Moss-Racusin helps White House scientists understand STEM gender bias
Corinne Moss-Racusin (Photo by Eric Jenks)
The topic—gender bias among science academics—is complex, but the invitation—to share
research with top U.S. policy makers—was irresistible. That is why Corinne Moss-Racusin,
an assistant professor of psychology who has been studying the subject since her graduate
student days, eagerly spent her early summer preparing to speak before a high-level
audience.
“It was an exciting opportunity to discuss the policy implications of this research,”
said Moss-Racusin, who was the primary speaker at a July 15 meeting of the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy. Joining her were John Dovidio and Eva Pietri
of Yale University, where Moss-Racusin was a postdoctoral associate for two years
before joining the Skidmore faculty in 2013.
Another Yale connection, Jo Handelsman (“my postdoctoral mentor,” said Moss-Racusin),
is the associate director of the science division at the White House OSTP. Her familiarity
with Moss-Racusin’s research led to the invitation.
“Broadening participation in the STEM fields is an important White House OSTP policy
initiative,” explained Moss-Racusin. “They are interested in how to recruit the best
talent. They wanted to know how to remove obstacles to allow women and people of color
to more fully participate in the STEM fields.”
Two recent grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have supported Moss-Racusin’s
research in this area. She has been studying how to reduce science faculty members’
explicit and implicit gender biases and to learn how bias can undermine the careers
of female scientists. Her research probes the effect of bias on meritocracy, diversity,
and the pursuit of knowledge throughout academic science. Her work involves educating
science faculty about the existence and impact of gender bias, with a goal of reducing
it.
Moss-Racusin was the lead author of a paper published in Science magazine earlier this year that recommended specific, rigorous interventions with
demonstrated positive outcomes. She and her fellow scholars urged that such interventions
be included among other mandates for research projects supported by federal funding
agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
“We’ve tested interventions with a broad population of adults representative of the
U.S. population as well as STEM faculty, over a period of six months. Results suggest
that these interventions have the potential to inject much-needed diversity and bring
positive change in the STEM fields, opening doors to those who have faced impediments.
Hopefully, this research can help warm up the climate a bit,” she said.
In her White House presentation, Moss-Racusin reported “an abundance of new data and
information” from her study, and explained how theoretically derived interventions
can further the dual goals of raising awareness and reducing bias.
She provided an update on her findings, striking a balance involving data, theory,
and practice, and said she is looking forward to seeing how the interventions that
she has developed and tested might be enacted through policy.
“It was gratifying to have the opportunity to obtain feedback from a different type
of group—policymakers—to see how some of the practical steps that they mentioned would
affect the changes that I come at from a theoretical perspective,” said Moss-Racusin.
“It is a major initiative to take evidence from research and use it to implement policy
changes.”
The feedback from OSTP participants was “invigorating,” she reported. “These are very
smart people focused on the practical steps that result from theory. It was exciting
to have a conversation focused on outcomes.”
With a year remaining on her grant, Moss-Racusin is moving into a new phase of testing
her interventions to determine how best to implement them. “Having the Washington
conversation was helpful in determining the next steps,” she said.
