, computer, and engineering sciences (MPCES) has advanced very little at 4-year universities in the United States."
The authors find that community recognition mediates the negative relationship between perceived discrimination and postdoctoral scholars’ science identities.
"Women of color are actively building and running organizations that serve as a safe haven for members of their community at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and elsewhere. And while they appreciate the recognition and praise they receive for providing outlets to community members who are dealing with the added stress of being underrepresented, including racism and microaggressions, they also have a message: they are tired."
"The Yale Black Postdoctoral Association within the School of Medicine, just the third official group of its kind to be formed in the nation, is nearing its one-year anniversary."
The biggest perceived barriers to successful online education survey respondents reported were concerns about academic integrity and a lack of student motivation to engage with online coursework...Survey respondents reported one widespread and discipline-specific concern about delivering STEM education online: how to translate in-person, hands-on laboratory experiments into meaningful remote experiences.
The agency plans “new ways to support diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and will also correct policies within the agency “that may harm our workforce and our science”...The response to NIH’s announcements has been mixed.
In this study, 26 sub-themes emerged including feelings about the culture of their work environment and perceptions of stereotypes and biases.
Informal support groups give underrepresented minority postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates the opportunity to network, teach, and learn.
This study examines the factors that promote the transition of postdocs into academic careers and increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.