Institutional Interventions That Remove Barriers to Recruit and Retain Diverse Biomedical PhD Students

CBE Life Sciences Education
Marenda A WilsonAndrew J Bean

Abstract

The faculty and student populations in academia are not representative of the diversity in the U.S. Thus, research institutions and funding agencies invest significant funds and effort into recruitment and retention programs that focus on increasing the flow of historically underrepresented minorities (URMs) into the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline. Here, we outline challenges, interventions, and assessments by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) that increased the diversity of the student body independently of grade point averages and Graduate Record Examination scores. Additionally, we show these efforts progressively decreased the attrition rates of URM students over time while eliminating attrition in the latest cohort. Further, the majority of URM students who graduate from the GSBS are likely to remain in the STEM pipeline beyond the postdoctoral training period. We also provide specific recommendations based on the data presented to identify and remove barriers that prevent entry, participation, and inclusion of the underrepresented and underserved in the STEM pipeline.

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Citations

Feb 9, 2019·CBE Life Sciences Education·Marenda A WilsonAndrew J Bean
Oct 15, 2020·Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities·Kendall M CampbellDmitry Tumin
Feb 27, 2021·CBE Life Sciences Education·Maryrose Weatherton, Elisabeth E Schussler
Oct 15, 2020·Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA·Kevin WileyNir Menachemi
Aug 11, 2021·Nature Ecology & Evolution·Melissa R CroninErika S Zavaleta
Aug 31, 2021·Innovative Higher Education·Peter S CahnKimberly A Truong
Sep 25, 2021·Journal of Genetic Counseling·Erin BeasleySayoni Lahiri
Sep 8, 2020··Shannon BarkerAmy Clobes

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