Mentoring Students of Color

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00:00:15.09 Hello, I'm David Burgess and I'm a cell biologist,
00:00:18.09 a professor at Boston College and I also happen to be an American Indian.
00:00:24.20 And so, I've been involved in science diversity efforts
00:00:30.07 and trying to change the face of science
00:00:32.04 and the opportunities for minority students and professionals throughout my career.
00:00:38.05 And so today I'd like to talk a bit about four faculty members,
00:00:43.16 how mentoring of students of color can go
00:00:48.04 and hopefully give you some tips on improving your relationships
00:00:53.02 and your opportunities and your success at working with students of color.
00:00:58.00 I think first and foremost, it's important to recognize
00:01:00.23 that mentors come in all colors and genders and shapes and sizes.
00:01:06.05 And minority students are no different than anyone else,
00:01:09.24 they need mentors, they don't necessarily need one mentor,
00:01:15.13 in fact, they need multiple mentors,
00:01:17.14 and they need mentors who can help them in different stages of their careers.
00:01:23.28 Because of the fact that they are underrepresented in the sciences,
00:01:29.19 what that means is there are very few mentors of the same color,
00:01:33.08 the same race, or gender, that they're able to interact with
00:01:38.05 and so these are some images of some of my mentors over my career.
00:01:45.01 And I've been blessed by having these mentors.
00:01:49.18 Now, mentors of minority students, again, are race neutral,
00:01:54.17 they're gender neutral, but what they must do is listen to students
00:02:00.20 and watch the students and, especially for stressors.
00:02:05.28 And I'll talk about the kinds of stressors that are unique to underrepresented minority students
00:02:12.23 in research universities today.
00:02:16.07 At the same time, I think it's very critical for mentors to set high expectations
00:02:21.20 for all of their students and especially for underrepresented minority students.
00:02:26.12 Again, recognize the need for more than one mentor,
00:02:31.14 you're not in a competition with other mentors,
00:02:34.10 it's an opportunity for you, perhaps, to work individually with a student,
00:02:39.08 but also as a team.
00:02:40.16 And finally, it's important for you to recognize issues of culture
00:02:46.19 because for some underrepresented minority groups,
00:02:51.11 the community, their culture, their history, their relationships with family,
00:02:58.14 are very important and play a singular role in their lives.
00:03:03.08 So, again, why do we need multiple mentors?
00:03:07.26 Again, I think it's clear as a PI of a student,
00:03:13.14 you're a great mentor for professional development.
00:03:16.26 You may not be a great mentor as a role model,
00:03:22.12 of being in the same race or gender.
00:03:24.20 You may not be a great mentor in terms of social activities.
00:03:31.19 And so different students require different mentors throughout their career.
00:03:41.16 I also want to talk about and sort of educate you
00:03:47.00 about the challenges that face underrepresented minority students
00:03:51.02 in the sciences especially.
00:03:52.22 And the biggest issue is that most of them are solos.
00:03:57.13 By solo, I mean generally, they're the only minority student in their program.
00:04:02.29 They're the only minority student in their laboratory,
00:04:06.16 the only minority student perhaps in their whole school.
00:04:10.14 And so, these lead to certain issues and the issues are numerous.
00:04:17.15 They have to do with issues of the expectation that you represent an entire race,
00:04:24.13 rather than as an individual, so keep that in mind,
00:04:29.22 that these are individuals with their own perspectives,
00:04:32.02 and there is no sort of "what's the American Indian perspective" on this issue.
00:04:37.08 The other issue is social isolation.
00:04:41.14 Again, here's a picture of a study section at NIH I was on
00:04:48.03 awhile back, and you see this is a typical study section,
00:04:50.26 which is mostly men, a few women, but little diversity.
00:04:55.00 And so, if you're there, you're generally a solo,
00:04:58.03 whether you are a graduate or far along in your professional career.
00:05:03.01 Minority students face something called stereotype threat
00:05:07.15 and I recommend that you Google that and read about stereotype threat
00:05:11.26 because it's well documented that stereotype threat is a big issue
00:05:17.15 for students of color.
00:05:19.25 Isolation from networks. There's a good amount of data
00:05:25.22 showing that underrepresented minority faculty in medical schools
00:05:30.28 tend to be excluded from big center grants or big program project grants,
00:05:36.09 leading to lower productivity.
00:05:38.20 And there's no real explanation of why that occurs
00:05:42.11 but the fact is it does occur.
00:05:44.27 There are things about behavior that affect minority students
00:05:50.08 and behavior, for instance, one type of way of communicating
00:06:00.09 by one group might be highly regarded and highly respected,
00:06:05.14 being aggressive, being assertive.
00:06:08.09 But if you're a black woman or a black man as a graduate student
00:06:13.07 and you are assertive and aggressive, you might be considered to be uppity
00:06:17.06 and so there are different standards that minority students face.
00:06:20.17 There still is both overt and covert racism that rears its ugly head from time to time.
00:06:27.21 All of these are isolating events and occurrences that happen to students
00:06:35.10 and professionals throughout their career,
00:06:37.18 leading to an effect on their productivity, on their sprit, on their health.
00:06:44.27 And so we have to watch out for these solo effects.
00:06:49.00 At the same time, we have to recognize that the US demographics are changing.
00:06:55.12 When we look at the future of this country,
00:06:58.11 it's increasingly diverse, especially in the K-12 pipeline
00:07:02.20 and those students who are heading to college and graduate school.
00:07:06.16 Hispanics are the largest minority group in the country
00:07:10.24 and so the demographics are changing and so the face of science will change
00:07:16.18 or we'll struggle to keep up its resources
00:07:21.00 and so we have to pay attention to the opportunities that are provided to us.
00:07:28.21 I think one thing that's important to recognize
00:07:32.24 and to communicate with your students is that there are great opportunities
00:07:36.23 for underrepresented minority students in the sciences.
00:07:40.26 They run the gamut from having grant programs
00:07:46.13 targeting to underrepresented minority groups, run by private philanthropies
00:07:53.17 or different NIH or NSF programs.
00:07:57.21 There are friendly program officers out there
00:08:01.22 who would and very much like to diversify their study sections.
00:08:07.08 Their initial review groups, or their panels, and so there are opportunities
00:08:12.23 that will provide you some extra experience,
00:08:17.11 provide young professionals experience, because they happen to be an underrepresented minority.
00:08:24.03 But in many ways, that will help them in their career.
00:08:27.14 How to write a grant better.
00:08:29.02 There are also, most professional scientific societies,
00:08:33.04 have very active minority affairs committees, or minority action committees.
00:08:38.23 I'm a member of the one at the American Society for Cell Biology,
00:08:41.29 it runs workshops on professional development, grant writing,
00:08:46.16 how to get a job, how to get tenure, all of these kinds of activities,
00:08:52.22 and this is an image from a recent workshop this last June.
00:08:57.29 And so there are lots of opportunities provided,
00:09:01.21 including minorities serving scientific societies,
00:09:05.01 for Hispanics and American Indians in this country,
00:09:08.21 there's a Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science,
00:09:12.19 a mentoring organization focusing primarily on undergraduates,
00:09:17.04 but having activities and programs for both postdocs and young professionals.
00:09:22.09 So, we need to take advantage of these opportunities provided
00:09:29.09 to students and to young professionals.
00:09:35.18 Again, I want to go back to issues of culture
00:09:38.26 and how important it is for many communities.
00:09:43.00 And I know this is true for all underrepresented groups.
00:09:47.01 Here are some images of me and one of my sons
00:09:51.03 and a couple of grandchildren going to a recent powwow,
00:09:54.02 or taking part in a song at a national meeting,
00:09:59.05 or just getting together with other American Indian scientists.
00:10:02.29 Because in fact we're so rare, we tend to know one another,
00:10:07.12 personally, and so we go away to a scientific meeting and we see each other,
00:10:12.14 and we get together. So, it's a way of networking and staying in touch with your community.
00:10:17.21 I think the other thing that I recommend is to celebrate success.
00:10:23.12 It's so critical to celebrate success because for many of these students,
00:10:29.06 they're the first in the family, first generation, to go to college.
00:10:33.21 And certainly the first to go to graduate school,
00:10:36.12 or the first to get an academic or an industry job,
00:10:40.18 as a minority, in their family.
00:10:42.25 And so this opportunity to achieve, they have no role models from their families,
00:10:51.04 few role models in society, and so we need to celebrate their successes.
00:10:56.28 And here's a great, successful mathematician, Richard Tapia,
00:11:01.00 a member of the National Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences,
00:11:04.28 receiving an award for outstanding science
00:11:11.27 at a recent SACNAS meeting.
00:11:14.00 Alright, well, I hope that this short narrative has given you some tips,
00:11:19.26 and some opportunities to think about the issues facing underrepresented minority students
00:11:27.02 and young faculty and mid-career faculty that will allow you to be a better mentor
00:11:33.14 and to work better with your students,
00:11:35.19 leading to their successes.
00:11:38.06 Thank you very much.

This Talk

Speaker: David Burgess

Audience:

Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: December 2012

Talk Overview

In this talk about mentoring students of color, Burgess advises mentors on how best to recognize and address the particular needs of students of color. This includes understanding the importance of culture, identifying opportunities, and providing support for a student who may be the only underrepresented minority in his/her program or lab.

Speaker Bio

David Burgess

As a biologist and a Cherokee, David Burgess recognizes the urgent need to increase the number of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in science. He is a past president of the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), a member of the American Society for Cell Biology’s (ASCB) Minority Affairs and… Continue Reading