Strengthening a Neural Network: Pathways for Institutional Change Regarding Diversity and Inclusion

April 29, 2019 - April 30, 2019

Contact: Lauren Ullrich, PhD
Contact Email: lauren.ullrich@nih.gov
Location:

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bethesda

image of light bulb with brain inside of it

This workshop is being held to discuss issues on institutional change and transparency in pursuit of enhancing the diversity of the neuroscience workforce. It is a follow-up to two previous workshops: one in 2016 to identify successful approaches to recruit, train, and retain diverse individuals in the neuroscience workforce and a second in 2017 to discuss the issues, misconceptions, and barriers that currently exist in neuroscience graduate admissions programs with regard to diverse trainees.

The 2019 workshop goals are:

building alliances between individuals who are actively engaged in addressing issues surrounding workforce diversity and individuals engaged in neuroscience training;
identifying opportunities and sharing successful approaches for more effective institutional change;
fostering dialog around institutional approaches to interventions targeted at critical transition points along the career path, such as entry to and persistence in training programs (undergrad, grad, and postdoc) and hiring and retaining diverse faculty;
providing training to administrators of neuroscience R25 and T32 training programs on how to implement institutional change around diversity and inclusion at their institutions; and
receiving feedback on how NINDS programs and policies can catalyze institutional change around a diverse neuroscience workforce. The attendees will be neuroscience graduate program directors, directors of neuroscience undergraduate research programs, and experts in diversity and inclusion.

Agenda and Resources

DAY 1: April 29, 2019

Time	Event	Resources
7:00 – 8:00 am	Registration
8:00 – 8:25 am	Welcome Walter Koroshetz, M.D. Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Meeting Goals Michelle Jones-London, Ph.D. Chief, Office of Programs to Enhance Neuroscience Workforce Diversity (OPEN) - NINDS
8:25 – 9:25 am	Featured Lecture Molly Carnes, MD Professor, Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Industrial & Systems Engineering Director, UW Center for Women's Health Research	Presentation Slides - Carnes(pdf, 558 KB) (pdf, 545 kb) A Gender Bias Habit-Breaking Intervention Led to Increased Hiring of Female Faculty in STEMM Departments J Exp Soc Psychol, November 2017 Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute
9:45 – 12:00 pm	Panel 1: Strategies for Institutional Change Moderator: Letitia Weigand, Ph.D. – NINDS Discussants: Beth Ruedi, Ph.D. – SEA Change, American Association for the Advancement of Science Penny Beuning, Ph.D. – ADVANCE, Northeastern University David Asai, Ph.D. – Inclusive Excellence, HHMI What institutional programs and approaches have been successful in reducing isolation, increasing community building, and fostering career advancement for early-career faculty from diverse groups? The institutional framework provides incentives that dictate the kinds of skills and knowledge perceived to have the maximum pay-off. How can this perception harm or help the efforts to increase workforce diversity? How does your institution demonstrate or communicate how diversity relates to the educational and research mission? Discussion/Brainstorming in Small Groups	Presentation Slides - Beuning(pdf, 482 KB) (pdf, 475 kb) Presentation Slides - Asai(pdf, 4015 KB) (pdf, 3.9 mb) STEM Equity Achievement (SEA) Change SEA Change Handbook and Criteria & Guidelines ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions HHMI Inclusive Excellence
12:00 – 1:00 pm	LUNCH
1:00 – 3:15 pm	Panel 2: Making Data-Driven Decisions Moderator: Lauren Ullrich, Ph.D. – NINDS Discussants: Elizabeth Watkins, Ph.D. – Coalition for Next Generation Life Science, University of California, San Francisco Chris Pickett, Ph.D. – Rescuing Biomedical Research Kenneth Gibbs, Jr., Ph.D. – Data-Based Intervention Recommendations, NIGMS What data on the workforce are available nationally and locally? How does your program collect and use data on participants and applicants? How can we ensure data collected are useful and informative? Discussion/Brainstorming in Small Groups	Presentation Slides - Watkins(pdf, 3655 KB) (pdf, 3.6 mb) Presentation Slides - Pickett(pdf, 1589 KB) (pdf, 1.6 mb) Presentation Slides - Gibbs(pdf, 2879 KB) (pdf, 2.8 mb) Coalition for Next Generation Life Science A New Data Effort to Inform Career Choices in Biomedicine Rescuing Biomedical Research Becoming More Transparent: Collecting and Presenting Data on Biomedical Ph.D. Alumni Improving Support for Young Biomedical Scientists The GSS is an Unreliable Indicator of Biological Sciences Postdoc Population Trends Examining the Distribution of K99/R00 Awards by Race Decoupling of the Minority Ph.D. Talent Pool and Assistant Professor Hiring in Medical School Basic Science Departments in the US Biomedical Science Ph.D. Career Interest Patterns by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
3:35 - 6:00 pm	Panel 3: The Role of Societies & Associations in Institutional Change Moderator: Marguerite Matthews, Ph.D. – NINDS Discussants: Rae Nishi, Ph.D. – Society for Neuroscience, Marine Biological Laboratory Kevin Jones, Ph.D. – Society for Neuroscience, University of Michigan Kelly Mack, Ph.D. – Association of American Colleges & Universities Chantel Fuqua, Ph.D. – Association of American Medical Colleges What are the major challenges to meeting the career development needs of a diverse workforce? How can institutions utilize professional societies and associations to facilitate institutional change? What opportunities does your organization offer to promote diversity and inclusion in the biomedical workforce? Discussion/Brainstorming in Small Groups	Presentation Slides - Nishi and Jones(pdf, 4079 KB) (pdf, 4.0 mb) Department Chair Training to Increase Women in Neuroscience Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) Assessing Institutional Culture and Climate Diversity 3.0 Learning Series

DAY 2: April 30, 2019

Time	Event	Resources
8:00 – 8:10 am	Welcome and Introduction of Activity Michelle Jones-London, Ph.D. Chief, Office of Programs to Enhance Neuroscience Workforce Diversity (OPEN) - NINDS
8:10 – 9:10 am	Landis Award Winners Share Their Mentoring Philosophy Moderator: Letitia Weigand, Ph.D. – NINDS Discussants: Matthew Gentry, Ph.D. – University of Kentucky College of Medicine Sarah Kucenas, Ph.D. – University of Virginia Chris Dulla, Ph.D. – Tufts University School of Medicine	The NINDS Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship by an NINDS Investigator
9:10 – 11:10 am	Interactive Mentor Training to Increase Research Self-Efficacy Arpita Ghosh, Ph.D. National Research Mentoring Network The University of Kansas	Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER)
11:20 – 12:00 pm	NIH's Scientific Approach to Inclusive Excellence: Focus on Institutional Accountability Hannah Valantine, M.D. Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity - NIH	From the NIH: A Systems Approach to Increasing the Diversity of the Biomedical Research Workforce NIH Scientific Workforce Diversity Toolkit NIH Office of Scientific Workforce Diversity NIH Distinguished Scholars Program Independent Research Scholar Program Future Research Leaders Conference
12:00 – 12:30 pm	Report out, concluding remarks, and ADJOURN

April 29 - 30, 2019

This workshop was held to discuss issues on institutional change and transparency in pursuit of enhancing the diversity of the neuroscience workforce. It is a follow-up to two previous workshops: one in 2016 to identify successful approaches to recruit, train, and retain diverse individuals in the neuroscience workforce and a second in 2017 to discuss the issues, misconceptions, and barriers that currently exist in neuroscience graduate admissions programs with regard to diverse trainees.

The 2019 workshop goals were: 1) building alliances between individuals who are actively engaged in addressing issues surrounding workforce diversity and individuals engaged in neuroscience training; 2) identifying opportunities and sharing successful approaches for more effective institutional change; 3) fostering dialog around institutional approaches to interventions targeted at critical transition points along the career path, such as entry to and persistence in training programs (undergrad, grad, and postdoc) and hiring and retaining diverse faculty; 4) providing training to administrators of neuroscience R25 and T32 training programs on how to implement institutional change around diversity and inclusion at their institutions; and 5) receiving feedback on how NINDS programs and policies can catalyze institutional change around a diverse neuroscience workforce. The attendees were neuroscience graduate program directors, directors of neuroscience undergraduate research programs, and experts in diversity and inclusion.

Download the Program Booklet(pdf, 6422 KB)

Read the full Meeting Summary(pdf, 493 KB)