Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations Beyond Broadening Participation (2023) / Chapter Skim
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5 Minoritized Individuals in STEMM: Consequences and Responses to Racial Bias and How STEMM Professionals Can Help
5 Minoritized Individuals in STEMM: Consequences and Responses to Racial Bias and How STEMM Professionals Can Help
Pages 117-164
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As discussed in the first four chapters, the evidence has demonstrated that minoritized individuals have faced numerous systemic barriers, including macro-level policies and practices that have negatively impacted their opportunities, representation, and ability to thrive in STEMM careers. This chapter shifts the lens of analysis from an examination of racial bias at the systemic level to an examination of racial bias as it occurs at the individual and interpersonal levels.
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SOCIAL COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF RACIAL BIAS People carve the world into social categories or groups along many axes, including race and ethnicity, a tendency that can be seen in the social cognitive process of social categorization. The first part of this section details how creating such groups can lead to psychological experiences of "us" and "them." This includes a consideration of how individuals may be members in particular social groups and subjectively identify with their groups to varying degrees (social identity)
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. Research using social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel and Turner, 1979)
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This includes sections on the negative impacts of predominantly White contexts, stereotype threat and social identity threat, imposter phenomenon, stigma and coping, attributional ambiguity, physical health impacts, and race-based rejection sensitivity. Negative Impacts of Predominantly White Contexts For minoritized individuals in STEMM, navigating classrooms and environments in which they are a clear numeric minority has measurable psychological, physiological, and behavioral effects (see Chapter 3 for a summary of issues that contribute to numeric representation)
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. Stereotype Threat and Social Identity Threat Stereotype threat is situation-induced worry that arises in achievementoriented situations when individuals feel apprehensive that their performance will be judged in ways that confirm negative stereotypes targeting their ingroup (Steele, 1997, 1998, 2011)
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. Imposter Phenomenon Social identity threat sometimes leads individuals to lose confidence in their abilities, Consequently, they remove themselves from achievementoriented environments even when their performance is equal to that of their peers.
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. Attributional Ambiguity Even when situations do not activate social identity threat specifically, they often create a feeling of uncertainty in minoritized individuals about the cause of someone else's behavior toward them, be it positive or negative (Major et al., 1994; Mendes et al., 2008; Smith and Wout, 2019)
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. Mixed signals wherein minoritized individuals receive university communications that affirm commitment to diversity while simultaneously experiencing microaggressions in classroom settings may also contribute to attributional ambiguity in STEMM educational contexts (Estrada et al., 2018)
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National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, one study found that inflammation was most consistently associated with older Black men's greater metabolic problems, less control over blood sugar levels, and negative cardiovascular outcomes (Das, 2013)
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Some people are more sensitive to rejection based on their race, which influences their interpersonal experiences in predominantly White contexts. Research has found that college students' expectations of race-based rejection can strain their social relationships and undermine their sense of confidence in the academic institution they are enrolled in.
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Additional research and expanded sampling to include larger and more representative samples of all minoritized racial and ethnic groups is necessary to better understand these potential similarities and differences. Minoritized Individuals' Responses to Racial Bias The following section reviews three noteworthy ways in which minoritized individuals respond to experiences of racism.
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These strategies are discussed next. Disidentification is one exiting strategy that minoritized individuals may use to deal with persistent social identity threat and belonging uncertainty.
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Other research found that African Americans experiencing stereotype threat disengaged from academics in response to negative performance feedback (Nussbaum and Steele, 2007)
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. Research shows that increased trait resilience is associated with higher levels of subjective well-being and increased optimism and life satisfaction among African Americans college students (Utsey et al., 2008)
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Codeswitching is a context-dependent impression management strategy where minoritized individuals adjust their self-presentation in predominantly White contexts to fit in and be accepted by mirroring the White majority (McCluney et al., 2021)
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These pioneer organizations -- which typically work as membership societies, with dues, student chapters, and annual in-person conferences -- provide refuge, support, mentorship, professional development, and ingroup role models for emerging scholars (Martin et al., 2016; Ondrechen, 2014; Ross and McGrade, 2016)
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. Other organizations, such as LatinXinBME, have leveraged new platforms and tools such as Slack and Twitter to overcome geographical divides and isolation in predominantly White contexts.
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. Minoritized scientists and health professionals have also recently started mobilizing to examine how the nation teaches STEMM disciplines and to call for the incorporation of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion into the curriculum.1 For example, an effort to transform STEMM emerged among Indigenous scholars who noted that there was a disconnect between Western practices of STEMM education and Indigenous ways of knowing and that this dissonance prevented their matriculation into these majors (e.g., Chow-Garcia, 2016; Lee Bitsoi and Lowe, 2018; Smith et al., 2014; see Chapter 4 for more on Indigenous ways of knowing)
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HOW STEMM PROFESSIONALS CAN HELP In this final section of the chapter, the committee explores specific steps that individuals might take to help promote inclusion through the design of STEMM environments. These steps are grouped into three broad categories: signal inclusion through numeric representation and spatial design of local environments; build peer relationships and community for minoritized groups; and create access to high-status relationships.
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In a way, these diverse exemplars of success act as important role models. In fact, women students' subjective identification with success stories of women engineers predicts greater self-confidence in their own ability, which in turn predicts stronger intentions to pursue careers in engineering (Stout et al., 2011)
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Build a Critical Mass of Minoritized Individuals Building a critical mass of minoritized individuals in a local context reduces feelings of evaluation apprehension and elevates performance and full participation. Research shows that Black women's academic performance is enhanced when they are in a group of same-race peers compared to when asked to perform in the context of being the only Black person in an all-White environment (Inzlicht and Ben-Zeev, 2003; Sekaquaptewa and Thompson, 2002)
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BUILD PEER RELATIONSHIPS AND COMMUNITY FOR MINORITIZED GROUPS Broker Ingroup Peer Relationships by Developing "Near Peer" Mentors Peer mentorship programs that broker relationships between new students from minoritized groups with other students who share their identity is another feature of local environments that enhance belonging and thriving (Dennehy and Dasgupta, 2017; Herrmann et al., 2016)
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One benefit of ingroup peer mentors and other peer role models derives from their relatability and shared experiences. For example, a national sample of African American undergraduates majoring in STEM disciplines found that from these students' perspectives, perceived similarity of values rather than demographic similarity was the most important factor associated with protégé perceptions of high-quality mentorship, which in turn was associated with stronger personal commitment to pursue STEM careers (Hernandez et al., 2017)
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. A systematic review of STEM-specific summer bridge programs found that students leave these programs with increased feelings of preparedness and belonging more in college, and they get better grades post-program (Ashley et al., 2017)
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. As with summer bridge programs, research suggests that living-learning communities are particularly beneficial for orienting students to campus resources.
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Curriculum Change Initiatives Curriculum change initiatives also contribute to increased performance and persistence for minoritized students. One significant intervention to increase inclusion has occurred with the adoption of course-based undergraduate research experiences, sometimes called Freshman Research Initiatives.
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. Consequently, students, including minoritized students, often avoid approaching faculty members.
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. One qualitative study examined perspectives on mentoring minoritized students that were held by a sample of White faculty who did not often 2 Differences in priorities between mentors and mentees regarding race and ethnicity can create a disconnect, and can potentially hurt minoritized mentees (Byars-Winston et al., 2015, 2020)
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It is important, therefore, for academic STEMM departments to form relationships with STEMM organizations dedicated to nurturing diverse talent, such as SACNAS, NSBE, and the Annual Biomedical Conference for Minoritized Scientists. In addition, it is important for STEMM departments to create and support local chapters of these organizations and create annual opportunities for cohorts of students to travel to their conferences to build a network of peers and professionals from similar identity groups.
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b. Hire more minoritized individuals, especially in positions where minoritized role models are often missing (e.g., leader ship, mentorship)
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Summer bridge programs.
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. Identity denied: Comparing American or White identity denial and psychological health outcomes among bicultural and biracial people. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(3)
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. The effects of in-group versus out-group social comparison on self-esteem in the context of a negative stereotype. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36(5)
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. The social psychology of intergroup relations: Social categorization, ingroup bias, and outgroup prejudice.
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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85.
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. Clearing the air: Identity safety moderates the effects of stereotype threat on women's leadership aspirations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(2)
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. Identity threat at work: How social identity threat and situational cues contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in the work place. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(4)
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. Not by success alone: Role models provide pathways to communal opportunities in STEM. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(2)
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. The self-protective and undermining effects of attributional ambiguity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(6)
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Attributional ambiguity and simultaneous memberships in multiple oppressed groups. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33(2)
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. Attributional ambiguity of affirmative ac tion. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 15(1-2)
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. Female role models: Protecting women's math test performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(9)
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. Situational disengagement and persistence in the face of adversity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43(1)
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. Social identity contingencies: How diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(4)
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. The effect of priming gender roles on women's implicit gender beliefs and career aspirations. Social Psychology, 41(3)
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Unpublished paper commissioned by the Committee on Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Society for Chicanos, Hispanics, and Natie Americans in Science.
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. Stereotype threat and women's math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1)
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. Empowerment through difference: An online difference-education intervention closes the social class achievement gap. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(7)
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