Biophysical Society Bulletin | May 2021

Inclusion and Diversity

Moving the Needle on Inclusion In response to a recent poll, Biophysical Society members who are also members of underrepresented minority groups offered sage advice (edited here for brevity and clarity) to their younger selves about how to thrive in the workplace: “Be more active in getting credit for all the work you do. I did an endless amount of work without recognition.” “Ask for everything said during job negotiation in writ- ing, particularly regarding salary and teaching commit- ments.” “Research should come first and not last; and it’s okay to say no to some things.” “Find out how funding agencies work and choose your projects accordingly.” “Grant reviews are somewhat arbitrary, so submitting as many as possible is the best strategy.” “Ask to be nominated for awards, use your contacts, and ask for input. Call editors and funding agencies. Get a clear tenure track contract.” When asked, overwhelmingly, young BPS members want evaluations that are fair and transparent. They want to learn how better to advocate for themselves, to navigate the job market, and to build a supportive mentoring network. BPS is listening! The newly formed BlackInBiophysics network (@BlackInBiophys), founded by BPS student member Whitney Stevens-Sostre , University of Wisconsin–Madison, held their first event at the 2021 Annual Meeting. The Black in Biophysics Happy Hour was a great success, and BPS is encouraging participation in the upcoming Black in Biophys- ics Week, May 10–16. Allies are very important and warmly welcomed! The 2021 President’s Symposium “Building an Inclusive Biophysical Society” featured David Asai , HHMI, Senior Di- rector of Science Education; Bil Clemons , Cal Tech, Professor of Biochemistry; Yadilette Riviera-Colón , Bay Path University, Assistant Professor of Biology; and Billy Williams , American Geophysical Union, Senior Vice President, Ethics, Diversity, and Inclusion. Highlights included:

What are the greatest challenges to inclusion? Williams: “Awareness and commitment to be dissatisfied with the status quo and the commitment to make change by using resources to understand the issues and to sup- port and advance for the long term.” How do you respond to the idea that increasing diversity is antithetical to excellence? Asai: “From game theory, there is a zero sum game and a positive sum game. Science is a positive sum game. Every time a new discovery is made, we add to that new discovery without throwing away the old discovery. Di- versity leads to creativity and innovation. Inclusion is key to keeping these excellent people. By embracing diversity, we are adding knowledge by bringing people into science.” Williams and Rivera-Colón: “We had advocates who told us to apply to graduate school when we didn’t think this was a viable career path.” How do we promote diversity without giving the impression that we are reducing merit? Williams: “Our current criteria for ‘merit’ are very narrow. Being a well-rounded person or overcoming barriers and still succeeding are not being considered in judging merit. We need to get better at judging what merit really means.” What are the best ways to overcome racism, classism, sexism, etc.? Rivera-Colón: “Position yourself to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Look for mentors, including those who are very different from you—for example, those who are a little bit ahead of you.” Often left out of marginalized awareness discussions are our disabled community. BPS reached out to Peg Nosek , Baylor College of Medicine, who made recommendations for imme- diate, no-cost/low-cost accommodations such as training in slide and poster presentations that can be understood and followed by people who are colorblind, and inclusion of auto- matic closed captioning. Dr. Nosek passed away shortly after and in her honor, BPS is beginning to apply these improve- ments to BPS activities.

May 2021

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