The Graduate School Offices of Inclusion & Student Engagement and Future Faculty and Academic Careers invite you to join us on Wednesday, February 17 for a discussion with Julie R. Posselt, Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Southern California, on her recent book, Equity in Science: Representation, Culture and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education.

About “Equity in Science: Representation, Culture, and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education”

“STEM disciplines are believed to be founded on the idea of meritocracy; recognition earned by the value of the data, which is objective. Such disciplinary cultures resist concerns about implicit or structural biases, and yet, year after year, scientists observe persistent gender and racial inequalities in their labs, departments, and programs. In Equity in Science, Julie Posselt makes the case that understanding how field-specific cultures develop is a crucial step for bringing about real change. She does this by examining existing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts across astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, and psychology. These ethnographic case studies reveal the subtle ways that exclusion and power operate in scientific organizations and, sometimes, within change efforts themselves. Posselt argues that accelerating the movement for inclusion in science requires more effective collaboration across boundaries that typically separate people and scholars—across the social and natural sciences, across the faculty-student-administrator roles, and across race, gender, and other social identities. Ultimately this book is a call for academia to place equal value on expertise, and on those who do the work of cultural translation. Posselt closes with targeted recommendations for individuals, departments, and disciplinary societies for creating systemic, sustainable change.”

Unlimited copies of the e-book of “Equity in Science” is now available through the Cornell Library system at http://proxy.library.cornell.edu/login?url=http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cornell/detail.action?docID=6221309.  A special thank you goes out to Graduate Field Assistant and CALS Diversity & Inclusion Committee member, Casey Moore who took the initiative to explore opportunities to make this e-book accessible for free for our broader community!

About the Author

Julie Posselt is an associate professor of higher education in the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and author of Equity in Science: Representation, Culture and the Dynamics of Change in Graduate Education and Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity, and Faculty Gatekeeping. Rooted in sociological and organizational theory, Posselt’s research program examines institutionalized inequalities in higher education and organizational efforts aimed at reducing inequities and encouraging diversity. She focuses on selective sectors of higher education— graduate education, STEM fields, and elite undergraduate institutions—where longstanding practices and cultural norms are being negotiated to better identify talent and educate students in a changing society. Posselt’s current scholarship, funded by five grants from the National Science Foundation and one from the Mellon Foundation, examines movements for equity and inclusion in graduate education and the humanistic and physical science disciplines. Explore the resources available from Posselt’s projects on the Equity in Graduate Education website: bit.ly/GradEdEquity.

Sponsorship

This event is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.1647094 (AGEP CIRTL). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.