Social networks and the "hidden curriculum"

A thread connecting the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that I have participated in is my longstanding interest in how socially-segregated interpersonal networks create persistent barriers to equity, even when institutions have the best of intentions. In other words:

How much of the "hidden curriculum" of academia is learned from friends, and not from formal programming?

And if what we know depends on who we know, how do we level the playing field?

This interest dates back to high school: my high school had roughly equal numbers of white and Black students, and gave each student the choice of whether to take any course at the college preparation, honors, and AP level; yet honors and AP classes were disproportionately white. In the summer after my junior year of high school, I conceived of and proposed a project to the Mayor’s Office and School District, which generously provided me with funding to mail my survey to every family at the school. In the ~200 parent-student pairs who responded, the majority of parents and students alike reported that they made these decisions primarily based on information from friends and peers, rather than from school administrators. (Read the report .)

In the subsequent 12+ years, I have consistently seen this pattern play out: inequitable access to information shapes inequitable outcomes, even when efforts are made to create equitable policies.

Thus, in my work with my department's Diversity Council, I have focused my efforts on helping to generate resources that make explicit and available to everyone the "informal" advice typically shared by more senior friends or lab members. These projects have included:

• an "informal guide" to writing the candidacy exam, with advice on time management, how to get support, etc.
• a department-specific DEI Resource Guide, which has been shared across the university.
• the first Life Sciences Diversity Recruitment Weekend, a two-day virtual event to share information about writing stronger Ph.D. applications with anyone (worldwide) from a background historically underrepresented in academia, co-sponsored by five graduate programs.

Promoting Black biologists and science literacy

In the past few years, I have built a collection of "spotlights" on Black faculty in STEM. Each spotlight features the work of a Black scientist (including discussion of a primary research article), aimed at a lay audience. I originally posted these on Facebook, one each day throughout the month of February. My goals in writing these profiles was to:

• promote the work of these researchers,
• engage non-experts in thinking about (and getting excited about) biology, and
• challenge preconceived notions about what a scientist "looks like"

The spotlights have been archived here with minimal editing.

If you are featured and would like to make an addition/correction (or if you would like me to take down your profile), please let me know! If you are a Black scientist who I have not written about and you would like to be featured in a future February, I would love to hear from you.