Culturally Aware Mentoring and STEMM Department Buy-In: DEIJ (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice) Strategies and Overcoming Resistance

• In Event: Navigating Resistance, Fostering Survival, ad Cultivating Belonging: Exploring Strategies for Thriving in Challenging Environments

Abstract

There is a need to improve the departmental climate for diversity in STEMM graduate education. Additionally, little is known about intervention program’s effectiveness in creating organizational change and improving diversity and mentorship. This study identifies how Biomedical departments and Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) participants responded to the training and shared newfound knowledge through an organizational learning lens and theory of racialized organizations. Preliminary findings reveal leadership support, gaining confidence in discussions of race, and catalysts for change in the context of racial reckoning and COVID-19 as main themes. This study deepens our understanding of individual and organization impacts of the CAM intervention, illustrating departmental strategies employed to overcome resistance to DEIJ, and improvement of graduate racial climate in STEMM fields.

Authors

• Amanda Carrasco, University of California - Los Angeles

• Sylvia Hurtado, University of California - Los Angeles

• Joana Granados, University of California - Los Angeles