reducing the impact of bias in the stem workforce
TRANSCRIPT
Suzi Iacono, HeadOffice of Integrative ActivitiesNational Science Foundation
Reducing theImpactofBiasin
theSTEMWorkforce
1
JSUADVANCEIMPLICITBIASTHINKTANKMarch22,2017
NSFbytheNumbersFY2017BudgetRequest
2
3
CommitmenttoDiversity• NSFCoreValue
• Inclusiveness– seekingandembracingcontributionsfromallsources,includingunderrepresentedgroups,regions,andinstitutions
• NSFPrograms• $763MRequestforBroadeningParticipationprograms
• DiversityDividend-- McKinseyStudy(2015)
4
Employedscientistsandengineers,bysexandrace/ethnicity:1993and2013
1993 2013
SOURCE:NationalScienceFoundation,NationalCenterforScienceandEngineeringStatistics 5
Why?
• Explicit
6AAUW:SolvingtheEquation:TheVariablesforWomen’sSuccessinEngineeringandComputing
7AAUW:SolvingtheEquation:TheVariablesforWomen’sSuccessinEngineeringandComputing
ResearchProposals,AwardsandSuccessRatebyFiscalYear
Research proposals and awards. (Excludes: centers and facilities, equipment and instrumentation grants, conferences and symposia, Small Business Innovation Research grants, Small Grants for Exploratory Research (through FY 2009), and education and training grants )* FY 2009 and FY 2010 include American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards.
8
Preliminary Proposals: 4200 80% IOS & DEB
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Succ
ess
Rat
e
Prop
osal
s an
d Aw
ards
Proposals Awards Success Rate
PercentageofProposalsfromandAwardstoWomen
9
2001 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
All PIs Proposals 31,942 42,352 44,428 55,542 48,613 48,051 Awards 9,925 10,425 11,149 12,996 11,524 10,958 Funding Rate 31% 25% 25% 23% 24% 23% Female PIs Proposals 5,839 8,510 9,431 11,903 10,795 11,142 Awards 1,894 2,233 2,556 2,982 2,775 2,669 Funding Rate 32% 26% 27% 25% 26% 24% Male PIs Proposals 25,510 31,482 32,074 38,695 32,932 31,625 Awards 7,867 7,765 7,986 9,080 7,816 7,286 Funding Rate 31% 25% 25% 23% 24% 23% PIs from Proposals 1,728 2,608 2,762 3,613 3,291 3,268 URM by Awards 509 638 670 812 718 681 race/ethnicity Funding Rate 29% 24% 24% 22% 22% 21%
AwardsandProposalSuccessRatesbyPICharacteristics
10
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
BIO CISE EHR ENG GEO MPS SBE NSF
SuccessR
ate
Ratio
ofS
uccessRates(F/M
)
FY2015ResearchProposals-ComparisonofWomen'sandMen's
SuccessRates
RatioofSuccessRates Fs.r. Ms.r.
11
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
4.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2010-2015
%ofa
llRe
searchPropo
sals
Ratio
ofS
uccessRates
ResearchProposals- ComparisonofBlack/AAandWhiteSuccessRates
RatioofSuccessRates %ofProposalsfromAA
12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY150
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15
MaleScientists/Engineers FemaleScientists/Engineers
GenderandRacial/ethnicDiversityofNSF'sScientistsandEngineers:FY2006-2015
Source:NSFDivisionofHumanResourcesManagement13
Whythesedifferences?
•Manypossiblereasons• Explicitbias?Maybe.• Implicitbias.Morelikely.• Institutionalbias.Probably.
14
CognitiveBiases
15
16AAUW.org:PNAS:Moss-Racusin,Davidio,Brescoll,Graham,&Handelsman (2012)
17
18
ExecutiveSummary:ASenseofUrgency• LimitingdiversityinSTEMcoulddiminishAmerica’sroleasagloballeaderindiscoveryandinnovation.
• TheUScannotwaittoaddressthebiasesthataffectthequalityandquantityoftheSTEMworkforce.
• InOctober2015,OSTPandOPMestablishedaninteragencygrouptoidentifypoliciesandbestpracticestoincreasediversityinSTEMworkforce,boththeFederalGovernmentandinfederallyfundedinstitutionsofhighered.
19
Biases&Mitigation• Explicit:Intentionalandconsciouslyheldattitudesandbeliefsthatinfluencepeople’sevaluationandbehaviortowardsaparticulargroup
• Implicit:Individualattitudesheldwithoutconsciousawarenessorcontrol;thus,maybedifficulttodetectandmitigate
• Institutional: Implicitbiasthroughorganizationalpoliciesandpractices;canbedifficulttodetectandmitigate
• Mitigation:• Explicitbiasismanagedthroughlawandjustice– TitleVI(DoJ)andTitleIX(ED);
• Implicitbiasrequiresawarenessandawillingnesstoengageinotherperspectives;
• Institutionalbiasrequiresdata.20
Vision,Goal,Objectives• Vision: Arobustandinclusiveworld-classUSSTEMenterprisecharacterizedbyinstitutionsofhigherlearningandFedgovernmentworkplaceenvironmentsfreefrombiasandotherbarriersthatimpedecareerpathways
• Goal:Toenabletheprogressofscience,innovationandsocietythroughgreataccessparticipationandadvancementofallAmericansinSTEM,especiallythosehistoricallyunderrepresentedandunderserved
• Objectives:ToenhanceexistingandestablishnewFederalgovernment-widepoliciesandpracticesthatmitigatetheimpactofbiasintheworkplace;Tospurcoordinationandcollaborationamongfederallyfundedinstitutionsofhigherlearningintheexchangeofbestpolicies,practices,toolsandresources.
21
IntheFederalSTEMWorkforce
Recommendation1:EachFederalagencyshouldexerciseleadershipatalllevels,includingseniorofficials,STEMprogramandadministrationmanagers,humancapitalofficials,anddiversityandinclusionofficials,toreducetheimpactofbiasintheirinternaloperations,including:
• Incorporatingdiversityandinclusionobjectivesinthestrategicplan;
• Implementingrecruiting,hiringandpromotionpracticesthatencouragediversityandinclusion;and
• Establishingbias-mitigationgoals,techniques,andaccountabilitymechanisms.
22
InFederallyFundedInstitutionsofHigherEducationRecommendation2:EachFederalagencyincorporatebias-mitigationstrategiesintoitsproposalreviewprocessandoffertechnicalassistancetogranteeinstitutionstoimplementbias-mitigationstrategies,including:
• AchievingfairnessandqualityintheSTEMendeavor;• Collectingandanalyzingdataontheentirecycleofthegrantmakingprocesstoanalyzesuccessratesacrossgroups;and
• Providinginformationaboutmethodstoreducebias.
23
Cross-cuttingGovernment-wideLeadership
• Recommendation3:TheFederalGovernment,throughOSTP,OPM,andtheDepartmentofJustice(DOJ),shouldexerciseleadershiptoreducetheimpactofbiasintheFederalSTEMworkforceandfederallyfundedinstitutionsby:
• Servingasfocalpointsandclearinghousesforbias-reductionstrategiesforbothFederalagenciesandfederallyfundedinstitutions;
• Coordinatingcivilrightscomplianceefforts;• EnhancingthecapacityforGovernment-wideperformanceandaccountabilityforeffortstomitigateexplicitandimplicitbiasthroughvalidatedmeasurementtools;
• Spurringgreaterstrategiccoordination,collaboration,andimpactofsuccessfulprogramsaimedatreducingbiasandincreasingdiversityinfederallyfundedinstitutions;and
• Strengtheninguniversity--communitypartnershipstomitigatebiasandincreaseaccesstopathwaystoFederalSTEMemployment.
24
25
Fromleft:GeraldineRichmond(UOR),SuzanneIacono (NSF),ShirleyMalcom (AAAS),Simine Vazire (UCDavis),andBrooksHanson(AGU)
JournalsandFundersConfrontImplicitBiasinPeerReview
AAAS– Washington,DCMay27,2016
ScienceMagazine:http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6289/1067.full
ColloquiumonReducingImplicitBiasDecember12,2016atAAASHeadquarters
Adiscussionof interagencyefforts toincreasediversityinSTEM
26
Fromleft:CelesteRohlfing,JoHandelsman,SuzanneIacono,BrendaManuel,AnnaHanandSusanFiske.
PhotoPermission:JuanDavidRomero/AAAS
InteragencyPolicyGrouponIncreasingDiversityintheSTEMWorkforce
BEST PRACTICES identified with credible evidence include: Analyses of mandated workforce data sets;
Implicit bias training;
Conflict resolution; and
Promoting work flexibility.
PROMISING PRACTICES are defined as those that are consistent with principles established by research but have not been the subject of evaluation. The following are particularly promising:
Diversity change agents;
Diversity toolkits;
Technical qualifications board; and
Proposal review experiments.
EMERGING PRACTICES include:Unconscious bias training for search committees;
Special training for the entire workforce;
Hiring and promotions safeguard
27
Best,Promising,andEmergingPracticestoReducetheImpactofBiasintheFederalSTEMWorkforce
28
KeyWordVisualizationofAgencyEffortsfromtheCollectiveSummaryofAgencySubmissions
29
ParticipationofFemaleReviewersinVirtual,InPerson,andMixedPanelsFY2014
30
NewMeritReviewPilot:ReviewerOrientation• Complaints/Confusion/Data
• Variablequalityofreviews– notedinCOVsandincommentsfromPIs
• ConfusionaboutBroaderImpacts– notedinCOVsandindiscussionwithAdvisoryCommittees
• Dataaboutdifferencesinsuccessrates– graphsputineveryNSFAnnualMeritReviewReport
• Whatwewilldo• Movereviewerorientationupafewweeks– beforetheyreadproposalsandwritereviews
• Anduseastandardizedformatforeveryone
31
Videocontains…(1) Tipsonwritinganalyticalreviews
(3)Howtomitigatecognitivebiases
(2)BroaderImpacts
32
:
…
ReviewerOrientationPilot
33
DeliveredviaWebinar• COI/Confidentiality[slides]• Tipsonpreparingreviews[video]• Programcontext,additionalreviewcriteria,etc.
34
NSFINCLUDES
35
JoanFerrini-MundySuziIaconoBarryJohnsonRogerWakimotoFebruary9,2017
CEOSEBriefing
Time
Impact
incremental change
launch
sustain
large-scale social change
catalyze*What if we focused more here?
Catalyzing Social Innovation
36
37
PrincipalInvestigator(PI)Meeting
InclusionacrosstheNationofCommunitiesofLearnersofUnderrepresentedDiscovers
inEngineeringandScience
January4-6,2017Arlington,VA
NSFINCLUDESPIMeetingJanuary4-6,2017
• Welcome• PosterSession• PlenaryTownHall• FlashTalks• Learningabout
BuildingNetworks• DinnerConversation• EvaluatingSocial
Innovations• ClosingPlenarywith
theDirector
PIMeetingJanuary4-6,2017
Representa-tives fromall40Pilots
186Participants:• NSFStaff• Contractors• PIs/CoPIs• Evaluators
Representativesfrom11ofthe13conferences
Morethan5hoursofnetworking
3days2TownHall
Meetings
38
PIMeetingJanuary4-6,2017
39
NSFINCLUDESNationalNetwork:TheVision
40
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
ALLIANCE
ALLIANCE
ALLIANCEALLIANCE
ALLIANCE
ALLIANCE
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
PILOTS
Turner,Merchant,Kania&Martin,2012.
INCLUDESNationalBackboneOrg
-----------------------------------
• Shareddata,knowledge,bestpractices
• On-rampmechanisms
• Monitorprogressatnationallevel
• …..
PortfolioAnalysis
41
IdentificationofBPFocusedPrograms
42
*Allawardsforwhichinformationwascollectedwereactiveas1/23/2017https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2017/pdf/10_fy2017.pdf
BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN
BIOLOGY FELLOWSHIP
BPE
TCUPPAARE
LSAMP
SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship –Broadening Participation
SBE Science of Broadening
Participation
43
44
Conclusions• Guidingprinciples
• DiversitystrengthenstheSTEMenterprise• PreparationandadvancementofallUStalentisessentialtoUSSTEMleadership
• Diversityandinclusionarecentralallallorganization’smissionsandbusinesscases
• Groupstraditionallyunderrepresentedandunderservedareareservoirofuntappedcreativity,diversityofthoughtandenginesofinnovation
• Mitigatingbiases/assumptions• Raiseawarenessandmotivationtochange• Providestrategiesandtools• Empowerandsetexpectationsforpositiveoutcomes• Increasecommitmenttoreducebias
• Takeactiontoday!
45