Get Experience in Aging Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP)

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Project Summary/Abstract Minorities remain underrepresented in aging-research-related professions, including demography and economics of aging, health, and health care. In health services research (HSR), which studies the organization, financing, and delivery of health care and provides an evidence base that is central to addressing issues of care quality, access, affordability, and equity, Blacks and Hispanics accounting for only 6.9% and 3.7%, respectively, of the HSR workforce.[1] In economics there has been an almost 20-year stagnation in the number of degrees, Bachelors or Doctorate, awarded to women and underrepresented minorities, despite improvements in other STEM fields.[2] Yet underrepresented researchers bring essential diverse perspectives and, often, personal experiences to bear in understanding the social, economic, political, and environmental determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care. Pipeline programs in aging are critical to providing more diversity in the workforce as well as to developing creative, culturally appropriate and sensitive solutions to issues associated with racial and ethnic health disparities in aging populations. We propose a new pipeline program, Get Experience in Aging Research Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP), in order to develop talented underrepresented minorities seeking research careers with a focus in the demography and economics of aging, health, and health care, and particularly health disparities in diverse communities. Building on the innovations in Penn’s Population Aging and Research Center (PARC) and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics’ (LDI’s) infrastructure for research, collaboration, and undergraduate training, we aim to enhance the diversity of the research workforce in the demography and economics of aging, health, and health care by providing exciting mentored research experiences to undergraduates for two consecutive summers, supplemented with programming throughout the academic year. This 15-month program provides students an opportunity to grow and enhance the skills in their toolbox, enrich their relationships with mentors and colleagues, and get more deeply involved and committed to aging research. The goal of this program is to motivate undergraduate scholars to dedicate their lives to addressing societal problems through research.