鈥淗ow can you create black scientists if there鈥檚 no black scientific community?鈥� asked William Massey, professor of operations research and financial engineering at Princeton, during this week鈥檚 鈥淐elebrating Excellence in Science鈥� event.
Hosted by the Science Center, this two-day lecture event aimed to foster greater representation for minorities in STEM fields as part of the University鈥檚 recognition of Black History Month. Consisting of a lecture from engineer and inventor Dr. James West and a panel of scientists from research institutions across the country, the event was a continuation of the 鈥淪eeing Myself in Science鈥� speaker series.
Director of the Science Center Gelonia Dent said in her introduction, 鈥淭he idea is that we want to bring a diverse set of scientists to Brown to share their expertise and advice about diversity, inclusion and excellence.鈥�
West, a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University, gave a lecture Tuesday on his work in acoustical science, which led to the development of technology now used in 90 percent of all contemporary microphones.
Beyond his scientific discoveries, West is perhaps equally renowned for his work in supporting minorities in science, technology and engineering. During his forty-year career at Bell Laboratories, West co-founded several programs aimed at providing mentoring and funding for underrepresented minorities studying science, including the Association of Black Laboratory Employees.
Wednesday, the Science Center hosted 鈥淗ow to Grow a Scientist鈥� 鈥� a panel of scientists from top research centers across the United States 鈥� to discuss mentorship, diversity and inclusion in STEM. All of the panelists had worked at Bell Labs during their respective careers and cited the laboratory as a catalyst to their success as minorities in STEM.
The panelists included Benjamin Askew, vice president of research at SciFluor Life Sciences, LLC; Kaye Fealing, chair of the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology; and William Wilson, executive director of the Center for Nanoscale Systems at Harvard.
Fealing prefaced her discussion of 鈥淗ow to Grow a Scientist鈥� by distancing herself from the pipeline model for including more minorities in STEM, which emphasizes early involvement in science for minorities.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like the pipeline metaphor,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t sounds like there are no other ways of 鈥榞etting in鈥� unless you get on the train early in life.鈥� While Fealing herself had participated in a diversity-focused program like some in Bell Labs, she highlighted multiple pathways to STEM involvement.
Rather than identifying a program in which students should participate or a specific timeline for students to follow, Fealing pinpointed the broader needs for information, communication, scalability, sustainability and leadership. She cited mentorship and support from her family as instrumental to her personal success.
Likewise, Massey emphasized mentoring as key to expanding representation for minorities. 鈥淭his is where it starts 鈥� bringing in the next generation,鈥� he said.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 talking about pipelines, and no one鈥檚 talking about plumbing,鈥� Massey said. 鈥淗ow do you connect those people who鈥檝e gone through the pipeline?鈥�
Instead, Massey said that scientists should focus on building community. Wilson also spoke to creating an environment where young scientists can make connections and collaborate.
Wilson said that he strives to achieve that kind of community at the Center of Nanoscale Systems, where he encourages his students to build upon a diverse and versatile array of research resources to tackle cutting-edge nanoscience research questions.
Echoing the words of William Baker, former president of Bell Labs, Wilson described his vision for his lab: 鈥淚鈥檓 going to build an ecosystem for doing science. We鈥檙e going to let people build science from within.鈥�
