0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Competence Hireability Mentoring Likability

Male Student

Female Student

Competence rating

male student

female student

male faculty 4.01 3.33

female faculty 4.1 3.32

1

Understanding and Minimizing Unconscious Biases

in the STEM Disciplines

Steve Lee, PhD 3rd NSF-IOS Broadening Participation PI Meeting

stnlee@ucdavis.edu FASEB Conference Center

University of California, Davis Bethesda, MD

Graduate Diversity Officer for the STEM Disciplines September 21, 2015

Group Activities and Discussion

Activity #1: Please review the following application materials, and evaluate this application for a lab manager

position. Rate the applicant on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much) for questions #1-4.

Rating Question

1.) Does the applicant strike you as competent?

2.) How likely would you be to hire the applicant for the lab manager job?

3.) If you encountered this student, how willing would you be to serve as their mentor?

4.) Would you characterize the applicant as someone you would want to get to know better?

DEMOGRAPHICS and BACKGROUND

● Name: Jennifer XXXXX

● Gender: Female

● Ethnic Background: Caucasian

● Age: 22

● Degree: Bachelors of Science, obtained May 2015

● GPA: 3.2

● GRE scores: 85 percentile verbal, 68 percentile quantitative

● Awards: President's Service Award, Rotary Club College Scholarship

● Previous research experience: 2 years as a research assistant working with 2 different faculty

● Academic standing: appears from Jennifer's transcript that she was in good standing upon graduation, but withdrew

from 1 class prior to final

● Letters of recommendation: 3 (2 from former faculty research supervisors, 1 from an intro science course professor), all

supportive

● Future plans: to apply to doctoral programs

● Extracurricular activities: student government, college learning center tutor

● Position sought: Lab Manager; for 2 years, with possibility of renewal pending satisfactory performance

Excerpt from student statement: "I am a motivated student and would make the most of the opportunity to serve as your

lab manager. After spending a semester working in Dr. XXXXX’s lab and another year doing research with Dr. XXXXX, I have

gained valuable technical skills, co-authored a journal article, and am now committed to an academic research career. As

someone focused on improving my standing and enhancing my research experience, this lab manager position would

provide the perfect opportunity to hone the necessary skills to make me competitive for graduate school applications.

Additionally, the fascinating research taking place in your lab is directly in line with my interests and experiences. In short, I

am focused, motivated, organized and dedicated to improving my research skills. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity

to fill the lab manager position and collaborate with you on future research."

Excerpt from faculty recommendation letter: " ... although Jennifer admittedly took a bit longer than some students to get

serious about her studies early in college, she has impressed me by improving over the last two years of her science

coursework and has made every effort to make up for lost ground. She has been a strong research assistant in my lab, and I

know she is capable of serving as a dedicated lab manager."

2

Activity #2: Please evaluate the following application for admission into a PhD program in the biological

sciences. Rate the applicant on a scale from 1 (low recommendation for admission) to 10 (high).

Rating (from 1 to 10):

●

Resources and References

• Handelsman, J; et al; “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students” PNAS, 2012, p 16474.

• Milkman, K; et al; “What Happens Before? A Field Experiment Exploring How Pay and Representation Differentially

Shape Bias on the Pathway into Organizations” Journal of Applied Psychology, 2015.

• Schmader T, Whitehead J, Wysocki VH; “A Linguistic Comparison of Letters of Recommendation for Male and Female

Chemistry and Biochemistry Job Applicants”, Sex Roles. 2007; 57(7-8): 509-514.

• Avoiding Unintended Gender Bias in Letters of Recommendation; National Center for Women & Information Tech.

o https://www.ncwit.org/sites/default/files/resources/avoidingunintendedgenderbiaslettersrecommendation.pdf

• Project Implicit and Implicit Bias Test

o http://projectimplicit.org/about.html

o https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

• McGee, R; Keller, J; “Identifying Future Scientists”, CBE–Life Sciences Education, 2007, Vol 6, pp 316-331.

• Nivet, Marc “Diversity 3.0: A Necessary Systems Upgrade”, Acad Medicine, 2011, p 1487.

• Page, Scott “The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies, 2007 o Presentation at UCSD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhVrNKGZ_0s

• Phillips, K; “How Diversity Makes Us Smarter” Scientific American; Sept 16, 2014.