Biophysical Society Bulletin | June 2021

Communities

With two department chairs on the panel, the audience wanted to know what they thought their role was in driving change. De La Cruz described his department’s most recent faculty search, which was anonymized. This approach not only helps prevent bias on the hiring side, but it also serves to empower candidates if they face comments alleging that they only acquired a position because of their minority status, a common and quite damaging “below the waterline” micro- aggression. The department chair role also allows them to set an exam- ple of what is acceptable. Goodman spoke about how being department chair allowed her to lead at an institutional level, rather than just in her own lab and classroom. She has been able to lead conversations about big issues like how service is evaluated during the tenure process. Women and minorities are known for doing more service and are often expected to do more service. Yet service is often devalued when tenure is being evaluated, putting them at a disadvantage in comparison with their colleagues. Another audience member asked, “How do we reach people who generally do not actively engage in these types of discussions?” The panel had several suggestions including: • Rather than mandating attendance at events you are organizing around diversity, equity, and inclusion, incen- tivize them. People need to be open to receiving new information to have a good outcome, rather than seeing it as a chore. • Personally invite colleagues to come with you to attend an event. Make a personal appeal; telling others how much their participation would mean to you might convince them to engage. • Lead by example. Lead to inspire your lab, your depart- ment, and your institution to adopt the same attitudes and values you express and uphold. Thank you for your interest in issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity! I hope you learned something new as I know I did while moderating the discussion. I also hope this inspires you to be more aware and to make changes in your own life and career. To wrap up this post, I want to leave you with a question I first heard posed by Sharon Milgram , Director of the Office of Intra- mural Training and Education at NIH. I think it is worth posing to yourself every day: “What am I doing, through my actions and inactions, to perpetuate cultures where incivility, bullying, harassment, and discrimination can flourish?” — Susy Kohout , Montana State University

impacted a female former colleague, he was coming from a position of privilege, never having thought about harassment or abuse before. So look behind you. Who is further down the ladder than you? Think about how you can become aware of the issues they might be facing that you have not had to face. While many of us have the habit of keeping our heads down, making a fuss about the things that matter is important. Goodman teaches mini-courses on inclusion and diversity in STEM. She talked about the importance of recognizing that the hurdles people face in their careers are fundamentally un- equal and directly impact their success. The idea that science is purely a meritocracy is not grounded in reality: it is a myth. One of the lessons she gives her students was particularly poignant to our discussion: Humans are biased. Scientists are humans. Being trained as a scientist does not undo your humanity. Figure 2. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine infographic on the the public consciousness of sexual harassment and specific sexually harassing behaviors.

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