Harvard University Institutional Action Plan for Diversity in the Sciences
Harvard University Institutional Action Plan 
In recent years, Harvard has begun to rethink how to teach science and how to improve the undergraduate experience for all students. Underrepresented minorities and women in the sciences face many of the same challenges, and the rates of attrition of these students from science concentrations are greater than of other students. In the spring of 2005, members of the Harvard community engaged in a series of discussions on methods for improving the scientific experience of women and minorities. These strategies were articulated in a report from the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). We report here a series of recommendations that specifically will aid underrepresented minorities at the undergraduate level. Strategies include enabling success in introductory courses, improving access to research opportunities, and developing better mentoring systems. These methods, in combination with more general efforts to improve the teaching of science at Harvard, have broad applicability to the student body.
Create Study Centers in the Pivotal Science Concentration Courses:
Rationale
The major undergraduate science concentrations have a small set of challenging courses taken by all or most of the concentrators in their freshman and sophomore years. Difficulties with these gateway courses often discourage students from pursuing science concentrations. Success in these courses develops confidence that is especially crucial for those students, such as women and underrepresented minorities, who also face additional challenges such as differential treatment in the classroom.
Students learn more when they study together in small groups outside of class than they do studying alone. Some of the most meaningful college experiences involve advice, opportunities, and challenges from teachers outside of the classroom. Therefore, strong, supportive study groups can be the determining factor in the success of women and underrepresented minorities in science concentrations. Additionally, these types of groups promote greater performance in the classroom and encourage long-term academic development. The study centers, which will be open to all students, will provide supportive environments for study and problem solving as well as a place where study groups form and grow.
Recommendation
Create "study centers" targeted to specific courses in the major science concentrations. The study centers should be staffed by students who recently excelled in the courses in question and have been specially invited by the course faculty to participate in the program.
These student staffers would be available to answer questions and provide suggestions relating to the course material. In addition to a solid understanding of the material, student staffers must also have strong communication and social skills and the ability to relate well with women and underrepresented minority students. The Task Force recommends that the study centers not be staffed by teaching fellows because they are responsible for grading the students' class performance, and therefore students may not feel comfortable asking some questions. The position of study center staffer will provide both recognition and a valuable learning experience for students who have done well in these important courses. Targeting outstanding women and underrepresented minority students for these positions will encourage and help advance their participation in the sciences. Because study centers are less intense tutoring experiences than individual tutoring sessions and the invitations to participate will come from faculty members, the Task Force expects to attract sufficient outstanding staff for the program.
Develop the Harvard Undergraduate Summer Scientific Research Program:
Rationale
For many aspiring scientists, undergraduate research is a critical part of the college experience. A good research experience gives students first-hand knowledge of the way scientific research is conducted, knowledge that cannot be obtained in the classroom. Summer research provides students with time to focus on their research and participate intensely in the activities of a research group. A positive research experience in a supportive, collegial environment can make a significant difference in a student's decision to continue in one of the fields of basic science. Studies have shown that both participating in undergraduate research in general, and also more specifically in a summer research program, increases the likelihood a student will choose to attend graduate school and complete a degree in the basic sciences. Several existing programs are available to fund undergraduate summer research. However, students pursuing summer research are responsible for providing their own food and lodgings, and there are no coordinated enrichment activities outside of the laboratory.
Recommendations
Undergraduate research should be centrally coordinated by staff in the Undergraduate Academic Programs in the Harvard College Dean's Office. The coordinator in the Dean's office should maintain lists of faculty and labs (including local industrial labs) interested in having undergraduate students participate in research. The coordinator should also collect follow-up information assessing students' experiences to help students subsequently looking for research opportunities during the semester. The staff would be responsible for planning and coordinating seminars and workshops (see below for more details).
One of the undergraduate Houses should be designated for Harvard undergraduates doing summer research in Harvard labs. Providing inexpensive housing will allow the scarce financial support for undergraduate research to go further. It would be ideal to provide meals for the research students at breakfast and dinner in the House dining hall, which would become a focal point for interactions and a natural place to run evening programs.
Further enhance the program with evening events. For example, students could gain experience in scientific presentations through student seminars on their research. Scientists from the local community could be invited to speak in evening workshops. Special efforts should be made to invite distinguished local women and underrepresented minority scientists to speak to students. The program could also include evening workshops on how to select and apply to graduate schools, as well as how to apply for NSF, HHMI, or other graduate fellowships, as these applications are submitted during the fall of the year prior to graduate school (i.e., in many instances, the senior year of college).
Provide safe, reliable transportation to and from the labs. It is particularly important for women students to have safe means of travel, which is very difficult to arrange when the students are spread all over Cambridge and Boston. Shuttles will be run between the main science buildings and the residential House. Other options would include evening escorts or taxi vouchers.
Improve Freshman Advising:
Rationale
Adequate advising of undergraduate students is essential to encourage and support interest in science. Currently, very few freshmen interested in science are assigned advisors who are science faculty. Instead, students are assigned a proctor based on their residence hall, who may have insufficient knowledge of the science concentrations.
Recommendation
Each undergraduate student with an expressed interest in science should be assigned an academic advisor with expertise in one of the student's expressed scientific areas of interest. Although it would be ideal to assign each student to a faculty member as an academic advisor, this may not be possible in all cases. When it is not, the proctor/advisor roles could be split in the case of science students to ensure that students with an expressed interest in science have a proctor or member of the administration with expertise in science as their academic advisor.
Create community building events within each science department and between departments:
Rationale
It is especially crucial to promote a sense of community among women and underrepresented minorities. The nature of laboratory work leads students to be dispersed among different labs, limiting their opportunities for interaction. This can lead to a feeling of isolation among women and underrepresented minorities, who already are represented by small numbers in many scientific fields. This isolation can inhibit the professional development and education of students by depriving them of positive role models and support.
Recommendations
Create community-building events for undergraduates within each science department and between departments. During the semester, each department should sponsor events that are both scientifically focused and more informal to increase collegial interactions among students and with faculty. Programs that promote a sense of community among women and underrepresented minority science students will help to limit the feeling of isolation often experienced by students. Require department chairs to include in their annual letter to the Dean of the Faculty a description of their department's community-building efforts as well as student evaluations of the department environment.
Enable the Development of Effective Technical Training:
Rationale
To make the leap from classroom training to laboratory research requires certain technical skills. Both confidence in one's abilities and commanding equal respect from peers depends on fluency in these technical arenas. Students typically learn such technical skills from senior graduate students or postdoctoral fellows who help teach those earlier in the pipeline. However, these informal networks may present obstacles for women and underrepresented minorities. Thus, creating and maintaining a positive experience in the department environment requires that all members of the department have equal access to technical training. Instituting formal training programs in the technical skills required for specific fields of research would help ensure that women and underrepresented minorities have equal access.
Recommendations
Provide innovative teaching funds to enable the development of effective formal technical training relevant to their field of study. These courses should be open to anyone engaged in research, including advanced undergraduate students as well as graduate students. In addition to helping students acquire the skills they need while circumventing the necessity of relying on informal networks of more senior students--a system that can often put women and underrepresented minorities at a disadvantage--these courses would likely also benefit undergraduate students by helping prepare them for independent research.
Design Programs on Diversity:
Rationale
A number of universities have found that programs on bias and diversity that inform those responsible for recruiting faculty and supporting faculty development (e.g., deans, department chairs, and search committees) about current research on bias and successful approaches to incorporating this research into faculty decision making can make a significant difference in the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented minority faculty. The success of programs at other universities has depended on the programs being developed by their own faculty and administrators, the continuing participation of faculty and administrators in the programs, and the support of high-level administrators for the importance of these programs to faculty development. Recommendations
Design a program on diversity for the president, provost, and deans to be given at the deans' summer retreat. This program would focus on educating the top university administrators about the current state of research on bias and actions that have proved useful for broadening the representation of women and underrepresented minorities in university settings. The main goals of this program include: to demonstrate the importance of such programs, to convey the importance of decanal leadership in the successful development of departmental leadership and improvement of faculty diversity, and to help launch programs for department chairs within individual Schools.
Design a program on diversity for department chairs of science departments as part of a larger session on departmental leadership and management. Deans develop plans and appoint committees to design and run a program on bias for chairs' meetings. These committees should have both male and female members, as the participation of leading scientists of both genders will be crucial to the success of this effort. It should either include or consult with chairs who have been successful in areas of diversity, experts on gender bias, and general program design and implementation. Department chairs should participate annually.
Create reading groups for faculty to discuss relevant literature about challenges and strategies for ensuring the success of underrepresented minority students in the sciences.
Increase Faculty Recruitment of Women and Underrepresented Minority — Revise and Expand Search Processes:
Rationale
The search process is the key link in shaping the Harvard faculty. Increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities among the science faculty ranks at Harvard requires thorough and unbiased search processes. Significant current literature demonstrates the need for search committees to search comprehensively for the most talented women and underrepresented minority candidates, to encourage applications from leading women and underrepresented minority scientists, and to take explicit steps to avoid implicit bias in evaluating applications. It is important for chairs of search committees to understand how to avoid allowing bias to influence search committee discussions and decisions, and for members of search committees to recognize the importance of thorough searches and careful evaluation of dossiers of women and underrepresented minority candidates.
Recommendations
Design workshops for search-committee chairs and make participation mandatory. Deans should designate groups of faculty to design appropriate programs on diversity in faculty searches for science departments in their School as part of a workshop for search committee chairs. These committees should be gender balanced. Deans should also require that for either a junior or senior search to be authorized, the search committee chair must have participated in such a program within the last two years.
Define search requirements to ensure attention to diversity. When looking for leading women and underrepresented minority scientists, deans should ensure that the searches that are conducted are thorough and proactive. To do so, it may be necessary for some Schools to revise their existing search requirements for faculty appointments.
Track faculty search efforts. Require that department chairs include the following information in their annual report to the dean — Participation of search committee chairs in required workshop. Efforts to identify and recruit leading women and underrepresented minority scientists. Women and underrepresented minorities invited as colloquia speakers. Efforts taken to recruit women who were offered positions.