Nov / Dec 2022

"DEI in Research is a broad lens that impacts many in our research enterprise."

I’d like to welcome you to our second year of the DEI in Research Digest! A special thanks to all who were involved in last year’s inaugural volume – from editing and production, which was handled by our Strategic Initiatives and Signature Programs staff – to our guest editors from the DEI in Research Advisory Council, who shared their lived experiences as well as their hopes for a more inclusive research enterprise. This newsletter would not have been possible without everyone working together – achieving our goal of Inclusive Excellence.

For this issue, I want to discuss a group of researchers who often are overlooked when we consider DEI efforts…Researchers from Socio-Economic Disadvantaged backgrounds. A recent publication highlighted the disparities in the academy when factoring for socio-economic background¹…you are far more likely to hold a faculty position if one of your parents has a Ph.D. Moreover, faculty tend to come from backgrounds that are far more urban and wealthier than the US population as a whole.

Look around your lab, office or department. How many of your colleagues had the same upbringing as you? For those who are supporting our students, how diverse are their upbringings and backgrounds? Are we even aware? It is important that we be mindful of these distinctions and do what we can to support our students and colleagues whose socio-economic status or background is different than our own. Our institution has made great strides towards Inclusive Excellence, but are we helping our students, staff or faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds that include their upbringing? Are we encouraging those who are eligible to pursue opportunities that recognize and account for these disparities?

Pat Limbach

Vice President for Research

In the Headlines

Socioeconomic roots of academic faculty

While the diversity of the educational pipeline has been extensively studied in terms of race and ethnicity¹^,²^,³, and the links between parental income and occupational status, and their children’s educational attainment are well documented ⁴^,⁵^,⁶^,⁷, there exist comparatively few systematic studies on the socioeconomic roots of professors or how their socioeconomic origins interact with institutional prestige.

Select Resources to Drive DEI in Research at UC

NIH: All of Us Research Program

Diversity is one of the core values of the All of Us Research Program. All of Us is asking lots of people to join the program. Participants are from different races, ethnicities, age groups, and regions of the country. They are also diverse in gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, disability, and health status.

Learn More

NIH: Programs to Enhance Workforce Diversity

The NIMH offers several funding opportunities and supplement programs to enhance the diversity of the workforce by providing support to students, postdoctorates, and eligible investigators from underrepresented groups in health-related research.

Learn More

DEI Spotlight

Meet Caitlyn Chambers Ph.D.

Office of Research and School of Psychology Program

Started: August 2022 | Term of post-doc: 1 year

Caitlyn's area of expertise is in School Psychology, specifically implementing culturally responsive interventions in K-12 settings targeted toward Black youth. Her research interests revolve around addressing the School-to-Prison Pipeline and its effects on Black youth. Currently, she's developing a culturally responsive social skills curriculum for K-12 youth who may be categorized as having an emotional/behavioral disorder.

"As an (almost!) new parent, I have taken a research interest in resources offered through Family Infrastructure programs within university systems. We [Office of Research] are currently collecting data to support and enhance current programming._"