Diversity in science is a challenge to our society. A diverse scientific community is needed to provide novel perspectives on complex problems, to drive economic growth and prosperity, and to complete the promise of our society. Attrition of URM scientists during training occur at every step, but particularly at the undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral level. URM-serving institutions are wellsprings for URM scientists, but teaching this complex population is challenging. Committed, well-trained URM scientist-educators are needed to address the need for more URM scientists. However, traditional training of faculty usually involves research alone, with no experience in teaching methods. Here we proposed an IRACDA training program that combines rigorous postdoctoral training at Stanford University, with exposure to modern teaching approaches at a primarily URM-serving institution (San Jose State University, SJSU). The program will select a cohort of 5 postdoctoral scholars for a traditional postdoctoral training program in a principle investigator-directed laboratory. The cohort will be mentored by the PI and by a committee of scientists from both Stanford and SJSU. The Scholars will develop a traditional research plan in the PI laboratory, and will mentor undergraduate students from SJSU in the first years of the program. In subsequent years, the scholars will learn modern digital teaching methods at SJSU, and will gain teaching experience there using these skills. The program will merge the best aspects of the research environment at Stanford with exposure to the challenges of teaching URM scientists at SJSU.
The goal of this research program is to create a cohort of trained scientist-educators who can move into faculty positions at URM-serving institutions to bootstrap the flow of more URM scientists into our society.
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