The impact of biomedical students’ ethnicity and gender

• Date: 16 April 2018
• Pages: 254-264
• Published date: 16 April 2018
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2017-0176
• Author: Christine Nittrouer,Katharine Ridgway O’Brien,Michelle Hebl,Rachel C.E. Trump-Steele,Danielle M. Gardner,John Rodgers
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

The impact of biomedical

students’ethnicity and gender

Christine Nittrouer

Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

Katharine Ridgway O’Brien

Department of Human Resources, CUNA Mutual Group, Madison,

Wisconsin, USA

Michelle Hebl and Rachel C.E. Trump-Steele

Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA

Danielle M. Gardner

Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing,

Michigan, USA, and

John Rodgers

Department of Pathology and Immunology, Baylor College of Medicine,

Houston, Texas, USA

Abstract

Purpose –There has been a great deal of research published on the lower success rates of women and

underrepresented (UR) students in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related (STEM)

occupations. For biomedical scientists in particular, many of the obstacles to success occur during graduate

training and may be related, at least in part, to certain demographic characteristics (i.e. gender or ethnicity).

In particular, women and UR students may be positioned disproportionately into labs with fewer resources

and less productive faculty advisors. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach –The present study examines the distribution of biomedical science

graduate students into research laboratories, based on the gender and ethnicity of both students and faculty

advisors. This is archival data that were collected via publicly available information on the internet.

Findings –Results indicate that female (vs male) students and UR (vs white and Asian) students are paired

with advisors who are less successful (i.e. fewer publications, lower h-indices). Additionally, the data show

patterns of homophily in that female (vs male) and white and Asian (vs UR) students are more likely to be

paired with female and white and Asian advisors, respectively.

Originality/value –This research uses real-world, archival data to demonstrate that phenomena suggested

in previous literature (e.g. less favorable pairings for female and UR students, homophilic pairings) occurs

with this specific population.

Keywords Female, Research, Homophily, Biomedical, Laboratories, Underrepresented

Paper type Research paper

The impact of biomedical students’ethnicity and gender

There has long existed a discrepancy between the number of women and ethnic minorities

vs men, whites, and Asians in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related

(STEM) careers. This imbalance begins in childhood and adolescence, and continues

throughout high school, college, and graduate school. A steady increase of public interest,

media attention, and governmental funding continues to focus attention on how to retain

and boost the success, particularly, of women and underrepresented (UR) individuals in

the STEM pipeline. The current research examines the number of female and UR students

in STEM, particularly as they experience graduate school, and specifically in the field of

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 37 No. 3, 2018

pp. 254-264

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-09-2017-0176

Received 3 September 2017

Revised 12 December 2017

Accepted 2 January 2018

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

This research was made possible by a supporting grant from the National Institute of General Medical

Sciences.

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