Seemingly fair practices which disadvantage women of color in science

1. Seemingly fair practices which disadvantage women of color in science American Association of Physics Teachers 14 February 2009

2. To download this presentation and some of the papers it is based on: • Faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt

3. 1995-2004 average science grads Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 12 February 2009 Raw data is at faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt

4. 1995-2004 average physics grads Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 12 February 2009 Raw data is at faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt

5. 1995-2004 average science grads Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 12 February 2009 Raw data is at faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt 9

6. 1995-2004 average physics grads Data from www.nsf.gov/statistics, retrieved 12 February 2009 Raw data is at faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt

7. Seemingly neutral conditions • Seymour & Hewitt (1997), Talking About Leaving • ~350 well-prepared students, 7 institutions across the country • Some stayed in science, some left • All reported similar conditions

8. Seemingly neutral conditions • Hard classes • Bad teaching • Competition • Fast pace • Heavy work loads • Unsupportive culture

9. Seemingly neutral conditions • Masculine skill: rising to a challenge, without nurture • “Most women we encountered had entered college at a peak of self-confidence, based on good high school performances, good or adequate SAT scores and a great deal of encouragement and praise from high school teachers, family and friends” (255-256).

10. Seemingly neutral conditions • “in treating male and female students alike, faculty are, in effect, treating women in ways that are understood by the men, but not by the women” (260).

11. My study • Setting: Large Research I university, 85% white • Participants: 6 Black women, 7 Latinas, 3 American Indians, 4 Asian/Pacific Islanders • Academic preparation comparable to other science majors

12. Data • 12 formal interviews • Participant observation in classes and labs (gen chem, honors chem, physics, environmental bio, molecular bio, o chem, plant anatomy, human anatomy)

13. Data analysis • Searched for patterns of behavior and experiences • Generated assertions • Checked assertions against new data • Presented findings to participants

14. Findings • 3 discouraging practices in science classes • Large lecture classes • Asking and answering questions in class • Engaging in research

15. Findings • Two discouraging cultural values • Focus on decontextualized science • Presentation of science as meritocratic, raceless and genderless

16. Large lecture classes • The women… • Wanted to get to know professors • (Many) came from urban or rural schools where they were cherished • Found lectures alienating; felt conspicuous but also invisible

17. It was a shock, literally a shock walking into my first class and seeing the teacher down there with the microphone, and seeing him like put up the screen on this huge—I mean, it’s bigger than our little theater in our town, I’m just like “oh my god,” you know, I mean it was huge, and I just couldn’t adjust to that.

18. And I couldn’t adjust to the fact that I couldn’t talk to this teacher, you know, face-to-face. One, I didn’t have the time, and then they didn’t have the time. Because they were always doing other things, and they had like five hundred students in the first class, so it’s just like, they can’t take that much time just for you, you know. --American Indian woman, molecular biology major, now a pharmacist

19. Alexis was in cell biology with us that year. And towards the last exam, Alexis and I went to go talk to the professor who was teaching—he’s a really good teacher. He [said] “strange, I don’t recognize you guys from my class. Do you sit in the back?” And in retrospect, I was like “Dang!” How could he miss us?? Me, Alexis and Derartu were the only Black people in the whole class! I was like “do you not look up?” I don’t know. “Next time we’ll sit on your little podium.”

20. Even though, you know, maybe he didn’t recognize us legitimately, OK? There’s like three hundred people to stare at every day for six months or whatever. But still, I still just felt like not involved in the class, you know? Just kind of like a spectator of the class, like I’m not really a part of the learning process, I’m just kind of watching and hopefully getting a good grade. --Black woman, molecular biology major, now MPH, working for international women’s health organization

21. Asking and answering questions • Common tactic of professors • Seems laudable • Good way to be recognized by professors • Some students take advantage of it more than others • White men answered, white women asked, women of color were silent

22. Asking and answering questions • Socialized as women not to draw attention • Felt conspicuous • Feared they alone, out of 250 students, were confused • All students seemed to have this opportunity but only some took it

23. Like the classes were, you know, there’s a select few over-achievers who laugh at all the jokes, who ask questions, who ask the “challenge the professor” questions, who probably clone genes at home, I don’t know—it’s like those select few and the professor, and everybody else is just either asleep or just scribing every word they can get. And that’s just what I felt like—the class is just following along, and I’m just sort of like along for the ride. --Black molecular biology major

24. Doing research • Some women in this study had outstanding experiences • Some had spectacularly bad experiences

25. It was just all this work on trying to find out [using DNA sequencing] if some species were related, and how closely they were related. It was just learning—learning about things that you can’t see by using things that you can see. … After I graduate, I want to come back and do a doctorate, probably in genetics, some kind of genetics. And then I want to do research. I just find it fascinating! You’re always learning! That’s what I like—I like learning. Finding things out. --Latina molecular biology major, now a PhD-holding research scientist

26. I did research my freshmen year in an environmental biology lab and it was sooooo boring to me. I was looking into a microscope 3-4 hours a day looking at fungi. How fun is that? I would go to the professor in charge of the lab with intent of getting course advice or help as far as what else my biology degree would get me. I was expecting a mentor, but that didn't happen. Also one of his grad students accused me of stealing his favorite pen, which ended up being in his lab pocket the whole time and he eventually apologized. That is why I switched my major. -Latina kinesiology major, MPH, pursuing PhD in environmental toxicology

27. Research: Mixed results • Intimate spaces, close contacts with professors • Some labs let women express their interest in science • Other labs amplified women’s feelings of alienation and difference

28. Decontextualized science • Lectures and labs focused on minutiae of science • Seldom gave a big picture • Seldom talked about why information was interesting • “just pouring information at you in a sort of condescending way”

29. Decontextualized science • Reasons women in the study liked science: • It’s interesting • Means to a health career • Interested in the human body • Felt slighted or alienated when these motivations were not acknowledged

30. Decontextualized science • Professors centered interactions around science, not around students

31. Some science professors only look to the science aspects, they’re only into the intellectual thing. I guess they have to be if they’re teaching that, but—I cannot expect them to be open-minded about different things, like your life, when you do get advice from them. Many people are just like “OK, this is the career, this very intellectual, Ph.D., Master’s, that kind of thing.” I think they should ask the question like “what do you want to do? What makes you happy?” --Asian American molecular biology major, completed PhD in biomedical sciences, now in medical school

32. Merima: Whenever I go talk to molecular biology professors, they make me feel, I don’t know—he’s a nice teacher, but they make me feel stupid. [Chris & Monica: Uh-huh.] I couldn’t even divide ten thousand by ten—I was so nervous. One time he said “did you understand what I just said?” I said “uh-huh,” so he said “repeat in your own words,” and I couldn’t.

33. Angela: What are they doing that makes you feel stupid? Monica: They put you on the spot. Merima: And they’re not too friendly. If you don’t know the answer, they just wait. Chris: It’s like they expect you to know the answer. And then, if you don’t, they just wait. They don’t tell you the answer. Merima: And I can tell you a lot of molecular biology students feel like this. It’s not just me or Chris.

34. Meritocracy • Belief that success in science comes only from talent • Well-intentioned belief, but: • Made some of the women feel like special cases, even more different

35. I was doing my report on Graves’ Disease a couple weeks ago. There’s different genes related to Graves’ Disease, for different ethnicities, and for a long time, they were like “OK, it’s just this one gene,” but it was only found with white people. And I thought that was really interesting. But then in my presentation, I was like “should I mention the part about African Americans having a different gene?” And women get affected a lot more. And I thought “damn, that’s kind of messed up, that I should re-think presenting—it’s as normal to the disease as its symptoms, know what I’m saying?” But still, I sort of felt “damn, should I not mention that?” --Black molecular biology major

36. In a class where there’s me and then like one or two other people of color, we all seem to stick together, and somehow we all end up being lab partners, or something like that. Some people may feel like they’re being left out, or they can’t interact with the white people in the class, or something like that, because it seems like whenever I’m sitting there and it’s time to pick your lab partner, whoever else is the minority in the classroom will come and find me. Most of my lab partners have been minorities. --Latina molecular biology major, now pursuing PhD in the biomedical sciences

37. Meritocracy… • Made race and gender patterns seem like personal choices • Obscured common reasons women of color studied science

38. Conclusions • Women in this study faced the same difficulties all science students faced • Weed-out courses • Multiple choice exams • Inaccessible professors

39. Conclusions • They also faced unique difficulties • Felt conspicuous • Didn’t like to draw attention • Felt conflicted between their altruism & their professors’ decontextualized science • Interpreted decontextualization as hostility or lack of caring • Were skeptical of claims about meritocracy

40. Difficulties came from • Pragmatism (big classes) • Good intentions (asking and answering questions in class, taking on research assistants)

41. Success in these settings required… • Comfort with attention • Knowledge of how to succeed in an unsupportive environment • Comfort with personal interactions centered on information, not relationship • Race- and gender-blindness

42. But the setting “seemed fair”… • Because rhetoric of meritocracy obscured racial and gendered patterns • Both the women in the study & professors explained women’s non-participation in individual terms--lack of interest, lack of preparation, lack of ability

43. Some solutions • Recognize that science has a culture which certain types of students may not be familiar with • Occasionally put science in context • Establish rapport with students during office hours or research • Mention race & gender where they make sense

44. For more info You can find the NSF raw data and other information at: Faculty.smcm.edu/acjohnson/aapt Contact me at: acjohnson@smcm.edu