Uprooting Bias in the Academy: Lessons from the Field

Linda F. Bisson · Laura Grindstaff · Lisceth Brazil-Cruz · Sophie J. Barbu

Dec 2021 · Springer Nature

About this ebook

This open access book analyzes barriers to inclusion in academia and details ways to create a more diverse, inclusive environment. It describes the implementation of UC Davis ADVANCE, a grant program funded by the National Science Foundation, to increase the hiring and retention of underrepresented scholars in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and foster a culture of inclusion for all faculty. It first describes what the barriers to inclusion are and how they function within the broader society. A key focus here is the concept of implicit bias: what it is, how it develops, and the importance of training organizational members to recognize and challenge it. It then discusses the limitations of data collection that is guided by the convention assumption that being diverse automatically means being inclusive. Lastly, it highlights the importance of creating a collaborative, interdisciplinary, and institution-wide vision of an inclusive community.

About the author

Dr. Linda F. Bisson is the Faculty Director of UC Davis ADVANCE, a program originally funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and now a part of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She received her a PhD in Microbiology from UC Berkeley in 1980. She has held numerous leadership positions at UC Davis, including Department Chair for Viticulture and Enology, and Chair of the Academic Senate, in addition to over ten years as Science Editor for the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. She has long been involved in diversity and inclusion efforts at the University. She is co-author of the award-winning textbook Principles and Practices in Winemaking.

Laura Grindstaff is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis. She has training in ethnographic fieldwork, interviewing, and other qualitative methods, and her research and teaching focus on the cultural dimensions of sex/gender, race and class inequality, with a particular emphasis on American popular culture. She is author of The Money Shot: Trash, Class, and the Making of TV Talk Shows, which received the Mary Douglas book prize from the American Sociological Association and the Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Pacific Sociological Association. Grindstaff is lead editor of the Routledge Handbook of Cultural Sociology, and has published numerous articles and essays on topics ranging from sports and cheerleading to reality TV and social media.

Dr. Brazil-Cruz is currently serving as the Dean of Student Success and Institutional Effectiveness at Woodland Community College. Previously she was a Postdoctoral Scholar with the UC Davis ADVANCE Social Sciences Research Initiative. She holds a doctoral degree in School Organization and Educational Policy from the University of California, Davis. Her research interests include educational and pipeline issues affecting disenfranchised, underserved, and vulnerable student populations as well as issues of equity. In addition to her research, she is committed to increasing the number of students from underrepresented and underserved communities in graduate and professional school. Her research focuses on understanding the predictive and protective factors that promote women of color in STEM fields. She earned her M.A. in Mexican American Studies at San Jose State University. Dr. Brazil-Cruz completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, majoring in International Relations and Chicanx Studies, with a minor in Education.

Sophie Barbu is the Assistant Director of the UC Davis ADVANCE Program and is responsible for data research, collection and analysis, internal program evaluation, publication/dissemination of project research results, and federal reporting. In the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) she leads the DEI-Healthy Davis Together communications Initiative, to develop culturally relevant marketing and social media content in response to mitigating issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Barbu manages administration of the UC Davis ENHANCE grant, which advances faculty diversity in STEM and helps faculty in priority populations (e.g. persons of color, women) overcome barriers to advancement that the COVID-19 crisis has magnified. She co-leads DEI communications and coordinates DEI development. In 2017, she was selected for the University of California Women’s Initiative for Professional Development award. Barbu serves as a co-chair of the Status of Women at Davis Administrative Advisory Committee (SWADAAC).