The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) will organize and host a one-day workshop to expand dialogue in the postdoctoral community towards broadening participation of underrepresented groups in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) Sciences. The NPA will invite recipients of the SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (MPRF) from the past two years, their sponsoring scientists, and other relevant parties to participate. The NPA is called upon by Federal agencies and institutions across the country to provide a national voice for postdocs. It is crucial that the NPA learn more about the challenges faced by postdocs from underrepresented groups in the SBE Sciences in order to better represent them and to make informed recommendations for best practices to improve retention of these postdocs in academic research. The expected outcomes of this workshop are: 1. A written report of the proceedings of the workshop that will be widely disseminated to the postdoctoral community and others by the NPA.
2. That participants will leave with new information and knowledge that will further their own efforts to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in the SBE sciences at the postdoctoral level.
3. That lessons learned from this workshop will have a broader impact and provide insights for retaining scientists from underrepresented groups in other fields of research.
Intellectual Merit. Learning more about the SBE postdoctoral community is essential, as this population has been steadily increasing. In fact, the number of doctoral recipients in the social sciences who earned their degree in the United States and have held a postdoctoral position has steadily increased since 1972, from fewer than 20% to more than 30% by 2006. Furthermore, the postdoctoral training period remains a critical point at which underrepresented minorities in SBE sciences may leave the academic pipeline. The NPA leadership engages on a regular basis with the most recent scholarship on postdoctoral scholars' experiences, including those of postdoctoral researchers from underrepresented groups. Hosting this workshop is in line with one of the six strategic priorities of the NPA: To encourage and facilitate diversity within the postdoctoral community. The NPA will be able to create an informed and understanding platform for the workshop.
Broader Impacts. The workshop will result in a written report of the proceedings and lessons learned that will be widely disseminated by the NPA, on its Web site, at its meetings, and through its contacts. The lessons learned from this workshop will have a broader impact and provide insights for the national postdoctoral community across the SBE sciences and beyond.
The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) believes that learning more about the Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) sciences postdoctoral community is essential, as this population has been steadily increasing. The number of doctoral recipients in the social sciences who earned their degree in the United States and have held a postdoctoral position has steadily increased since 1972, from fewer than 20% to more than 30% by 2006. Furthermore, the postdoctoral training period remains a critical point at which underrepresented minorities in SBE sciences leave the academic pipeline. The purpose of this project was to expand dialogue in the postdoctoral community towards broadening participation of underrepresented groups in the SBE sciences. This project included (1) organizing and hosting a one-day workshop held on October 29, 2010, and (2) developing and disseminating the report on the proceedings from this workshop. The report can be found on the NPA's Web site at www.nationalpostdoc.org/policy/what-is-a-postdoc. In addition to the workshop and the report on the proceedings, the outcomes of this project are: Based on the evaluation survey and informal feedback, participants garnered new information and knowledge that furthered their own efforts to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in the SBE sciences at the postdoctoral level and their own professional development. Lessons learned from this workshop will hopefully have a broader impact and provide insights for retaining scientists from underrepresented groups in other fields of research. The report on the proceedings has been and will continue to be widely disseminated by the NPA, on its Web site, at its meetings, and through its contacts. The 42 participants included National Science Foundation (NSF) SBE Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellows from 2009 and 2010, three of the fellows’ sponsoring scientists, and other relevant parties. The workshop focused on these areas of discussion: Mentoring: What works and what doesn’t work? How does the SBE postdoc experience differ from other postdocs? What are the challenges faced by SBE postdocs from underrepresented groups? What are some strategies/promising practices that might answer the challenges faced by SBE postdocs from underrepresented groups? It is critical to support new Ph.D. recipients in an appropriate manner to retain them in the U.S. research and development workforce. It is hoped that this project has contributed to that effort.
