Supporting Black
Students Through Their
Science, Engineering,
and Medicine Career
Journeys
_____
Lynne M. Holden and
Louis W. Sullivan, Rapporteurs
Cato T. Laurencin, Editor
Roundtable on Black Men and
Black Women in Science,
Engineering, and Medicine
Policy and Global Affairs
Health and Medicine Division
Proceedings of a Workshop
NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and Aetna Foundation (#18-8876), Johnson & Johnson, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the National Institutes of Health (HHSN263201800029I/75N98021F00006), the National Research Council President’s Circle Fund, the University of Pittsburgh, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-71250-7
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-71250-5
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/27339
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Supporting Black Students Through Their Science, Engineering, and Medicine Career Journeys: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27339.
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SUPPORTING BLACK STUDENTS THROUGH THEIR SEM CAREER JOURNEYS: A WORKSHOP PLANNING COMMITTEE
LYNNE M. HOLDEN (Co-Chair), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. (MIM)
LOUIS W. SULLIVAN (NAM) (Co-Chair), Sullivan Alliance
OLUJIMI A. AJIJOLA, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
CHARLES R. BRIDGES, JR. (NAE), CorVista Health
THEODORE CORBIN (NAM), Drexel University
IAN HENRY, Procter and Gamble Company
JOHN R. LUMPKIN (NAM), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
MARC NIVET, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
LAMONT R. TERRELL, GSK plc
Project Staff
MARIA LUND DAHLBERG, Director, Board on Higher Education and Workforce
LYNNETTE LUSENAKA, Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (until June 2022)
REGINALD HAYES, Associate Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (until January 2023)
MARQUITA WHITING, Senior Program Assistant, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (until September 2022)
ANDRÉ N. PORTER, Senior Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (since June 2022)
JOHN VERAS, Associate Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (since April 2023)
KARLA RILEY, Senior Program Assistant, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (since September 2022)
PAULA W. WHITACRE, Consultant Writer
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ROUNDTABLE ON BLACK MEN AND BLACK WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
CATO T. LAURENCIN (NAS/NAE/NAM) (Chair), University of Connecticut
OLUJIMI AJIJOLA, UCLA Medical Center
GILDA A. BARABINO (NAE/NAM), Olin College of Engineering
CHARLES R. BRIDGES, JR. (NAE), CorVista Health
CEDRIC M. BRIGHT, East Carolina University
L. D. BRITT (NAM), Eastern Virginia Medical School
ANDRÉ L. CHURCHWELL, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
THEODORE CORBIN (NAM), Drexel University
GEORGE Q. DALEY (NAM), Harvard Medical School
WAYNE A. I. FREDERICK (NAM), Howard University
PAULA T. HAMMOND (NAS/NAE/NAM), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
EVELYNN M. HAMMONDS (NAM), Harvard University
LYNNE M. HOLDEN, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. (MIM)
CAMARA P. JONES (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
CORA BAGLEY MARRETT, University of Wisconsin–Madison
VALERIE MONTGOMERY RICE (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
RANDALL C. MORGAN, JR., W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute
ELIZABETH O. OFILI (NAM), Morehouse School of Medicine
VIVIAN W. PINN (NAM), National Institutes of Health (Retired)
JOAN Y. REEDE (NAM), Harvard Medical School
LOUIS W. SULLIVAN (NAM), Sullivan Alliance
HANNAH VALANTINE (NAM), Stanford University
CLYDE W. YANCY (NAM), Northwestern University
MARK ALEXANDER (Ex Officio Member), 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
MARIE A. BERNARD (Ex Officio Member), National Institutes of Health
KIMBERLY BRYANT (Ex Officio Member), Black Girls CODE
IVORY DEAN (Ex Officio Member), Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
GARTH N. GRAHAM (NAM) (Ex Officio Member), Google, Inc.
IAN HENRY (Ex Officio Member), Procter & Gamble Company
JOHN R. LUMPKIN (NAM) (Ex Officio Member), Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
SHIRLEY MALCOM (NAS) (Ex Officio Member), American Association for the Advancement of Science
ALFRED MAYS (Ex Officio Member), Burroughs Wellcome Fund
LAMONT R. TERRELL (Ex Officio Member), GlaxoSmithKline
Project Staff
ANDRÉ N. PORTER, Senior Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
MARIA LUND DAHLBERG, Director, Board on Higher Education and Workforce
JOHN VERAS, Associate Program Officer, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (since April 2023)
KARLA RILEY, Senior Program Assistant, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine (since September 2022)
Preface
I am honored to serve as chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and to serve as the editor of the remarkable series of proceedings publications from the Roundtable. Our work began in 2015, when I and leaders of the W. Montague Cobb/National Medical Association Health Institute recognized the growing absence of Black men in medical schools. In fact, levels of Black men entering medical school reached a historic low in the 2015 and 2016 years. Starting in 2016, and with financial support from important partners such as the Aetna Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Connecticut Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, we began planning a National Academies workshop on issues surrounding the absence of Black men in medicine. The joint workshop, titled “The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science,” took place in 2017. It was historic in that, to my knowledge, it was the first National Academies activity specifically focused on issues involving Black people. The proceedings of that workshop is titled An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science. It was released in May 2018 and corresponded to a briefing on the subject of Black men and medicine with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C. Many of the ideas that emerged from the workshop have been embraced by academia, industry, and philanthropy. We recognized that much more needed to be done.
Our next steps involved the development of a more permanent presence in the National Academies to discuss issues surrounding Black men and Black women in science, engineering, and medicine (SEM). With support from our anchor partners named above, along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the University of Pittsburgh, and with the leadership and commitment from Dr. Victor J. Dzau, the president of the National Academy of Medicine, the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine was launched late in 2018. I am grateful to the steering committee members for the Roundtable: Drs. L. D. Britt, Cedric M. Bright, George Q. Daley, Randall C. Morgan Jr., Elizabeth O. Ofili, Vivian W. Pinn, and Louis W. Sullivan.
The Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine has garnered considerable support and recognition. Funding for the Roundtable comes from public-sector entities such as the National Institutes of Health, private companies such as Johnson & Johnson, and private foundations including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. It is gratifying to see the hard work and expertise of the Roundtable membership and Roundtable National Academies staff being so acknowledged.
In May 2022, the Roundtable convened the workshop titled “Supporting Black Students through their SEM Career Journeys.” The premise behind the workshop was that progress for Black people in SEM has been exceedingly slow. In some areas there has been a diminution in success. How do we best effect change? As with most of the issues dealt with by the Roundtable, the solutions are complicated. The organizers of the Roundtable were fortunate to have Representative Barbara Lee of California provide the opening keynote address for the meeting. A truly inspirational figure, Rep. Lee has been a tireless supporter of our Roundtable and instrumental in organizing briefings and other liaison events between the Roundtable and the Congressional Black Caucus.
A characteristic of the Roundtable has been to embrace a broad array of voices. At this workshop there was a large focus on student voices, with panels and addresses from students leading off the meeting. Work across the continuum of education is needed, now and beyond. And so, this workshop discussed secondary schooling, the college educational experience, and work experiences in industry, with an eye toward highlighting successful practices that could lead to systemic change.
A key issue for Blacks in science, engineering, and medicine has been that of finances. The Roundtable also convened a separate workshop on the
subject, with the proceedings titled Understanding and Offsetting Financial Barriers for Black Students in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: Programs, Partnerships, and Pathways: Proceedings of a Workshop, published in 2022. No discussion on barriers to success would be complete without further discussion of the challenges encountered in the financing of education leading to SEM careers. The workshop discussed promising innovative ideas and programs that are gaining traction in our country. Overall, the workshop identified policies and practices to mitigate and alleviate long-standing barriers to the full participation of Black students in SEM at the K–12, undergraduate, and graduate and professional levels.
I am grateful to the co-chairs of the workshop, Lynne M. Holden, M.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. (MIM) and Dr. Louis Sullivan, M.D., of the Sullivan Alliance, for organizing this important Roundtable workshop. I want to also thank the steering committee members for their considerable expenditures of time and talent. The proceedings Supporting Black Students Through Their Science, Engineering, and Medicine Career Journeys provides important ideas and insights, and I am incredibly happy to see its dissemination to a wider audience. As with our previous proceedings, this document is meant to move us to action.
Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. (NAS/NAE/NAM)
Chair, Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine
University Professor, University of Connecticut
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Acknowledgments
This Proceedings of a Workshop was prepared by the workshop rapporteur as a factual summary of what was presented and discussed at the workshop. The planning committee’s role was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The statements made are those of the rapporteur and do not necessarily represent positions of the workshop participants as a whole, the planning committee, or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. We wish to extend sincere thanks to all the members of the planning committee for their contributions in scoping, developing, and carrying out this project.
This proceedings has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments to assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making its published proceedings as sound as possible and ensure the document meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings: Joel Dalton, Washington University, LaShauna Evans, Jmark Services Inc., and Brandi Jones, University of Southern California. Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings, nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by Marilyn Baker, the National Academies.
She was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this proceedings rests entirely with the rapporteur and the National Academies.
Contents
Organization of This Proceedings
The Importance of Community Support
Postbaccalaureate Program on the Way to Medical School
National Society of Black Engineers as an Anchor
Outreach Programs When Schools Underperform
3 K–12 EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS—SPARKING INTERESTS
College—Developing SEM Identities
Discussion of Undergraduate Best Practices
Professional and Graduate School—Honing Skills
Discussion of Professional and Graduate School Best Practices
5 ENTERING THE WORKFORCE—EMPLOYMENT AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Employment—Recognizing Leaders
Discussion of Career Trajectories
Professional Societies—Shifting Cultures
Discussion of Professional Societies
Personal Financing—Alleviating Burdens
Discussion of Personal Financing Options
External Financing—Supporting Systems
