Graduate Student DEI Events
Graduate students in the Division of Science at Brandeis offer DEI-focused activities throughout the year. The following is a list of some of those events.
Are you planning an event? Please notify us at sciweb@brandeis.edu. We will add your information to this page. Alternatively, if you are adding an event into the events database, please select the "gradDEI" tag. That will enable the event to appear here automatically.
Past Events
- ARAS Hosted Event
(Cohosted with the Neuro-Bio Colloquium)
11:05 a.m. Nov. 14, 2022
Dr. Paris Adkins-Jackson
Columbia University Department of Epidemiology - ARAS Hosted Event
(Cohosted with the Psychology Brown Bag Lunch Series)
Noon Oct. 27, 2022
Dr. Colleen Hitchcock
Brandeis University Department of Ecology - Physics Colloquium
Joseph Cimpian, New York University
Oct. 27, 2022
"The Roles of Student and Socio-political Factors in College Major Pursuit"
Abstract: Unconditionally, males — specifically, straight-cisgender males — are over-represented in the majors of physics, engineering and computer science (PECS), while straight-cisgender females are over-represented in nursing. Of course, some portion of this over-representation is attributed to differences in factors like reported interest and career aspirations. But these gender and sexuality/gender-identity gaps are also susceptible to gender and sexuality stereotyping. Using longitudinal, nationally-representative data, we explore the extent to which individuals pursue stereotypical and counter-stereotypical majors, depending on their interests and demonstrated abilities, as well as by the socio-political environment they were raised in. For example, the male-female gap in PECS pursuit is both initially smaller and fully explained by student covariates among high-STEM achieving students; among low-STEM achieving students, males pursue PECS more often, and this cannot be explained by a wide range of factors. The sexuality/gender-identity gaps are, again, smaller and better explained among high-STEM achievers, but this extends through a wider range of majors; among average- and low-STEM achievers, major pursuit follows more stereotypical patterns. Additionally, LGBTQ students raised in more liberal environments more often pursue counter-stereotypical majors, reaching near parity with non-LGBTQ levels. Overall, this work suggests that student ability and the socio-political environment play unique roles in moderating the student factors predicting representation across college majors, suggesting new directions for research and interventions.