We are excited to announce 16 events this term that all focus on racial justice in biology. These events are open to the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) community. Please join our suite of virtual workshops, seminars, and discussions to learn and become more self-aware of how we can become more inclusive.  

In these challenging times, students are experiencing additional stressors exacerbating their anxiety and depression. As instructors who want students to succeed, how can we support our students with anxiety and depression in order to foster belonging and maximize learning? In this week's Resilient Teaching webinar, we talked with SOLS assistant professor Katey Cooper, Ph.D, who shared her research examining what worsens and alleviates anxiety and depression in biology undergraduates.

Active learning has been proven to show an increase in student learning and a decrease in student failure compared to passive learning. As a result, many institutions have adopted various active learning pedagogies. Evidence also shows that active learning may decrease achievement gaps between students in traditionally underserved groups, such as women and underrepresented minority students. While active learning has been dubbed as inclusive teaching, it is still unclear if active learning is inclusive for all students.

The ASU RISE Center is hosting a series of events this term focused on racial justice to find ways in which the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) can be inclusive and anti-racist. On September 2nd, we had 19 students of color attend a listening session to discuss problems and challenges for students of color in SOLS.

It is well established that retaining PEERs in science is integral to addressing socioeconomic inequalities in the United States, ensuring that we include the best and brightest minds in the workforce, and minimizing the influence of bias in scientific research (Intemann, 2009). The term PEERs stands for “people excluded because of their ethnicity or race” and in the U.S. includes people who identify as Black or African American, Latinx or Hispanic, and people indigenous to the spaces comprising the United States and its territories (Asai, 2020).

People of color are underrepresented in many STEM fields, and this underrepresentation is especially prevalent for Black individuals in evolutionary biology. Although there are many potential reasons why, a new study focuses on a factor that is often missing from these discussions: religious beliefs. It has been well established that Black individuals are more likely to be Christian compared to white individuals. Previous studies have also reported that Black individuals are less likely to accept evolution.

The Black Lives Matter movement and protests in Summer 2020 after the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade, have prompted many educators and researchers to reflect upon racism in the spaces we occupy. As copies of “How to be an anti-racist” by Ibram X.

The opportunity to attend a university online is an attractive option for many students because of the flexibility in scheduling, the lack of commuting, and the ability to work from wherever. This is a particularly enticing option for individuals working full-time in any capacity such as a 9-5 office job or for taking care of children or other family members. So, as universities begin to develop more of these programs, these online programs open access to college degrees for a larger slice of society.

Imagine sitting in the audience at a large conference and you had a question. You think to yourself, “should I ask it?” but then overthinking, nervousness, and anxiety come to play, forcing a larger part of your consciousness to rely on someone else to ask that question for you. This is a decision that students in your classes are experiencing, and not all students experience this to the same extent.

Many STEM students are seeking the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research at some point in their academic career due to its many benefits. However, finding and securing a research position can be challenging, and may be more difficult for some students than others.