Background and context
Introduction to critical race theory and BUILD PODER
Linking biomedical research to social justice: CRT, health equity, and praxis
Barriers and educational inequities for students in context
BUILD PODER in local context
Linkages between activities and critical race theory tenets
CRT Tenet: Centrality of Race and Racism | |
“CRT acknowledges as its most basic premise that race and racism are defining characteristics of American society. In American higher education, race and racism are imbedded in the structures, practices, and discourses that guide the daily practices of universities.” (P. 274)
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Sample Activities | Outcome/Objective |
• Student and mentor training; readings; field trips; film nights; fall conference; historical and structural perspectives on race, colorblindness, and historical trauma • New courses in CRT: Race, Racism, and Science; Public Health for Social Justice | • Awareness of historical and structural racism; preservation of native identities; new methods, theories • Sustainable structure for introducing students to STEM and CRT, linking research to social justice, contextualizing race/ethnicity in the sciences |
CRT Tenet: Challenge to Dominant Ideologies | |
“CRT in higher education challenges the traditional claims of meritocracy, objectivity, colorblindness, race neutrality, and equal opportunity.” (P. 275)
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Sample Activities | Outcome/Objective |
• Jumpstart Summer program provides education, activities, and specific methods of countering racism in academe • Emphasis on mixed methods: Courses in qualitative methods; QuantCrit perspectives; faculty course in mixed methods research | • Students develop strategies for responding to racism through belonging, ownership, and empowerment • Innovative research; publish papers and write grants with new research questions and methods that are valid to the communities studied |
CRT Tenet: Interdisciplinary | |
“CRT challenges ahistoricism and the unidisciplinary focus of most analyses in educational research. In the field of higher education, this framework analyzes race and racism in both a historical and a contemporary context using interdisciplinary methods.” (P. 275)
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Sample Activities | Outcome/Objective |
• ~100 faculty mentors, 5 community college partners, 5 research partners, 22+ departments • Scholarship: Tech tool for connecting faculty and students with one another and with grant opportunities, sharing equipment, expertise • Faculty Scholar Academies: Interdisciplinary mentored grant group; NRMN STAR grant-writing/coaching • Cluster Hires: Thematic hires inherently building interdisciplinary links in health equity across the Colleges of Health and Human Development and Social and Behavioral Sciences | • Multiple options for students; match is a good fit between student and mentor • Increased interdisciplinary grant proposals; new faculty connections, better communication, shared resources • Increased interdisciplinary grant proposals; new faculty connections, higher-level (R01) grants written • Thematic collaborations; greater grant and publication productivity; catalyzing new academe-community research partnerships, greater collaboration with research partners |
CRT Tenet: Experiential | |
“The application of a CRT framework in the field of higher education requires that the experiential knowledge of people of color be centered and viewed as a resource stemming directly from their lived experiences.” (P. 275)
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Sample Activities | Outcome/Objective |
• Bi-weekly meetings and professional development courses with program director that include discussions of students’ backgrounds, holistic health, researcher identity, science as a profession, matching skills and career • BUILD Conferences: Fall - large audience, livestreamed to partners and community with presenters including Octavio Villalpando, Tim Wise, Karina Walters; and presenting research; Spring – campus-wide research competition | • Students have a sense of belonging and commitment to their native identity; students have tiered mentors and strategies for meeting academic challenges; seniors mentor juniors and sophomores; K-12 student projects, speakers as role models, opening possibilities • Connections among community members; morale and collaborations around race and racism; public dissemination of tenets; university-level discussions; policy changes |
CRT Tenet: Commitment to Social Justice | |
“In higher education, these theoretical frameworks are conceived as a social justice agenda that struggles to eliminate all forms of racial, gender, language, generation status, and class subordination.” (P. 275)
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Sample Activities | Outcome/Objective |
• BUILD PODER and the Health Equity Research and Education (HERE) center sponsor research projects that address community-based needs, nonprofits, community clinics, health equity • Senior BUILD PODER Project: Community partnership with 4th, 8th, 12th grade classes around research | • Collaborative research and action grants around academe-community social problems and health equity solutions; publications and grants with social justice themes • Empirical study of research identity development; action research for BUILD PODER trainees; students giving back |
Student training aims, CRT use, and implementation
Using CRT in preparing students for biomedical careers
Summer JumpStart (SJS) | • Centrality of Race/Racism • Challenge to Dominant Ideologies • Interdisciplinary • Experiential Knowledge • Commitment to Social Justice | All newly accepted students attend a four-week intensive research program to help students transition to the culture of research that focuses on six elements: (1) hands-on faculty mentored research experience, (2) research ethics, (3) mentor-mentee relationships, (4) diversity training and empowerment, (5) community-building, including creating a peer supportive network, and (6) physical and mental well-being |
Research Ethics Training | • Centrality of Race and Racism • Commitment to Social Justice | Students complete biomedical research training through CITI Program. In addition, discussions about health equity and unethical practices in science and in clinical settings enhance the online curriculum. |
Faculty Mentored Research Experience | • Experiential Knowledge—draw on students’ capital: Navigational, Aspirational, Social, Linguistic, Resistant, Familial | Students learn to navigate the culture of research by working in a faculty mentored research lab; meet weekly with their mentors. Individual mentor-mentee meetings center on providing students social capital to reach their programmatic requirements and professional and academic preparation for graduate studies. |
Summer Research Experience at Research Partners | • Experiential Knowledge—Navigational, Aspirational, Social, Linguistic, Resistant, and Familial capitals | We partnered with five doctoral granting institutions to provide students an intensive eight-week summer research experience. Students seek out potential mentors at these institutions or can apply to existing summer research experience programs. It is for many students their first time attending a predominantly white institution (PWI). This opportunity strengthens students’ research competencies and scientist identities. |
Attending and Presenting at Professional Conferences | • Interdisciplinary • Experiential | In their first year, students learn the culture of research practices by presenting their research at a campus research symposium and are encouraged to attend and present at professional conferences in their field. Mentors accompany students to guide them and facilitate networking opportunities. |
Weekly Community Meetings | • Centrality of Race/Racism • Challenge to Dominant Ideologies • Interdisciplinary • Experiential • Commitment to Social Justice | During the academic year, students meet weekly with the Student Training Program Director to address programmatic issues and to announce funding opportunities or upcoming events. The 1½-hour meetings also serve as a way to stay connected as a community, continue to address CRT-related issues during these meetings, plan for upcoming events, present guest speakers, and discuss issues and concerns that may arise. |
Rigorous Coursework, Professional Development, Grantsmanship and Scholarships | • Centrality of Race/Racism • Challenge to Dominant Ideologies • Interdisciplinary • Experiential • Commitment to Social Justice | Students enroll in advanced research methods courses in their majors in preparation for graduate studies; departments without courses can develop curriculum. Students also enroll in two one-unit courses, Getting into Graduate School and Surviving Graduate School, to learn what to expect in graduate studies. In addition, students complete mock applications to fellowships and NIH-funded grants. Seniors enroll in a seminar where they collaborate on a science project with students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade guided by CRT to “pay it forward.” In collaboration with the NIH, a series of student-centered grantsmanship webinars will broker the culture of research and funding students’ careers. |