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Segarra VA, Primus C, Unguez GA, Edwards A, Etson C, Flores SC, Fry C, Guillory AN, Ingram SL, Lawson M, McGee R, Paxson S, Phelan L, Suggs K, Vega LR, Vuong E, Havran JC, Leon A, Burton MD, Lujan JL, Ramirez-Alvarado M. Scientific societies fostering inclusivity through speaker diversity in annual meeting programming: a call to action. Mol Biol Cell 2021; 31:2495-2501. [PMID: 33119460 PMCID: PMC7851875 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e20-06-0381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Scientific societies aiming to foster inclusion of scientists from underrepresented (UR) backgrounds among their membership often delegate primary responsibility for this goal to a diversity-focused committee. The National Science Foundation has funded the creation of the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success (ACCESS), a meta-organization bringing together representatives from several such STEM society committees to serve as a hub for a growing community of practice. Our goal is to coordinate efforts to advance inclusive practices by sharing experiences and making synergistic discoveries about what works. ACCESS has analyzed the approaches by which member societies have sought to ensure inclusivity through selection of annual meeting speakers. Here we discuss how inclusive speaker selection fosters better scientific environments for all and identify challenges and promising practices for societies striving to maximize inclusivity of speakers in their scientific programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica A Segarra
- Department of Biology, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268.,American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
| | - Clara Primus
- Department of Biology, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268.,American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
| | - Graciela A Unguez
- New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003.,Society for Developmental Biology, Rockville, MD 20852
| | | | - Candice Etson
- Biophysical Society, Rockville, MD 20852.,Department of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06495
| | - Sonia C Flores
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockville, MD 20852.,Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, CO 80045
| | - Catherine Fry
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852
| | - Ashley N Guillory
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852.,Department of Physician Assistant Studies, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77555
| | - Susan L Ingram
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852.,Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239
| | - Mark Lawson
- Department Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093.,Endocrine Society, Washington, DC 20036
| | - Richard McGee
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Faculty Affairs, Chicago, IL 60611
| | - Stephanie Paxson
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockville, MD 20852
| | | | | | - Leticia R Vega
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852.,Department of Biology, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL 33161
| | | | - J Christopher Havran
- Department of Biological Sciences, Campbell University, Buies Creek, NC 27506.,Association of Southeastern Biologists, Buies Creek, NC 27506
| | - Alfredo Leon
- Association of Southeastern Biologists, Buies Creek, NC 27506.,Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Miami Dade College, Miami, FL 33167
| | - Michael D Burton
- Endocrine Society, Washington, DC 20036.,Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75082
| | - J Luis Lujan
- Departments of Neurologic Surgery and Physiology and Biomedical Engineering and
| | - Marina Ramirez-Alvarado
- Biophysical Society, Rockville, MD 20852.,Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905
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Segarra VA, Vega LR, Primus C, Etson C, Guillory AN, Edwards A, Flores SC, Fry C, Ingram SL, Lawson M, McGee R, Paxson S, Phelan L, Suggs K, Vuong E, Hammonds-Odie L, Leibowitz MJ, Zavala M, Lujan JL, Ramirez-Alvarado M. Scientific Societies Fostering Inclusive Scientific Environments through Travel Awards: Current Practices and Recommendations. CBE Life Sci Educ 2020; 19:es3. [PMID: 32453676 PMCID: PMC8697665 DOI: 10.1187/cbe.19-11-0262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Diversity-focused committees continue to play essential roles in the efforts of professional scientific societies to foster inclusion and facilitate the professional development of underrepresented minority (URM) young scientists in their respective scientific disciplines. Until recently, the efforts of these committees have remained independent and disconnected from one another. Funding from the National Science Foundation has allowed several of these committees to come together and form the Alliance to Catalyze Change for Equity in STEM Success, herein referred to as ACCESS. The overall goal of this meta-organization is to create a community in which diversity-focused committees can interact, synergize, share their collective experiences, and have a unified voice on behalf of URM trainees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. In this Essay, we compare and contrast the broad approaches that scientific societies in ACCESS use to implement and assess their travel award programs for URM trainees. We also report a set of recommendations, including both short- and long-term outcomes assessment in populations of interest and specialized programmatic activities coupled to travel award programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica A. Segarra
- Department of Biology, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
| | - Leticia R. Vega
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
- Department of Biology, Barry University, Miami Shores, FL 33161
| | - Clara Primus
- Department of Biology, High Point University, High Point, NC 27268
| | - Candice Etson
- Department of Physics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459
- Biophysical Society, Rockville, MD 20852
| | - Ashley N. Guillory
- Department of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX 77555
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852
| | | | - Sonia C. Flores
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockville, MD 20852
- Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, CO 80045
| | - Catherine Fry
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852
| | - Susan L. Ingram
- American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Rockville, MD 20852
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239
| | - Mark Lawson
- Endocrine Society, Washington, DC 20036
- Department Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093
| | - Richard McGee
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Faculty Affairs, Chicago, IL 60611
| | - Stephanie Paxson
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Rockville, MD 20852
| | | | | | | | - Latanya Hammonds-Odie
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
- School of Science and Technology, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, GA 30043
| | - Michael J. Leibowitz
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
- Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - MariaElena Zavala
- American Society for Cell Biology, Bethesda, MD 20852
- Department of Biology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA 91330
| | - J. Luis Lujan
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905
| | - Marina Ramirez-Alvarado
- Biophysical Society, Rockville, MD 20852
- Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905
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