Category: ADVANCE Weekly Roundup

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: More Evidence of Bias in Government Research Funding Agencies

In a previous Weekly Roundup, we highlighted a meta-analysis of funding by the National Science Foundation over a 10-year period.  To review, in 2019, NSF funded 31.3% of proposals from White scientists but only 22.4% for Asian scientists; the overall funding rate was 27.4%.  This translates into a single-year award surplus of 798 grants for . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: The No Club and How to Minimize It

The trap of service tasks that take time and energy but are not considered to be significant in promotion decisions was addressed in a recent article in Nature [https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03677-6]. The authors describe themselves as the “No Club” because they have both experienced and researched the ineffectual advice to women academics of “just say no” to . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Roadmap to measuring overlooked dimensions of diversity so improvements can be implemented

Recently the White House released a roadmap that will expand the federal collection of data about sexual orientation and gender identity in order to advance equity for LGTBQI+ Americans. However, advances in measurement will be needed at all levels, including at universities. The management adage that you can’t improve what you don’t measure applies to . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Biases in NSF Funding Create Surprising Disparities

Systemic biases, including biases in funding, are detrimental not only to individual careers but also to the quality of scholarship, the academic research endeavor, and shared commitments to integrity, meritocracy, and fairness.  This week’s article from the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/04/science/asian-scientists-nsf-funding.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare] reports that white PIs are more likely to be successful at NSF than any . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Documenting and Countering Biases Against Researchers in Systematically Marginalized Groups

This week we feature resources that discuss how to mitigate the impact of bias within our systems, policies, and practices. Individuals from systematically marginalized groups (SMGs) experience frequent and compounded undermining of their credibility, contributions, and inclusion that reduce persistence and success in academia. First, in terms of teaching, this valuable resource guide discusses how . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Supporting Pregnant Faculty, Staff, and Students

As summarized in the recent Harvard Business Review article, 5 Ways Managers Can Support Pregnant Employees, there are ways to reduce detrimental experiences that affect health and well-being outcomes for pregnant faculty, staff, students, and their babies. The article links to two studies that examined workplace experiences related to pregnancy discrimination specifically and to health-related . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Faculty Caregiver Support: We Need More Data

In the corporate world, employers are finding ways to support employees who are caregivers because they realize it provides a competitive advantage to attract and retain employees. The need for robust resources, benefits, and policies is apparent: a Harvard Business School study found that “73% of all employees have some type of current caregiving responsibility.” . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: Realizing a Diverse Faculty

Several recent reports warn that despite promising announcements about increasing faculty diversity, the actual increase has been sluggish. As summarized by Inside Higher Ed writer Colleen Flaherty, realizing racial parity between the professoriate and the general U.S. population within the next thirty years requires a rate of change that is 3.5 times the current pace. . . .

ADVANCE Weekly Roundup: In Support of Trans Colleagues: We Need More Research, More Active Allyship

The recent terrifying shooting in a Colorado nightclub underscores the vulnerability of transgender and LGBTQIA-diverse peoples and the urgent need for better measures to ensure inclusion and safety. According to the Equity and Inclusion Vocabulary [https://www.mtu.edu/diversity-center/resources/vocabulary/] resource from the Michigan Tech Center for Diversity and Inclusion, “Identifying as transgender, or trans, means that one’s internal . . .