Large segments of society are under-represented in science and engineering within academia at every level, but particularly among tenured professors. Moreover, the groups that are most under-represented are the fastest growing in the U.S. population. This is often attributed to challenges in recruiting graduate students and faculty from these groups. A new study published this week in PLoS ONE points to another key reason: retention.
“Although many academics wish to think of academia as unbiased, our findings indicate this is not the case: retention biases within academia are contributing to low diversity of scholars,” says lead author Allison Shaw , an associate professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior.
A common explanation for low diversity in academia is challenges with recruitment based on a lack of applicants. The new study shows that failure to retain scholars is a major contributor to disparities as well. Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences used a combination of data from the National Science Foundation and a new mathematical model, which answers a ‘what if’ question: What would academia look like if there were no racial or ethnic differences in tendency to move between academic stages? Comparing the model predictions to NSF data quantifies how skewed representation actually is.
“This project is part of an effort to take the tools that biologists have developed to understand diverse and complex natural systems, and use them to apply a critical look at our own discipline,” says co-author Daniel Stanton , an assistant professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior in the college.
Among the findings, researchers reported that:
“Understanding and addressing misrepresentation in academia is critical if we want to build a community that truly reflects and realizes the potential of the society it aims to serve,” says Shaw.
Shaw and colleagues suggest that future work should explore the diversity of experiences within each broad racial or ethnic category, as well as intersectional effects; the ways that considering several aspects of identity (e.g., women of color) might lead to different outcomes than studying each aspect alone.
About the College of Biological Sciences
The College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota is one of two colleges in the United States dedicated to the biological sciences with undergraduate majors and graduate programs that cover the spectrum of life from molecules to ecosystems. Learn more at cbs.umn.edu .
PLOS ONE
Data/statistical analysis
Differential retention contributes to racial/ethnic disparity in U.S. academia
1-Dec-2021
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.