Equity for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM: Graduate experiences and career plans in chemistry
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Date
2020-11-20
Authors
Stockard, Jean
Rohlfing, Celeste M.
Richmond, Geraldine
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PNAS
Abstract
Recent events prompted scientists in the United States and
throughout the world to consider how systematic racism affects
the scientific enterprise. This paper provides evidence of inequities
related to race–ethnicity and gender in graduate school experiences
and career plans of PhD students in the top 100 ranked departments
in one science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) discipline, chemistry. Mixed-model regression analyses
were used to examine factors that might moderate these differences.
The results show that graduate students who identified as a
member of a racial/ethnic group traditionally underrepresented in
chemistry (underrepresented minorities, URM) were significantly
less likely than other students to report that their financial support
was sufficient to meet their needs. They were also less likely to
report having supportive relationships with peers and postdocs.
Women, and especially URM women, were significantly less likely
to report supportive relationships with advisors. Despite their
more negative experiences in graduate school, students who identified
as URM expressed greater commitment to finishing their
degree and staying in the field. When there was at least one faculty
member within their departments who also identified as URM
they were also more likely than other students to aspire to a university
professorship with an emphasis on research. Men were
significantly more likely than women to express strong commitment
to finishing the PhD and remaining in chemistry, but this
difference was stronger in top-ranked departments. Men were
also more likely than women to aspire to a professorship with
an emphasis on research, and this difference remained when individual
and departmental-level variables were controlled.
Description
7 pages
Keywords
graduate student experience, underrespresented minorities, URM, women
Citation
Stockard, J., Rohlfing, C. M., & Richmond, G. L. (2021). Equity for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM: Graduate experiences and career plans in chemistry. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118(4), 1—7. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2020508118