Two Syracuse University professors in the chemistry department have been awarded a grant from the Department of Education to promote graduate student diversity.

Nancy Totah and John Chisholm, both associate professors in the department of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, are the principal investigators of the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need award, a three-year grant totaling $738,195.

Totah said the purpose of the GAANN program is to provide students with fellowships and the capacity for teaching and research in areas of national need identified by the DOE every year.

“One of the goals of the program is to bring people in and help them earn a Ph.D. in chemistry and ideally transition to a faculty position,” Totah said.

Chisholm and Totah said they are trying to recruit women and minority students to expand the graduate program because they are underrepresented in faculty positions in the field.

Historically, the field has been seen as an “all-boys club” where there are stereotyped attitudes toward women entering the scientific field, Chisholm said, adding that he hopes those stereotypes will be eliminated.

“There is plenty of evidence that shows women are doing fine in the STEM field,” Chisholm said.

He said he encourages students to participate in the program because the chemistry faculty is not a diverse group, with women and minorities being underrepresented.

Only recruiting from certain demographics is limiting creativity, Chisholm said, adding that it is a problem particularly when it comes to competing with other nations.

About 50 percent of chemistry graduate students at SU are women, but Totah said this doesn’t necessarily mean they will go on to academic positions after they graduate. At the national level, Totah said the number of women who are in academic positions is only 18 percent.

In terms of race in the graduate population at SU, 15 percent of students are minorities, Totah said. But when it comes to the national level, the number of minority faculty is only about 7 or 8 percent.

Totah said she thinks the chemistry department at SU is a collegial place that has been doing well in supporting the program’s goal.

“This is a place where you have supportive atmosphere where you can encourage people to be successful,” she said.

One of their goals, Totah said, is to let more students know the grant is available to them because she said she and Chisholm are worried not enough students know the details of the resource.

Encourage diversity is beneficial because it helps generate ideas, Totah said. Different people think about things in various ways, she said.

“Viewpoints bring new ways to express the creativity,” Chisholm added. “If everyone comes from the exact same background, you really are going to have large blind spots in the field.”

He said he hopes to see a more diverse student body with the program because a lot of students don’t consider going into the field because they don’t see people like them doing it, he said.

Having a diverse group of people to think about scientific problems can have an impact on creativity, Totah said, adding that she hopes ultimately a quarter of the chemistry department can be minority students.

Published on October 26, 2016 at 7:51 pm

Contact Chieh: chchen@syr.edu