Workshops and an Attitudes Survey for Broadening Participation in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; January, 2017 and March, 2017; New Orleans, LA

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Researchers will explore reasons why black Americans ("blacks") rarely pursue careers in ecology and evolutionary biology, despite decades of investment by state and federal agencies to boost their participation in those and other fields of science. This project consists of two workshops and a survey. First, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and social scientists will meet to develop a survey that will be sent to a large number of students, with the goal of understanding how they decide on various career paths. After analysis of the survey's results, a larger group of scientists and representatives from professional organizations will meet to reach consensus on the most important obstacles to students pursuing careers in ecology and evolutionary biology, and to propose new ways of assisting those students. This work is important because advancement of science depends on a diverse workforce to provide novel ideas that would remain undiscovered if all scientists had similar backgrounds.Previous research to understand the low participation of blacks in ecology and evolutionary biology suggests they have higher levels of religiosity than other underrepresented groups and that their reluctance may also hinge on misconceptions about evolution. The principal investigators (PIs) of this project hypothesize that lack of role models, lack of experience working in the outdoors, and cultural factors (e.g., religious beliefs, values) are barriers to inclusion, lowering blacks' sense of identity and belonging in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. To test this hypothesis, the PIs have developed a survey to assess the roles these factors play in shaping attitudes of undergraduate students to careers in different disciplines of science. Participants at a small initial workshop will rigorously review and assess the efficacy of the survey. After revisions are made, the survey will be administered to a large and diverse sample of students. Participants at a second workshop will review the results of survey and consider their implications for broadening participation in careers of science, with an emphasis on blacks and the disciplines of ecology and evolutionary biology.