Dr. Lambert is the Assistant Dean of Diversity and Student Life at Weill Cornell. His research focuses on strategies to improve access and equity in science and medicine careers.

Dr. Lambert received his undergraduate degree from Howard University and his Ph.D. in biomedical science from New York University. During his Ph.D. work, he studied how the brain responds to stress. He also has a master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research from Cornell. He has received numerous awards, including being named a “Generation Changer” by the State Department.

Only ~4% of STEM faculty in the U.S. are from underrepresented minority racial or ethnic groups, and only ~35% of STEM faculty are women. In addition, research has shown that it is not enough to just improve the diversity of students entering Ph.D. programs - the representation of female and underrepresented minority scientists decreases at each stage of the academic path from undergrad, to grad school, to postdoc, to faculty job.

In a recent article, Dr. Lambert and colleagues described a survey they performed in which they asked current postdoctoral fellows about their interest in continuing on in academia. They found that ~60% of postdocs were interested in applying for faculty jobs, and that this number was pretty consistent across women regardless of race/ethnicity. However, African-American male postdocs were twice as likely to say they would rather pursue a job in industry.

In addition, they looked at how people’s interests changed depending on how long they had been a postdoc already. The length of time that people are in postdoc positions varies dramatically, and Dr. Lambert’s survey found that interest in faculty jobs decreased dramatically after the second year, particularly among underrepresented groups.

When they asked people about why they were choosing not to apply for faculty positions, they cited financial and other responsibilities to their families and lack of career mentorship. They also expressed lower confidence in their ability to do things, like writing papers and applying for grants, that are critical for success as faculty.

Compared to male postdocs, female postdocs tended to express lower confidence in their abilities as well, likely reflecting the impacts of sexism in STEM fields. They also found that supportive mentorship played a bigger role in the decisions of underrepresented postdocs, and many of those postdocs talked about looking for other mentors outside of their main advisor.