Black in Stem Resources

Anti-Racism Educational Resource for Supporting our Black Women in Science and Academia. This list was compiled by CSHL WiSE Board 2020. Special thanks to Nicole Sivetz for organizing these resources

INTERVIEWS AND MEDIA ARTICLES

Ask a Feminist: A Conversation with Cathy Cohen on Black Lives Matter, Feminism, and Contemporary Activism, Cathy J. Cohen and Sarah J. Jackson. Signs. Interview with American political scientist, social activist, and feminist Dr. Cathy J. Cohen about the role of feminism in racial justice movements, particularly the Black Lives Matter Movement. Link: http://signsjournal.org/ask-a-feminist-cohen-jackson/

When Feminism Is White Supremacy in Heels, Rachel Elizabeth Cargle. Harper’s Bazaar. Article about how intersectionality in feminism is critical, and explains how non-Black individuals can stop their own toxic behaviors and practice active allyship. Link: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a22717725/what-is-toxic-white-feminism/

Cognitive Reserve and Racial Privilege in STEM, Mélise Edwards Blog post about the ‘cognitive load’ unique to Black and Brown students in the United States from the perspective of a Black woman Neuroscience & Behavior PhD student. Link: https://meliseedwards.com/2020/05/10/cognitive-reserve-in-stem-disproportionate-labor-and-outcomes-for-students-of-color/

How do Black Lives Matter in Teaching, Lab Practices, and Research? Anne Pollock and Deboleena Roy. Account of a Lab Meeting for the Working Group on Race and Racism in Contemporary Biomedicine (http://www.racebiomed.org/), which is comprised of faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students from Atlanta institutions, including Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Spelman College, Georgia State University, and Agnes Scott College. Contributors discuss how the Black Lives Matter movement frames their own research, particularly from the perspectives of Black women in STEM. Link: https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/28793/html_7

Black Scientists Face a Big Disadvantage in Winning NIH Grants, Study Finds, Nell Gluckman. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Article about a recent report which revealed how Black researchers applying for NIH grants consistently receive lower scores than white researchers. Link: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Black-Scientists-Face-a-Big/248921

Referenced report: NIH peer review: Criterion scores completely account for racial disparities in overall impact scores, Erosheva, E. A., et al., Science Advances, Volume 6, Number 23, June 2020 https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/23/eaaz4868

Becoming a Full Professor While Black, Marlene L. Daut. The Chronicle. July 28, 2019. Link: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Becoming-Full-Professor-While/246743

10 Ways For Non-Black Academics to Value Black Lives, Stacey Chimimba Ault. Medium. Dr. Ault, Assistant Professor at Sacramento State University and Founder/Executive Director of the Race and Gender Equity (RAGE) Project, outlines ways to use academic privilege to ignite change and support Black people in the workplace. Link: https://medium.com/@staceyault/10-ways-for-non-black-academics-to-value-black-lives-cc003f5b3d61

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh. Addresses how white privilege continues to be perpetuated and unacknowledged in American society, and poses conditions for reflection within the context of an invisible system that confers dominance to groups according to their skin color.  Link: http://nationalseedproject.org/images/documents/Knapsack_plus_Notes-Peggy_McIntosh.pdf

After Trump victory, black professors speak out about the routine racism in academia, Andre Perry. The Hechinger Report. Link: https://hechingerreport.org/black-professors-speak-routine-racism-academia-trump-victory/ 

Liberal racism continues to plague Britain’s universities, Katy Sian. Quartz. Link: https://qz.com/1652249/liberal-racism-continues-to-plague-britains-universities/

JOURNAL ARTICLES

My Sister’s Keeper: A Qualitative Examination of Mentoring Experiences Among African American Women in Graduate and Professional Schools, Lori D. Patton, The Journal of Higher Education, Volume 80, Number 5, September/October 2009, pp. 510-537 Study examining how mentorship quality and type impact the academic experience of African American women in graduate and professional schools. Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/316721/pdf

Strategies to improve equity in faculty hiring, Needhi Bhalla, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Volume 30, Number 22, October 2019. Despite an increased presence of underrepresented groups in STEM, this trend has not been seen with regards to the number of faculty belonging to these groups. Here, I focus on proven strategies that departments and research institutions can develop to increase equity in faculty hiring and promotion to address the lack of racial and gender diversity among their faculty., suggestions for improving equity during faculty hiring. Link: https://www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10.1091/mbc.E19-08-0476

Race Matters, David J. Asai, Cell, Volume 181, Issue 4, May 2020. Commentary from the HHMI Senior Director for Science Education which addresses the lack of support for and marginalization of institutional diversity programs, and points out how truely inclusive diversity requires institution-centered approaches that work to improve science culture and education at their cores. Link: https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30337-8.pdf

Generation STEM: What Girls Say about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, a report from the Girl Scout Research Institute, 2012. A mixed-method qualitative and quantitative report conducted to record perceived abilities to pursue STEM fields among girls aged 14-17, and also emphasizes how these attitudes differ between Caucasian, African American,and Hispanic girls. Check out “Finding 5: The Story Differs for African American and Hispanic Girls” (pages 20-24). Link: https://www.girlscouts.org/content/dam/girlscouts-gsusa/forms-and-documents/about-girl-scouts/research/generation_stem_full_report.pdf?fbclid=IwAR09zwzHalfhypnf8LjKMttuYNNN41-gx6w0Praq82JufNWS_NQEEJgDayw

Topic choice contributes to the lower rate of NIH awards to African-American/black scientists, Hoppe, T. A., et al., Science Advances, Volume 5, Number 10, October 2019. Analysis of National Institutes of Health R01 applications submitted by African-American/black scientists relative to white scientists from 2011 to 2015, revealing disparate outcomes based on topic choice. Link: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/eaaw7238

Bait and Switch: Representation, Climate, and Tensions of Diversity Work in Graduate Education, Slay, K. E. et al., The Review of HIgher Education. V 52, Splm 2019, p.255-286. Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/724918/pdf

Exploring identity-safety cues and allyship among black women students in STEM environments, Johnson et al., Psychology of Women Quarterly. March 2019. Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0361684319830926 

PODCASTS AND PEOPLE

PhDivas – Podcast about academia, culture, and social justice across STEM and humanities, hosted by Dr. Elizabeth Wayne (Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University) and Dr. Christine “Xine” Yao (English Lecturer at University College London). Check out S01E05 “Can We Be Academics AND Activists?” Twitter: @LizWaynePhD and @yao_christine, @phdivaspodcast Link: https://soundcloud.com/phdivas/can-we-be-academics-and-activists

Dope Labs – Podcast intentionally created to serve as a platform for discussing scientific topics and ongoing issues for groups that are typically underrepresented in science, particularly women and people of color. Hosted by Dr. Titi Shodiya (Program Manager of the Biological Sciences Graduate Program in the College of Computer, Math, & Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland), and Dr. Zakiya Whatley (Program Manager with the National Voluntary Lab Accreditation Program (NVLAP) at The National Institute of Standards and Technology). Twitter: @Dr_TSho and @zsaidso, @dopelabspodcast , Link: https://www.dopelabspodcast.com/

Dr Esther – Dr. Esther Odek is a Senior Scientist Antibody Engineer at GlaxoSmithKline who highlights researchers, both past and present, from underrepresented groups. Youtube: youtube.com/DrEsther , Twitter: @EstOdek

Dr. Courtney D. Cogburn – Dr. Cogburn is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Columbia University who leads a research group that uses innovative means to characterize and measure racism and evaluate its effects on mental and physical health. Twitter: @CourtneyCogburn , Check out her recent paper “Culture, Race, and Health: Implications for Racial Inequities and Population Health”, Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-0009.12411

The Hidden Women of STEM – Alexis Scott, TEDxMountainViewCollege , Alexis M. Scott shares her perspective as an ‘invisible figure’ being a Black woman educator, entrepreneur, and engineer. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPohBFk6SV0 , Also check out her 2017 book, “Embracing STEM Smarts: An Encouraging Guide for Young Ladies Who Have a Passion”, written to encourage young women to not be afraid to pursue their STEM passions.

Let’s get to the root of racial injustice – Megan Ming Francis, TEDxRainie , Dr. Megan Ming Francis, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington, suggests that properly addressing violence committed against unarmed Black people requires understanding the long history of racial terror in America that is supported by fundamental flaws in our societal structure. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aCn72iXO9s&feature=youtu.be

BOOKS

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, Mikki Kendall , Discusses how Black people’s restricted access to basic necessities like safe housing, food security, medical care, a living wage, and education are continuing to be overlooked and deprioritized due to shortcomings of the Feminist Movement and oppression from within the Movement itself. Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/05/850963562/what-does-hood-feminism-mean-for-a-pandemic

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot , “HeLa” is an immortalized cell line that has been used to make scientific discoveries around the world, however the story of their origin is darkened by racism and ethical issues. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who sought treatment for cervical cancer in 1951. Physicians intrigued by Henrietta’s case harvested her tissue to generate the first immortal human cell line without her consent. Author Rebecca Skloot worked with Lacks’ family to bring Henrietta’s story to light through this book. Link: http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/

Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism, bell hooks , Titled after Sojourner Truth’s “Aint’ I a Woman” speech in 1851, American social activist and feminist bell hooks examines the correlation between the oppression Black women have faced over time in the United States and its continuing impacts on our modern society, and argues how sexism and racism have resulted in Black women having the lowest status of any group in American society. Link: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780861043798/aint-i-a-woman/

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor , Dr. Taylor edited this collection of interviews and essays produced by the Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian organization that was active during the 1970s, which highlights their legacy and contributions to Black feminism and their impact on today’s ongoing anti-Black racism issues. Link: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1108-how-we-get-free#:~:text=Keeanga%2DYamahtta%20Taylor%20writes%20on,inequality%20in%20the%20United%20States.&text=%E2%80%9CThis%20new%20collection%20of%20a,this%20truth%20at%20its%20peril.%E2%80%9D

Changing the Equation: 50+ US Black Women in STEM, Tonya Bolden , Intended to inspire young Black women to consider a career in STEM, and highlight the scientific contributions of hidden, underappreciated Black women figures. Link: http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2020/mar/19/tonya-bolden-changes-stereotype-stem/?page=1

Superior: The Return of Race Science, Angela Saini , British science journalist Angela Saini discusses how certain STEM fields are still influenced by the discredited scientific racism theories of the 19th century. Link: https://www.angelasaini.co.uk/superior

DONATE

Loveland Therapy Fund , When Rachel Cargle started a birthday wish fundraiser in 2018, she raised over $250,000 to enable Black women and girls across the nation to receive therapy support. The Loveland Therapy Fund is a continuation of this effort, and provides financial assistance to bring healing to Black women and girls through therapy. Link: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/

Black Women’s Blueprint , Non-profit organization that supports Black Feminism through gender and culture training, sexual assault crisis counseling, policy advocacy, and increasing access to reproductive health. Link: https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/

Therapy for Black Girls , Dedicated to breaking down stigmas surrounding mental health issues and therapy, and providing a safe online space to encourage the mental wellness of Black women and girls. Link: https://therapyforblackgirls.com/

Black Girls Code , Founded in 2011 by Kimberly Bryant so her daughter would be the last only black girl in the room at a computer science camp, this organization. Link: https://www.blackgirlscode.com/

Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) , Non-profit organization focused on advancing African Americans and underrepresented minorities in their STEM careers, including sponsorship of scholarships and annual conferences on diversity in information technology and STEM. Link: https://bdpa.org/

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