GOALS AND HISTORY

To establish a profession that equitably advances the health of all of us by addressing racial injustice, we first needed to build a profession that includes all of us. Over the past few decades, academic educators at our Universities have invested thousands of hours of outreach activities over multiple decades to diversify the STEM workforce. We have done this because we have primarily attributed the lack of diversity and equity in BME as a pipeline problem. Yet, we are minimally moving the needle and, in some sense, have even regressed. Upon further introspection, the evidence points to a more profound, more insidious issue–our educational systems are critically failing at the highest academic levels. For example, in Chemistry, the percent of first-year chemistry students who are Black is roughly equal to that of the US population (~13%). Yet, only 5% of graduate students, 3% of postdoctoral fellows, and 1.6% of chemistry professors are Black. 

 Why do we see this ‘fall-off’, and what might we do to address it? While the departure of Black individuals from our profession is almost certainly multi-factorial, numerous studies have now shown that when Black students see Black faculty in their profession, they are more apt to persist in STEM careers.

 Thus, the BME UNITE Future Faculty Program was established to improve the diversity of our profession at the top—our faculty and the highest levels of leadership.

Detailed description of the program:

In alignment with BME UNITE’s mission of growing a diverse community of academics and combat systemic racism by radical inclusion, BME UNITE Team 5 has progressively built what they now refer to as the BME UNITE Future Faculty Program. This effort originally began via organization of an annual future faculty seminar series and mentoring sessions for individuals with marginalized identities who are interested in becoming faculty. The series was designed to spotlight the research of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students with historically excluded identities in BME and contribute to their preparation for a faculty position in STEM academia through inclusive and identity-centered mentoring, community building, and sponsorship. The success of this program was palpable. It generated lots of enthusiasm both without our BME UNITE, within our nationwide faculty, as well as within the group of fellows itself. Thus, over the years BME UNITE Team 5 has progressively grown and further improved upon the program. Below is an overview of what the program offers in its current form:

 Structure of the Future Faculty Fellow Program: Support postdoctoral fellows in bioengineering-related fields with marginalized identities to improve their nationwide visibility and facilitate their transition into academia.

(1)   In order to maintain a low barrier for entry, an open call has been put forth every year to solicit (self) nominations for postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students to participate in the program. Team 5 collected (and continued to collect) self-reported demographic information to track the communities it impacts. 

 (2)   Following a rigorous evaluation of applicants by BME UNITE faculty volunteers, a seminar series is organized by cohesive research themes. Fellows are invited with the notion of spotlighting members of the Black, LatinX, Indigenous, or Other People of Color communities, Queer communities and Individuals with Disabilities. 

 (3)   A team of faculty volunteers are solicited to serve as mentors, based on research interests. 

 (4)   Fellows are coached on how to deliver an effective seminar. 

 (5)   BME UNITE faculty volunteers moderate an open bi-weekly webinar (August-October), that is advertised broadly to all BME departments and their department heads, and on social media. Advertising broadly allows us to maximize visibility. The timing of the webinar is intentional, to create visibility of under-represented postdoctoral fellows ahead of the typical BME faculty job cycle, that peaks at the annual meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society. 

 (6)   Immediately following each webinar, BME UNITE faculty volunteers pair fellows with faculty mentors, and facilitate a conversation centered on their needs and expectations of the faculty job search process. BME UNITE faculty volunteers also provide other relevant coaching to prepare BME UNITE Future Faculty Fellows for campus visits, giving effective chalk talks, etc. 

 (7)   A post-seminar survey has typically been used to track outcomes of BME UNITE Future Faculty Fellows. 

 (8)   Past Fellows participate in future years, sustaining the program with relevant, current guidance and coaching for future fellows.