Discussion Leader: Corrine Smolen

Suggested reading: Marshall, A. G., Vue, Z., Beasley, H. K., Neikirk, K., Stephens, D., Wanjalla, C. N., Damo, S. M., Trejo, J., Rodriguez-Aliaga, P., Headley, C. A., Shuler, H., Liu, K., Smith, N., Garza-Lopez, E., Barongan, T., Scudese, E., Spencer, E., Heemstra, J., Vazquez, A. D., … Hinton, A. (2023). Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Laboratory: Strategies to Enhance Inclusive Laboratory Culture. Molecular Cell, 83(21), 3766–3772. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37922871/

Executive Summary:

Corrine presented a paper on making inclusive lab environments, focusing primarily on the domains of physical, behavioral, and structural/climate inclusivity, and synthesizing the previous three years of TaMIS meetings. The discussion was vigorous, and many comments pertained to financial difficulty and institutional momentum preventing physical accommodations, lacking mentorship training and interpersonal conflicts in lab environments preventing behavioral accommodations, and being patient, accommodating, and open to new perspectives as a route to improve structural inclusivity and organizational climate.

Attended by 11 people.

Meeting notes:

• Discussion about TaMIS Purpose to kick off the new semester meetings – TaMIS has been active for 3 years:
  • Tackle DEI issues
  • Mission Objectives
  • Highlighted ‘speaking to your own experience’ and ‘challenging your privilege.’
  • Actionable objectives
• 3 domains of Inclusion:
  • Physical inclusion:
    • Sizeism – sizeable, sturdy chairs without arms for seating, wheelchair accessibility
    • Lab Clearance (wide hallways and bench spaces)
    • Chemical storage cannot be too high or too low
    • PPE – should be available in all sizes
    • Signage in high contrast and large font
    • Availability of bathrooms and private spaces (lactation spaces) – lack of gender-neutral restrooms
    • Discussion:
      • Other barriers? – lack of food spaces in campus, comfortable seating, lack of lactation rooms.
      • Ergonomic seating for physical disabilities provided by the university.
        • Some people don’t even bother asking, because the answer is generally “no” and it’s not worth the trouble, people just buy the things themselves.
      • ADA doors aren’t aligned in double-doors and require two button presses – consider switching to a wave sensors. A better door costs six figures. The huge cost is a huge barrier, and leadership is unwilling.
        • Infrastructure has a cost barrier – Wheelchair accessibility – to transition to 1 button doorways instead of 2 costs > $100,000
        • 98% of funds are all salaries
        • Current budget crisis, departments are living paycheck-to-paycheck
        • The problem with releasing funds – above the college administration.
      • Lack of physical inclusion on older buildings but they are being included in the newer projects – renovations are seemingly updating spaces bit by bit.
  • Behavioral inclusion:
    • Finding out your Implicit bias and microaggressions– what biases do you have?
    • Gender equity, LGBTQA+ open discussions – important to improve morale and sense of community
    • Accepting feedback – anonymous but sometimes not viable (in smaller groups)
    • Mentorship – importance of having good mentors – hierarchy + peer-mentoring
      • Equally important to know how to be an effective mentee
      • Some students don’t know how to bring things up or ask for help
        • Difficult to teach speaking up for yourself
        • Half the point of being a senior lab member is that they’re supposed to be bothered and asked questions by the new students – Senior member of the lab should not be on an “uber pedestal of respect”
        • May be a function of environment where students feel comfortable to speak up
      • Penn State centers offering mentorship help:
        • CIMER – Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research
      • Gender Equity and Mental Health
        • Rainbow Science Network
      • Increasing flexibility in lab environment
      • Social team building – breaking down – may also be difficult because of cultural differences.
      • Social/physical/behavioral difficulties can happen for faculty too!!
      • PI should be responsible for setting the tone of the lab – difficult since the lab personnel changes every few months.
      • Lab conflicts between people coming from different marginalized groups – implicit bias
      • Conflict resolution practices –
        • There should always be exceptions on a case-by-case basis – institutional rigidity is problematic
        • Avoiding conflict isn’t necessarily the goal, but conflict management and safe spaces to bring up issues are
        • Point person for conflict management person in the lab, or resources, or multiple, or network
        • Conflict management rubric established in the lab
        • Ombudspeople/Guides – can choose any guide/ombudsperson in the department/university (not just from your own department)
        • Solve conflict with the Socratic method, lead people to a solution rather than dictating
        • Have lab members self-identify their most constructive and destructive behaviors
        • “Las Vegas Rule,” what happens in this room stays in this room
        • Lab gossip may be problematic, speak to your own experience when possible
  • Structural Inclusion & Climate:
    • Celebrating accomplishments + lab social community
    • Value Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) and non-academic service activities
    • Uncovering the hidden curriculum – might not know ground rules for the lab that leads to conflict
    • Flexibility, not ambiguity
      • Ambiguity welcomes bias based on vibes.
      • But really fixed rigity causes just as much problems
    • Actionable Items:
      • Lab Compact – Written expectations for the lab and work culture
        • Can be found on TaMIS website and CIMER website.
        • Survey of PSU Grads – Did you get a lab contact/rated their understanding of advisor expectations? – written expectations mean better understanding of lab environment (p=0.045!!).
      • Discussion:
        • How does your lab create a more inclusive environment?
        • Non-tenured faculty struggles – does the university have enough resources to help?
          • Supporting faculty with emergency/medical leave
          • Needs to be more support for faculty
        • CIMER modules – effective communication, DEI, aligning expectations, fostering independence – supported by ECoS.
        • Distinguished mentoring award
        • New faculty network – promote mentorship experiences + teaching experiences.
        • Visa blackmail for international students/employees
        • DEI burdens are put on individuals rather than institutions.
        • New faculty get a DEI budget with a startup grant.
      • Faculty collaboration between each other to develop documents and programs, normalizing expectations and experiences while not producing excess load
        • Make standard documents that can be tailored to what individual labs prefer