DIVERSITY STATEMENT

           “How come no one ever told me I could be a scientist?” A question that seems a bit ridiculous at face-value, but offers insight into the psyche of minorities and our perceived career options. Being the only person in my family who has received a postsecondary education, I have always felt an obligation to educate my younger relatives on the importance of continuing their education. So, when my cousin presented me with this question, I immediately began to ponder what would make her believe that she was incapable of achieving the aforementioned goal.  As an African American woman in a career field that is predominantly white and male, I believe it stems from the fact that there are few readily available examples of scientists who look like her. Though ingenuous in nature, this question was a defining moment in propelling my career forward towards my goal of becoming a biomedical researcher and an educator who challenges the archaic perception of the term “scientist.”

              So, how can a shift towards inclusivity in the sciences be implemented? To me, the answer is clear: students need to see more minority representation in the professors and educators they interact with every day. Not only is representation important, but also educators must focus on designing curriculum that teaches the sciences in the most effective way to a diverse student base. With these goals in mind, I am taking every opportunity to teach and mentor students from a wide range of age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds from my local community. By teaching and mentoring a range of middle school to graduate level students, my goal is to encourage and inspire future generations of scientists.

            To directly encourage minority representation in science, I participated in numerous programs and initiatives as a graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and continue to do so as a Post-Doctoral (Post Doc) Research Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis (Wash U). I have served as a Women in STEM mentor, which provided mentorship to a group of female undergraduate students. I also went to teach hands-on scientific activities to local Birmingham schools, and I mentored and trained 3 demographically diverse undergraduate students. As a Post Doc, I have started the Black Post-Doctoral Association at Wash U (WUSTLBPA) to encourage and support the retention of Black scholars in academia, and have led two hand-on lab demonstrations to local St. Louis middle and high schoolers. In all these experiences, I provided guidance to underrepresented and marginalized individuals who may have an interest in receiving postsecondary education but are unsure if the STEM careers are a realistic option due to lack of representation. By taking an active role in the lives of these students, I am showing them by example that women and other minorities have a place in the sciences.

             Representation is only one step towards inclusion; there also must be a focus on tangible and concrete methods to increase diversity, such as inclusive techniques and curriculum. Therefore, I also served as a group leader for an innovative program sponsored by UAB called Girls in Science and Engineering Day (GSED). GSED invites middle school girls from surrounding counties to the UAB campus for a day of hands-on, interactive exposure to the sciences by letting them conduct various experiments and meet researchers. As a group leader, I teach the students how to perform the experiments and monitor their progress throughout the day. The overall goal of the program is to ignite an interest in science and break the stigma of science being a male dominated field that is not accessible to women. By administering a pre and post survey to attendees, we have tangible data supporting that the girls leave the program with an increased interest in STEM fields and a belief that they too can be a scientist. The success of this program has given me inspiration to incorporate more interactive and group-based activities into my teaching objectives, allowing me to engage students who would otherwise struggle with the material and adapt the material to cater to a diverse student base.

            Serving as a teacher and mentor in my community has given me great insight into effective ways to promote interest in and learning of STEM related topics to budding scientists, but also has shown me firsthand the importance of minority representation. There is still much work to be done to achieve my goal of establishing more minority representation in the sciences. However, my experiences thus far as a graduate student. Post Doc, and educator have been crucial in refining my pedagogy to be more engaging and inclusive to underrepresented students who can make that change.