Survey on LGBTQ in STEM

Sharing this information about the site Queer in STEM, which is launching a new survey. This systematic, nationwide survey seeks basic information about the work and lives of LGBTQ folks in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

"In the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the social experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer (LGBTQ) professionals are often overlooked. Those of us who work in STEM research or teaching know that LGBTQ colleagues are out there, if we know where to look, but we know very little about the LGBTQ folks who work in STEM, as a group."

More info and the survey link can be found here. Spread the word!

IN THE NEWS: No shortage of US STEM Talent

The Washington Post reports on a new study (titled: Guestworkers in the High-skill U.S. Labor Market: An analysis of supply, employment, and wage trends) that finds no shortage of domestic STEM talent. This study is limited to the IT sector and focuses on those with undergraduate degrees. While I believe that similar issues plague other STEM driven employment sectors, I'm a bit wary as to how the results of this study can be generalized so that the titles of the W.P. article and the study are warranted.  Cheers!

The End of an Era: The Scientist Publishes it's 10th (and final) "Best Places to Work:Postdocs" Survey

After 10 years of giving voice to the workforce concerns of postdocs, The Scientist is calling it quits.  (This year, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research has set the standard of excellence.) Their claim is that a lot has changed since the first survey was taken in 2003. Most significantly, institutions take the compensation, quality of life, institutional support and mentoring concerns of postdocs far more seriously.  The author acknowledges that many issues, like the lack of tenure track positions, "continue to stress the postdoctoral researcher," so they are not turning their back on the postdoctoral research community. It is just that addressing the basic financial and workplace needs of postdocs, the motivation for this survey, appears to be of less concern.  Hopefully, the end of this survey and the publication of its results will not mark the end of an era--one where adequate consideration is given to the treatment of postdocs. 

This year's top ten (the top 25 are listed here):

In my next post, I'll review From Ph.D. to Professoriate: The Role of the Institution in Fostering the Advancement of Postdoc Women. 

Report finds lingering racism in British higher education

My blog has been quiet for quite a while, but in an effort to revive my interest in higher education policy, I thought I'd simply post this Inside Higher Ed report which finds lingering racism in British higher education. Not that there is anything shocking or surprising in this report...and certainly this is not unique to Great Britain. It just strikes much closer to home now that I have chosen to work at a University. I feel that the dilemma about what to do is much more personal... do I demand change or redouble my commitment  to working "twice as hard"?

Talking about race…questioning identity

Despite the lack of blog posts as proof, Pat and I have continued to talk about race… but committing those words to paper has been tricky. But we have agreed to talk struggle and write on…Believe us, this is harder than it looks!

For this post, we’re reflecting—independently—on the concept of race and identity. As a Black female, I threw the question out there…which am I first? Or perhaps, how do I more strongly identify—as being Black or as being female. My thoughts on that question may have been interesting—but Pat, as she often does, flipped the issue on its head, and came up with a question technically equivalent, but still far more interesting.

Basically, Pat asked if I could imagine Mitt Romney, Harry Reid, Bill Clinton (ha ha!), or Ryan Seacrest contemplating whether they are male or White first? While this question regarding race and identity seems highly relevant for me, I wonder what would drive a Caucasian male to ponder this.

For me, I thought about my race and gender much more when I moved abroad. I found the experience “interesting” when I moved to Germany…There, I felt more defined by my being American. Although perceptions of my being Black and female were slightly different than how I’d grown up thinking about them—it still was not something that challenged me.

China was a very different matter—these were topics that I agonized over regularly. Let's just say that I stood out... a lot; and I found it quite stressful. I had a tall blonde friend who told me that, on the street, people treated her the same way as they did me…but it didn’t bother her. By comparison, I knew other black women (regardless of nationality) who felt similarly as I did.

Anyway, I could go into detail about this experience and my thoughts on it, but for now, I think my major point is that based on these experiences abroad, I do think that both my race and my gender are parts of my identity and that they are shaped by social structures and history. Choosing to challenge, question, or accept these parts of my identity depends on place, depends on the person I’m interacting with.

Living abroad, I realized that people saw me differently (a simple fact) and I was forced more to draw on perhaps the deeper (and more true?) aspects of my personality (read identity?) to react and interact with these people who were strangers and culturally strange to me…while it wasn’t always pretty, it also could be fun and interesting.

The environment where I live and the people I associate with are factors that I can’t control (even if I can to some extent choose where I live). I, of course, can’t choose my race, gender, etc. etc. etc. But thanks to my experiences, my race, and my gender, I am lucky to be challenged to question who I am and to contemplate the person that I want to project to the world.

 Maybe Mitt isn’t as lucky...

Charles is Not Afraid to Talk About Race

Campaign Stops: Not Afraid to Talk about Race was just published today by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow.  I thought it would be of interest given the recent focus of my blog.  He discusses how race and political perceptions align and impact the vote.

Protective hesitation...Shall we talk about something else?

When Pat and I first decided to touch on this topic I was excited to explore issues of race and mentoring. Now that the time has come to put pen to paper all I can think is “ugh!”

Am I suffering from writer’s block… or is this some form of “protective hesitation?”

Thomas introduces the concept of protective hesitation as he outlines the challenges to effective mentoring. By his account (and mine!), it seems that the biggest challenge is that people just don’t know how to do it. Concerns about race make the difficult process of mentoring harder.

Mentoring—at its most effective—is both instructional and emotional. The author states, “purely instructional mentoring was not sufficient; protégés needed to feel connected to their mentors.”

Thomas highlights specific factors that make cross-race mentoring relationships more fragile and promote a phenomenon he calls “protective hesitation”.  But why is protective hesitation so damaging and what does this have to do about race? 

I suppose that having a racial identity is no different than having any other sort—whether based on national heritage, a common language, religion, gender, profession, family, sexuality (and the list goes on and on). As individuals, we all must resolve multiple identities both within ourselves and as we relate to others. Identifying with a certain culture means that certain assumptions are accepted and adhered to and we must all pick and choose the ones we hold most dear.

Race, although about more than skin color, rarely requires a verbal revelation to allow others to start making certain assumptions (whatever they may be). The color of one’s skin conveys complex cultures of expectation, expression, and attitude, but does the obvious nature of race make it harder to discover any nuance in its manifestation?

Moreover, challenging the assumptions and prejudices of others also means challenging the assumptions about yourself (and the cohort you identify with). Neither is particularly easy or fun and holds the real danger of being counterproductive.  

So perhaps protective hesitation has a constructive purpose…but how to build constructive mentoring relationships anyway? How do you address a mentee’s shortcomings without racializing or much less over-personalizing it? I guess that’s what makes mentoring so darned hard.

I’ve definitely been mentored far more than I have mentored. As I’ve grown (or at least as time has passed), I look harder for mentoring/advice regardless of who gives it. I’m also far more cognizant of being one of the “few” who either is Black, female, or under 50 in many of my professional circumstances. I try to change this by working hard to succeed. So, I’ll take kind advice where I can and treasure the insights of those friends and mentors with whom I particularly identify.

Still, this doesn’t mean that my professional life isn’t plagued by insecurities, awkward conversations, uncomfortable silences, and frequent irritations...but maybe I'm just insecure, awkward, nervous and irritable.

Honestly, I’d rather not talk about it.