YCSC Postdoc Seminar June 8, 2022: Striving Towards Equity in Academia - Dr. Beverley J. Sheares

June 17, 2022

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00:48All right, I would say let's start.
00:53Hi everyone, thank you for
00:54joining us today for this.
00:56The events at the Yale Child Study
01:01Center Department over the past
01:03year or so have implemented several
01:06DI initiative thanks to the work
01:09of the Chief of Diversity Officer
01:11Tara Davila and their colleagues.
01:14And so different steps.
01:16Have you put in place to try
01:19to incorporate diversity?
01:20Make it like the knowledge
01:23and try to perform.
01:25Equitability announced to ensure
01:27inclusion at all levels of our
01:30department and so with Karim Ibrahim,
01:33we thought also to dedicate an
01:36additional events within our format.
01:39The Yale Child Study Center postdoc seminars
01:43to try to help the cause and also
01:47show how we deserve to be like value,
01:49and we hope to receive an equitable
01:52treatments and so for this reason,
01:55we invited.
01:56Professor Beverly Sheares and
01:58we are very honored to have her
02:01because she's truly engaged in DEI
02:04promotion at the School of Medicine.
02:09OK, and I will go ahead
02:10and provide a little more.
02:14Background about doctor shears.
02:16So Dr Beverly Sheares is an associate
02:20professor of Pediatrics in pulmonary
02:22allergy immunology and Sleep Medicine
02:25section at the Yale School of Medicine.
02:29She's also the Health Equity thread
02:30leader for the Yale School of Medicine.
02:33Dr Sheares earned her undergraduate
02:35and medical degrees at the University
02:37of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
02:39as well as a master's degree in
02:41Biostatistics and patient oriented.
02:43Research at Columbia's Mailman School
02:46of Public Health. Dr Sheares joined
02:49the faculty here at Yale in 2018,
02:52and in her capacity as Health Equity,
02:55thread leader,
02:56Dr Sheares works to develop Health Equity
02:59content for the medical school curriculum,
03:02as well as enhancing diversity, equity,
03:04and inclusive content in existing courses,
03:08and her work also focuses on
03:10creating opportunities for
03:11faculty and student development.
03:13And Health Equity,
03:14her research is focused on improving
03:17health outcomes for children and
03:19close thing to health outcomes,
03:21disparities gap and children with respiratory
03:24problems and behavioral sleep problems.
03:26In addition to our clinical
03:28care and research,
03:29doctor Shears also serves as a director
03:32for the pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship
03:34program and serves as a career
03:37research mentor for medical students,
03:39residents and junior faculty.
03:41In recognition of her dedication
03:43to mentoring,
03:44she is also the recipient of numerous
03:47teaching and mentorship awards.
03:49Please join me in welcoming
03:50Dr Beverly Sheares.
03:54Thank you Karim and Soraya and I think
03:57Julia was another person who met with us.
04:00I thank you for your generous invitation.
04:03I always find the time that I spend with
04:08people who are in training to be a part
04:11of the most rewarding pieces of my work.
04:15And so I am grateful for the generosity
04:17of all of your time as we talk about
04:21striving towards equity and academia.
04:25I'm going to share my screen. We hope.
04:43OK.
04:48So I have no conflicts of interest,
04:50but I do have a disclaimer.
04:52So today I am not giving my science
04:55talk on equity and academia,
04:58so I'm not going to show you facts and
05:02figures about faculty members from
05:05emerging majorities and where they sit
05:07in terms of their rank in the nation's
05:11institutions of higher learning.
05:13But what I hope to do over the next
05:16few minutes is to share with you my
05:20story as I have been in academia,
05:23and if there's a singular history,
05:25so it's only mine,
05:27but I hope there are lessons that I
05:30have learned that you see similarities
05:33in your career walks and in your
05:36career journeys that will help.
05:38You as you move through academia and
05:44you work and you strive towards equity.
05:48I do want to say that you know my
05:51life experiences shape my perspectives
05:55and my work,
05:57and I hope to share that with you.
06:00I don't have a ton of slides today,
06:03but I would like to have some opportunity
06:06either during this talk or at the
06:09end to have some conversation with you.
06:11If you have questions or comments
06:13about the slides or anything,
06:15I'm saying,
06:16feel free to break in.
06:18I am ready to engage in a conversation
06:20because I really want to hear
06:23from you and also learn from you
06:25and learn from your experiences.
06:31Some pediatricians...
06:33...so I always often start with
06:36a baby and this baby is me.
06:38I was born to two college educated parents
06:42who had advanced degrees and they taught
06:47and worked in academic institutions.
06:49And while I say this rather matter of factly,
06:53it was not in fact a matter of fact.
06:58Although my parents and six of their
07:02seven siblings were college educated.
07:04None of my four grandparents and
07:08none of my 8 great grandparents.
07:11Had college degrees.
07:13And in fact, for my great grandparents.
07:17They lived at a time that learning to read,
07:22write and do math.
07:25Was viewed by the dominant white
07:27society as acts of rebellion and
07:30resistance and if discovered.
07:33That could put their lives in danger.
07:37But the way I heard this as a child.
07:42Was yes, there was an emphasis on education.
07:48But education was a tool that
07:53conferred power and independence.
07:55And as such,
07:57from the perspective of my
07:58grandparents and great grandparents,
08:00education of black people was
08:04an important step in achieving
08:07full citizenship and equality.
08:10Because education was a tool
08:14that conferred power.
08:17That is what made education dangerous
08:21for for the members of my family.
08:24For black people in the generation of my
08:27grandparents and my great grandparents.
08:32My parents met and married at Allen
08:37University, which is an HBC UA.
08:40Historically black college and
08:42university and it was HBC.
08:45Us are the main source of
08:47education of black people.
08:50After the Civil War,
08:53so Alan University was established in 1870,
08:57which is in the middle of reconstruction.
09:01And. As such it was a
09:06university that attracted.
09:09People from all over South Carolina
09:12and beyond because there were few
09:16HB CU places where black people
09:19could be formally educated.
09:22After reconstruction.
09:25My parents achieved their goals
09:28in academia and an environment
09:30that nurtured and supported them.
09:33Where black,
09:35excellence and culture or
09:37celebrated were promoted.
09:40And this was at a time when the country was
09:44still operating under separate but equal.
09:48In facilities,
09:50and particularly in schools.
09:52So it was in. An HBCU.
09:58Where black culture.
10:01Black excellence was lifted.
10:05That I got my beginnings in terms of.
10:09Seeing people in academia.
10:13Even as a very young child,
10:15just being in that mill year.
10:22And my parents. We're educators,
10:26and they saw education and
10:29teaching as a revolutionary act.
10:33And in fact it was revolutionary because
10:37they were not only teaching children.
10:41But they were teaching adults,
10:43and I distinctly remember
10:45my mother and father.
10:50And in the evenings going to.
10:54Looked like relatively small sheds.
10:58Where people would gather adults
11:01would gather to learn how to read.
11:05And it was more and and and they felt like
11:09their belief was education was a way of.
11:14Conferring power.
11:15And when people could read their own
11:19documents could do their own math.
11:22They were no longer. Subject to.
11:28Some of the discriminatory practices,
11:31at least unknowingly and and that
11:34gave them power and so that is
11:38the milieu in which I grew up.
11:40I must say that I also.
11:43Was a product of separate but equal.
11:45In fact my first two years of primary school,
11:49first year and 2nd year second grade.
11:52I was in an all black school.
11:57And it was all black not because of choice.
12:00At that time.
12:01It was because of separate but equal ruling.
12:06I would say that the teachers that
12:09I had in those first two years.
12:11Also saw teaching and being in the
12:15academic space that they that they
12:18inhabited as an act of revolution.
12:22And they also saw it as life saving for
12:25the children that they were teaching.
12:28So, having been bathed in.
12:33So that the love and nurturing of teachers.
12:38Who?
12:42Demanded expected. And supported us.
12:48To be all the excellence that we could be.
12:53I under I later understood what they
12:55were doing and it in this slide.
12:58This is just a slide from.
13:00I used from a talk for high school students
13:03about the benefits of academic excellence.
13:05What they understood was if we were,
13:08they were trying to move all of us.
13:11Into that top right hand quadrant.
13:15Where as our confidence increased
13:19our knowledge and scores increased.
13:23And building that knowledge.
13:27Was really important.
13:30At a time of social change in the country.
13:35Because.
13:37As they were building this knowledge in me,
13:40and this confidence in me
13:42and all of my classmates.
13:45The next phase of educational
13:47reform was about to happen.
13:52And that was green versus the
13:54board of Virginia, and that's me,
13:57as a third grader. And it was.
14:03At this point, I first entered
14:06into white academic space.
14:11And it was under the ruling of.
14:14Something that was for shorthand
14:17called Freedom of choice.
14:19Which meant parents had the
14:21freedom to choose whatever
14:23schools their children attended.
14:26So the brown versus the Board of
14:30Education decision that came in
14:321954 said that the schools had to
14:35desegregate and they needed to
14:37desegregate with all deliberate speed.
14:40But over a decade after that,
14:42nothing had really changed.
14:44There had not been all deliberate speed,
14:48and so this green decision said schools
14:51must desegregate immediately and
14:53parents would have freedom of choice
14:55as to where they sent their school.
14:58Their children.
14:59However, under this there was
15:02not but bidirectional movement.
15:05White children stayed in
15:08predominantly white space.
15:11And.
15:12Black parents then had to make the
15:15the choice as to whether or not to
15:19send their children into the white space.
15:22My parents, along with two other parents,
15:25decided that they were going
15:27to send us into white space.
15:30So I, along with four other children,
15:33including one, was my brother.
15:36Entered into this white academic space.
15:39As a third grade.
15:42Now it's important to know.
15:45That I entered into that space.
15:51In that upper quadrant that I showed you.
15:54With high knowledge and high confidence.
15:58But it was in that space that I in
16:02overtime because I stayed in that
16:05space throughout my high school years.
16:08I began to understand some things
16:11about equity. And academic spaces.
16:17And Sidney Dupree from a Yale
16:23scholar has written on this topic.
16:27One of the things I learned was about.
16:30Racial ignorance.
16:33I knew about racism even as a young child,
16:35but racial ignorance was actually
16:37a different thing.
16:39Because because of the structures
16:42of segregation. My principle.
16:45Administrators and teachers.
16:49Had just were racially ignorant.
16:52Do not know anything about.
16:55Black people or their real lived experiences?
17:00And they also were not prepared to
17:03dismantle any of the structures.
17:07Of racism.
17:08In that academic space,
17:11so that I could thrive.
17:14So the thing it came to my parents
17:16now my parents were clear that they
17:18were going to at some point have
17:20to go to school and have to work
17:22something out because then you don't
17:24send your black child to all the
17:26white space and don't think you have
17:27to go in and correct some things.
17:29But we used to have morning assembly,
17:33so before we went to class,
17:35everybody gathered in the
17:37auditorium and we had, you know,
17:39we said the Pledge of Allegiance
17:41and then we would sing.
17:42So one Saturday because
17:44I had to learn the songs,
17:46I didn't know they were,
17:47you know they were not of my culture.
17:50I'm at home and I'm singing just singing
17:53to myself and my parents hear me.
17:56And I am seeing a song of the Confederacy.
18:01I'm singing,
18:01oh I wish I were in the land of cotton,
18:05old times there and not forgotten look away,
18:09look away, look away, dixieland.
18:12My parents were what is happening.
18:17Like that wasn't all
18:18that was that was you can
18:20still hear it, but that is a
18:23true sign of the Confederacy,
18:25and I told my parents.
18:26Oh no, we've seen this every morning.
18:29And my and my mother and my
18:31mother and father said, well,
18:32let me tell you why we are not going
18:34to sing that every morning and not
18:37only are you not going to sing it.
18:39But the school is not going to see it.
18:42Because that is an old structure.
18:47That has not been dismantled for a new age.
18:52And I bring this to you because that
18:55is one of the things we grapple with as
18:58we talk about equity now in academia.
19:01All structures because they're that's
19:04what we do. Without a consideration.
19:08For the new and diverse identities that
19:12are entering into this academic space.
19:15Now while that song did not
19:18personally do me any harm.
19:21The symbol of the song.
19:24Did harm to millions of people,
19:27which is why my parents.
19:31Intervened and we stopped
19:34singing that at my school.
19:38But there are other ways. Other things,
19:40I also learned out of that experience.
19:43One was about like.
19:47How interpersonal relationships,
19:50interplay and interact.
19:52In ones confidence in academic spaces.
19:57As a third grader,
19:58I tell the story to the first year students.
20:00I have a story about kickball and what I
20:03say about myself as a third grader was I.
20:06I was the king and the Queen of
20:08Kickball I I was a kickball giant.
20:11I knew how to play.
20:12I could run, I could catch I could kick.
20:15But I was never chosen.
20:18For the team,
20:19I was always the last person
20:21and then I just had to go to
20:23whichever team was unequal.
20:26There were subtle and not so subtle
20:30ways of saying I didn't belong.
20:33Even when you're the most skilled.
20:38That is something that
20:41tracks throughout academia.
20:44And it's those more subtle ways of
20:47saying that one does not belong.
20:50That undermines one's confidence.
20:53Remember that.
20:54And can then reduce performance.
21:00So I would say. Out of my elementary
21:05and high school experiences.
21:08That the lessons that I took from
21:10that are we cannot achieve equity
21:15without psychological parity.
21:17And the structures. That support.
21:26Racism, sexism, homophobia,
21:29transphobia abelism anti immigrant.
21:33Any other idea? Anti Asian?
21:37Any other identities?
21:40Must be addressed and
21:43dismantled if we are going to
21:46achieve equity and diversity.
21:48True diversity in academia.
21:53Belonging is important because it
21:56gives space for experimentation and
21:59mistakes without excessive consequences.
22:03So when I was on the kickball
22:06field I was good at it,
22:07but I also felt I couldn't make
22:09a mistake because that would then
22:12just feed into the notion that
22:14they should not have picked me.
22:16But the but the truth of the matter is,
22:19it did not matter how good I was.
22:22I was not being picked.
22:25Because there there was an intention
22:28to place a barrier of otherness,
22:32and if we are going to get the best.
22:35Out of a diverse population of scholars.
22:40We need to create belonging just so
22:43that we can get the best of their ideas.
22:46The best of our efforts.
22:49And so that we can fail.
22:53Get back up and stay on track. And finally,
22:58I think that diversifying academia.
23:01Will require space and inform my case
23:05for blackness and other identities.
23:08And what I'm saying by mean by that is.
23:12It is important as we look
23:15at scholars of color.
23:18Or scholars with identities
23:20other than cisgendered, white,
23:23cisgender white men.
23:26To make sure that we are creating community.
23:31So that the person's life can be
23:36sustained in that academic institution.
23:42So I went to the University
23:44of North Carolina.
23:44It's coming said it was the only
23:47place I applied for undergrad.
23:49So my parents maybe go early decision
23:52just in case. I love that college,
23:56I was enamored by the campus and
24:01because I went to school in the South,
24:06I had a large number of.
24:10Black and and otherwise diverse.
24:14Colleagues in my class.
24:17And I had.
24:20Some black professors,
24:21something that I had not had since I
24:25really in in in any significant way
24:29since I left elementary school and
24:33it was at the University of North
24:36Carolina where I began to really
24:39understand wheels of academia and how it,
24:43how tenure worked and what
24:45was promotion about.
24:46I was an undergrad.
24:47I was not in that, but my mentor.
24:51Doctor Sonia Haynes stone.
24:5440 years before Hannah Nicole
24:57Jones was denied tenure,
25:00was denied tenure.
25:02Dr Stone Scholarship focused
25:04on the black diaspora,
25:06and she was the director of the
25:09African American Studies section.
25:15What her work?
25:18And her struggles taught me about academia.
25:23Is something that is well documented
25:26in the literature. Which is.
25:29When? People of color or women.
25:34Or people of other identities.
25:38Focus. Their scholarly activities.
25:43On their own culture or their
25:47own historical experiences.
25:49Often that work is undervalued.
25:55And it shows up.
25:57In at times for promotion.
26:00So Doctor Stone was denied tenure.
26:04And. On the right hand side you can see
26:07their students protesting tenure stone,
26:11and that's the board of
26:14trustees who made the decision.
26:18Now she sued, she appealed,
26:20sued the university,
26:21and successfully won her case and came
26:24back to the university a year later.
26:27But the experience taught me
26:29as I look at this picture of
26:32the people at the table.
26:34The importance of representation.
26:37The first perspectives and experiences,
26:40particularly around a promotion table,
26:43because it decreases the tendency
26:46to produce mirror images of the
26:48people who are at the table.
26:54Even today, structures for promotion.
26:58Or even getting on the tenure track can
27:01be derailed if one scholarly work does
27:05not fit into a somewhat narrow box.
27:10And. That narrow box often privileges
27:15those who have been benefiting from
27:18the narrow box narrative, namely males.
27:22And often white males.
27:25So I learned that. It is important.
27:31That in this process of understanding.
27:37One's role in academia.
27:40Not to discount.
27:42The importance not of just your work.
27:45But of ones evaluate.
27:47And if we're going to
27:50achieve equity in academia.
27:53The table has to be set differently.
28:01So the lessons I learned were that
28:04we cannot achieve equity without
28:06confronting what I call goodness of fit.
28:10That's from my statistical days
28:12of my my statistical work.
28:14A lot of the argument
28:16around not giving tenure,
28:18not putting people on promotion on the on
28:22promotional tracks to get them to tenure.
28:24Or to full professor.
28:27Is because their work doesn't fit.
28:31Their ideas don't fit with the
28:35culture of the institution.
28:37We have to break whatever that fit
28:40is because the fit keeps diverse
28:42voices from being represented.
28:45It keeps diverse ideas from from being
28:49at the forefront and then reduces.
28:53The degree of excellence our
28:56institutions actually can achieve.
28:59We must create a create a critical
29:02mask mass of people with cluster
29:05hires having the days of having
29:07one or two scholars of a particular
29:11identity and holding them up as
29:14your as one symbol of diversity.
29:17Those days are over.
29:19If we are going to retain.
29:24Scholars of color.
29:27Retain scholars of different
29:30identities to produce a diverse and
29:34equitable landscape and academia.
29:37It is going to require that
29:40we fund them adequately.
29:43We provide. Sustained mentorship.
29:48And that we achieve pay equity.
29:52And although we are many institutions,
29:55including Yale is working to.
30:00Increased transparency in
30:02the promotion process.
30:04More transparency is needed.
30:10So Fast forward I went to medical school.
30:12I could tell you 100 stories about that but.
30:16After medical school,
30:17I did my training at Columbia.
30:19This is a Children's Hospital in
30:21New York and I came to New York.
30:24Because. My father said.
30:30If you're going to be a doctor.
30:33You need a more diverse perspective.
30:37Said the one you are getting from
30:398 years of being at the University
30:41of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
30:42You got to go further than 40 minutes
30:45from your front door and so I only looked
30:48at residency programs in major cities.
30:51And to my surprise.
30:55Columbia had a diverse patient population.
31:00But I was the only black person in my year as
31:04an as a resident as an intern in resident.
31:07So I went through my residency
31:09with one other black person who was
31:12in the year ahead of me.
31:14And I had one year where I was the only
31:17black person in the whole program.
31:19That is not an uncommon story.
31:22But I show you this slide because.
31:25Equity in academia?
31:28Also requires that we have to.
31:32Find our own people.
31:35Whatever that means to you.
31:37Because in addition to the
31:39work that we are doing,
31:40we have to be nurtured and sustained
31:43and supported in ways that are our,
31:47our lifestyle. Our culture needs
31:51to be nurtured and supported.
31:54And so. At Columbia.
31:58In the hospital.
32:00My story is like many people of color story.
32:05My support were the people.
32:09Who worked at the hospital?
32:11It's clearly if you heard Cory
32:15Booker's impassioned statement around
32:17Judge Brown Jackson's confirmation,
32:20and he talked about.
32:22As he's leaving the building,
32:24how he sees people who work in
32:26facilities and they lift him up
32:28by saying they how proud they are
32:30that he is serving in the Senate.
32:33The same thing happens all across
32:36professions, so my people.
32:39We're in facilities.
32:42My people were ward clerks.
32:46My people were at the coffee
32:49cart outside of the hospital.
32:52Who said, you know? I'm proud of you adopt?
32:56I'm going to give you an extra donut today.
32:57Keep you keep it going keep it going
33:00right or parents of children of color.
33:03When I would go to a code.
33:07And during my chief residency year,
33:09they would always call the chief
33:11residence name to go to the code
33:13so they would hear my name.
33:14And when I came back to the ward
33:16to the floor,
33:18they would stand outside the door
33:19and say I heard them call your name.
33:22I'm so proud of you.
33:23I was like it was a code like this.
33:26We're not going to be proud but.
33:28I was like OK,
33:30they were just keeping me going.
33:32So what I would say is.
33:34It is important in places where.
33:39You don't have a whole system of
33:44professionals. To find your people.
33:48Whoever they are who are going
33:51to nurture and sustain you?
33:54The other reason I chose Columbia
33:56is because it was
33:57well resourced and well resourced.
34:00Places have some advantages.
34:03I was able to get a Masters
34:05degree for free because.
34:08They have resources.
34:10I also was able to use the resources of
34:14Columbia to form Community Partnerships
34:18that further enhanced my research.
34:22And I was able to fulfill my passion
34:26in clinical care by serving diverse.
34:30Underserved populations but the
34:33key to my experience there for
34:37academia and equity is that.
34:41In places where.
34:44You don't have internal support.
34:49Find your people and nurture yourself,
34:52because balance is important.
34:59It was at Columbia that I found my.
35:03Career mentor and I should say he
35:07found me this is Robert Mellins.
35:10He was one of the founders of pediatric
35:14pulmonary medicine as a specialty.
35:16He was. He became my mentor, my sponsor.
35:19He sought out opportunities for me.
35:22And most importantly.
35:23He understood my values and then made sure
35:28that my research aligned with my values so.
35:33I met Doctor Mellins. Umm?
35:38By happenstance, I have to tell you I my
35:41favorite organ system as a medical student,
35:44kidneys, ureters and bladders.
35:47And the respiratory system
35:49was my worst system.
35:52I would call my father every day
35:54after pulmonary physiologist like Dad.
35:56I don't think I'm going to make it.
35:58I cannot do Physiology in
35:59the respiratory system.
36:00It's a House of Cards.
36:01I can't do it and so I was not
36:05interested in pulmonary medicine.
36:07And during my chiefs year.
36:09Doctor Melons would come
36:11to the chief's office.
36:12I had no relationship with him.
36:15And he would just come to the door and said,
36:18Beverly,
36:18what are you planning to do with your life?
36:20That was his question and I I would say by
36:24this time I had had enough of white space.
36:27I said I'm getting a real job in the
36:29real world and that's all I would say.
36:31He said OK and he'd walk away and he
36:34did this about every three months.
36:37And. Eventually.
36:38I got what I considered my
36:41dream job in the real world.
36:48I went to Harlem Hospital Center where I
36:51worked for three years as a pediatric as
36:54a pediatric emergency medicine doctor.
36:57That was the best job.
36:59It was the toughest job of my career.
37:01But it was the most fulfilling job.
37:04And it was most fulfilling.
37:08Because I was nurtured.
37:11In and supported. In a community.
37:18Where I could get on an elevator?
37:21And everybody on the elevator was black.
37:23I had not seen that since
37:25I was in the second grade.
37:26I was like, oh,
37:28this is what it is like to be in
37:31this space in my day-to-day life.
37:33And that propelled me in my career
37:38that experience. But it also.
37:42Helped me to understand where I was going.
37:45As an emergency medicine doctor,
37:47I was at the intersection of seeing.
37:51Severe asthma in children.
37:56At the intersection of understanding
37:59the structures and policies that
38:02led to poor housing resources and
38:05neighborhood resources that increase the
38:09environmental exposures that led to worse
38:13asthma outcomes in children in Harlem.
38:16And that's how I ended up in pulmonary.
38:19So three years into my career as
38:22an emergency medicine doctor,
38:24I went back to Doctor.
38:25Balance and I said.
38:27This is what I'm seeing in Harlem.
38:30I'm seeing death.
38:31I'm seeing children who are intubated
38:34multiple times for asthma and
38:36over my four years at Columbia,
38:38I could count on one hand the number of
38:41children that were intubated from asthma.
38:43I was seeing children who had
38:45been intubated five or six times.
38:47And I started to talk to him about
38:49doing some research to figure out
38:51why this was happening and he said,
38:54OK, you're going to need to do
38:57a pulmonary fellowship now.
38:59This was like April.
39:00I never interviewed for the fellowship.
39:02He says you could start in July
39:03and that's what happened.
39:05And I was like, OK, so he was leaving.
39:08I don't know.
39:10I think he was laying the
39:12groundwork for my career.
39:14He certainly did and I ended up.
39:17Back at Columbia,
39:19doing a pulmonary fellowship and then
39:21staying there for over 2 decades as a
39:25pediatric pulmonologist and a researcher.
39:27And I'm I would say that the
39:30lessons that I learned from.
39:32That experience is that
39:35achieving equity in academia.
39:38Requires committed mentorship so
39:40Dr melons in later years.
39:43We talked about this.
39:45He committed himself to me
39:47before I ever knew him.
39:52Which is why he was making the
39:54trips to the Chiefs Office.
39:57He saw me when I did not see him.
40:00I was not interested in pulmonary.
40:03But he learned about me.
40:06He learned about what I valued.
40:08He learned about my interesting community,
40:11and when I said I'm getting
40:12a real job in the real world,
40:13he found out that I was going
40:16to Harlem Hospital Center.
40:18So he understood my values before mentorship,
40:22so I so he's that's what I
40:26call committed mentorship.
40:28He also suggested in the way he
40:31interacted with me that if we're
40:34going to have effective mentorship,
40:36particularly around first generation
40:39students around students of
40:42color around students who bring a
40:46diversity of identities that may
40:48not be reflected in the faculty.
40:51We may need to change the paradigm
40:54of students seeking out a mentor.
40:58At some point, we're holding as mentors
41:02the resources we need to go out and
41:05find the people who we can mentor and
41:09and and bring our resources to them.
41:13Balance is important. Find your people,
41:16no matter what you're doing.
41:18Find your people.
41:20And then find people who can
41:24not only support you.
41:26But find mentors who will promote and act.
41:30Based on your values, which means.
41:34They think about the research that
41:37they are that that you're doing and
41:39that they're going to mentor you in.
41:41They're going to think about where,
41:44where are you gifted?
41:46Where are your your talents lie?
41:48Where are your interest and
41:50then try to align that.
41:52With using their resources it even if
41:56your mentor is not doing that work.
41:59Doctor Mills was not doing
42:01the work I was interested in,
42:03but he took me to the American
42:06Thoracic Society where I got mentors.
42:09From across the country who were who
42:12were already involved in the work,
42:14and he supported me with
42:16resources and with time.
42:18And eventually he became coauthors because
42:21he started to write grants with me.
42:24So I think that is an important.
42:29And then finally. I came to Yale.
42:33Now the only two things I want
42:36to say about you. Is that?
42:39This is not necessarily about yield,
42:41but it is about a move and what I say
42:45to people who come to me that I mentor,
42:49particularly those who identify
42:51as women and those from diverse
42:53backgrounds or identities,
42:55do not get wedded to one place.
42:59Don't stay too long,
43:01stay long enough to achieve what you want.
43:05But keep moving.
43:06Why is it important to keep moving?
43:09Because that is a way to get paid equity.
43:12If, particularly if you start
43:13out at a place where you trained,
43:16you will never get pay equity because
43:18they knew you before you knew yourself.
43:21Go keep moving.
43:25Make sure. That when you move that the job
43:29is structured to align with your values,
43:32which is what I found when I moved to Yale.
43:37And make sure that your
43:39work is funded and valued.
43:42The advantage of moving is that you
43:46get to reinvent or remake yourself.
43:49In a into a more equitable colleague.
43:54And then align the job.
43:58This job was aligned with
44:00what I wanted to do,
44:02and particularly the work I'm
44:04doing now and has HealthEquity,
44:07so I want to finish up by just
44:09telling you two things about
44:12HealthEquity that we're doing so.
44:17We are doing. I am the leader of
44:20the HealthEquity threat for the
44:22School of Medicine and in 2018 the
44:25educational policy and Curriculum
44:28Committee endorsed a number of
44:30curricular initiatives that were based
44:32on a subcommittee report and that
44:36Subcommittee Report on Diversity,
44:37Inclusion, and Social Justice and
44:41Medicine among the initiatives was a
44:44mandate to form a HealthEquity threat.
44:47That would be incorporated into
44:49the required curriculum,
44:50spanning all four years of medical
44:53student training that covered content
44:55related to critical understanding of the
44:58impact of social structures on health
45:00and health care and social differences
45:03on the doctor patient relationship.
45:06It's also a test with enhancing
45:09HealthEquity research opportunities
45:10through the Office of Student
45:13Research and promoting educator and
45:16student professional development.
45:23Our vision is to train the next generation
45:26of physicians who will help shape
45:29a more equitable healthcare system.
45:32Reimagine healthcare delivery.
45:34To reduce disparate outcomes,
45:36confront and dismantle systems and structures
45:40that it perpetuate inequality or inequity.
45:44Innovate, education and champion
45:46workforce diversity and conduct
45:49research to promote the evidence base.
45:53To support transformation.
45:54And we are deep in this work right now.
45:58So as I close.
46:01Academia serves society, that's its purpose.
46:06It educates future leaders.
46:08But in order to do this at the highest level,
46:13it must reflect the diversity of
46:16identities and the ideas of its scholars.
46:20In order to do this, reflection.
46:23We must dismantle structures
46:26that perpetuate inequality.
46:29If we're going to recruit and retain and
46:33promote and nurture scholars and scholarship.
46:37I'm looking forward to the
46:39work that you will do.
46:41To reshape the academic environment
46:44for more equitable outcomes,
46:47thank you.
47:00Thank you, thank you so much for research
47:02here, so was an amazing like talk and
47:06witness of your own experience and.
47:14I'm sorry, I'm trying to shop stop
47:15sharing my screen.
47:23Yes, thank you Doctor.
47:24Cheers for the wonderful talk.
47:26A A lot of really.
47:30Just really great experiences
47:32you've had throughout your career.
47:35We have some time for questions,
47:39so Sarah and I will also monitor
47:41the chat if you'd rather place your
47:44questions there or just feel free to
47:47unmute and and ask any questions.
48:03Don't be shy. Talk to me about
48:07your experiences in academia.
48:16How did you find your mentors?
48:20If I can, I'll I'll start. OK guys.
48:24So my experience is slightly different,
48:27so I'm I'm originally from Mexico,
48:30Mexico City. I trained and and did
48:32all of my work in Mexico City,
48:34and so I I never really thought of
48:39myself as a minority other than the
48:41fact that I was female, Mexico is.
48:47Very male centric and medicine even more so.
48:53Umm? And so, other than than being a female,
48:58I never thought of myself as a minority.
49:02When I came to Yale after
49:05when I was doing my residency.
49:08Actually, because I received an
49:11invitation from Doctor Andres Martin,
49:13who was also well, is also Mexican.
49:16He went to Mexico City.
49:17We met there and he invited
49:20me to come up and.
49:21Do a rotation at at Yale right and so
49:26that's how I came to to be in you and that.
49:30That's already what, 16 years ago.
49:32So yeah, I know it's been a lifetime.
49:37So I guess that that was my first like real
49:40introduction to what mentorship could be,
49:43and you know,
49:44the potentials of having someone
49:45actually take you under their wings and.
49:50And actually, you know I,
49:53I remember there's this this anecdote
49:55that that on this tells or he jokes
49:57with me that when he came and he met me.
50:00You know, after I had given him a tour
50:02of all the hospital and explained
50:04everything and medically what we
50:05were doing and in the psychiatric
50:07unit and everything you know we
50:09got to the to the psych unit where
50:12my where the director of the unit
50:14was and the director turns around.
50:15He looks at me and he says,
50:17could you please bring us 2 cups of
50:19coffee please? And I was dismissed.
50:21You know, that's how I was and and I know,
50:24Andreas, you know,
50:25his hair was like
50:26Oh my God, you know how
50:27do you? How do you allow
50:29this, whatever? And so that's kind
50:31of open the the door for him to
50:34to invite me to to come to Yale.
50:37When I came to Yale,
50:39I think one of the big experiences
50:41that I had was actually,
50:42for example, meeting Dorothy study.
50:46Dorothy Stubbe was working at the
50:48child Psych unit when I came to do my
50:52rotation and it was the first time
50:55that I was with a female doctor that
50:58you know was in charge that you know
51:01was not going to be dismissed by you know.
51:04OK go get us a cup of coffee.
51:05You know that that had been my
51:08experience with other females
51:09in the medical field, you know.
51:11And and I know I'm doing a disservice to to
51:13some of the other women in Mexico that I.
51:17I've come to to to work with
51:19and I and that I truly respect,
51:21but but this was kind of like
51:22the first time that I had.
51:23Kind of like this experience of seeing this,
51:26you know, woman just kind of like
51:28she was in control and she was,
51:29you know, she was making the decisions.
51:31You know everyone,
51:31no matter who it was you know,
51:33was you know following her instruction and I,
51:36you know, I,
51:38I thought that was like amazing.
51:41But I guess the part that I was
51:43coming to is that I never considered
51:46myself to be a minority.
51:49When I applied for my fellowship
51:50to come to Yale to do research,
51:53I actually applied as a minority fellow
51:57and I always joke with my family.
51:59You know that I I never thought
52:00of myself as a minority,
52:01but I I clicked all the boxes.
52:03I was female. I was Hispanic.
52:05You know.
52:06I and.
52:08And I can't help but
52:09think that even though.
52:12I didn't grow up with the feeling of being a
52:16minority as I've been living in the states.
52:20That is how I've been treated.
52:22Hmm, you know I this is this is
52:26the box that I have been put into.
52:29I am a minority, you know.
52:31I have to speak up for what it
52:34is that I want and I have to.
52:36And even though that wasn't
52:38my experience growing up.
52:40As a matter of fact, I've always thought
52:42of myself as being very privileged,
52:43growing up in Mexico,
52:45I went to private schools,
52:46you know, etcetera,
52:47etcetera so you know I always
52:50thought of myself as as rather
52:52privileged coming to the States and.
52:55Being told you're a minority and you
52:58have to be a minority and you have to,
53:01you know, fight for what you want and
53:03you have to that that I think that.
53:07Because that is the way that we are treated.
53:09You know it is also the box
53:11that we are put into.
53:13And now I I fully embrace my
53:15status as a minority and I,
53:17you know, I'm you know,
53:19I'm very outspoken and you know.
53:21And.
53:23In, you know, trying to to get you
53:27know equal or at least equitable.
53:31You know treatment,
53:32but I can't help but think
53:35that people that.
53:36Didn't grow up in the states that come
53:39from outside are kind of thrust into
53:42this expectation that is not theirs,
53:44and yet they're expected to
53:47behave within that, and
53:50I'll leave it there because
53:50I'm taking up all the time,
53:52but I I just wanted to put that out
53:53there and maybe open it up
53:55for other people and see what other
53:57people's experiences have been.
53:59You know that is not uncommon.
54:05That if if you did not
54:07grow up in this country.
54:11That your experiences.
54:15With any of the isms may be different.
54:19Sometimes they're worse and
54:21coming to this country is better.
54:24Beginning on what the ISM is,
54:26but yeah, I I think there is because
54:31of the history of this country.
54:35Black skin by definition.
54:42Confers us a status.
54:49Long steeped in history.
54:52That we are still wrestling with.
54:56And so yes, that that I hear that
54:59from students who immigrate from
55:02other places quite frequently.
55:04That that is that that they have.
55:06It is not until they get here
55:08that they start to think about
55:10themselves in those terms.
55:11Whereas having been born here I,
55:14I knew that was a thing.
55:16Even at my earliest,
55:18that my earliest memories I know about race.
55:22I know race and racism.
55:28Thank you.
55:43Anybody else?
55:53Hi, I do have a question.
55:58Hi, my question centers around
56:01HBC's and PWI I've growing up.
56:05I heard a lot of debates on how
56:08HBC's cater to black students and
56:11they are able to have better support
56:15and to go further than compared
56:18to if they were to go to a PWI.
56:21And I've heard some people say that
56:25when school started to segregate.
56:28No. When when school started to
56:30desegregate that black students were
56:33performing lower at these desegregated
56:36schools than when they were at.
56:39Then when they were in segregated
56:41black schools made for black students.
56:44And I just wanted to know your input
56:47on that on do you feel that black
56:51people perform better HBC's than life?
56:56OK, so.
57:02I wrestle with this question. Having
57:09now 6 graduates in this current generation,
57:15the millennials of HBC U graduates,
57:19they clearly thrived. In that space.
57:28But
57:32all of them are now in white spaces
57:35and are continuing to thrive.
57:39None of them grew had their
57:42formative years of education.
57:44In in predominantly black space.
57:49That's one thought.
57:52My part, my experience.
57:55Was. That because.
58:01And it could have been generational,
58:04or that time, or it might just
58:07be because of the environment.
58:10Many of the students who excelled with me.
58:15In my early years of education,
58:18black students.
58:22When we got. By the time they
58:26got to 5th and 6th grade.
58:28They were no longer in that
58:30top right quadrant. Right?
58:33What's your name has done
58:36some excellent work on?
58:38I'll find I'll find her name.
58:39It'll come to me,
58:41but on looking at the impact of black
58:44students having a black teacher
58:47in the first few primary school
58:50and there later academic success,
58:53saying the impact of having a black teacher.
58:56Is significant.
58:59I will, I believe that probably
59:01is true and that probably I
59:04think that is true.
59:05And.
59:10And I think in part. Some of
59:15the weathering that occurs. In
59:22propelling oneself.
59:24Through white academic space.
59:28Takes its toll. On the rest of
59:33the performance right, you have a.
59:36You're doing a lot of things in
59:39this space to keep going from
59:42day to day and and and that over
59:45time has some weathering effects.
59:48That's why I think it's important
59:50to have a critical mass.
59:52Of scholars and faculty
59:57in institutions so that.
01:00:01There is support there so that.
01:00:05It's not the same five people doing.
01:00:09Doing particular tasks that take its
01:00:13toll and have little or no reward
01:00:16in terms of promotion and tenure.
01:00:22Yeah, this bring back us to the important
01:00:25role of a mentor like as you said,
01:00:28like if the mentor has biases and is not
01:00:31there to support and see your values.
01:00:34So it's very important to Foster and
01:00:37to create a better. Environment.
01:00:41It also I attended like sometimes ago
01:00:44scientific teaching course and of
01:00:46course they show like how like the
01:00:49teacher themselves have a lot of biases,
01:00:52so they need to be like really
01:00:55educated on the topic has.
01:00:58Ask the students how you prefer.
01:01:00For example, even like to call
01:01:02like if you prefer nickname or to
01:01:05don't be influenced by appearance.
01:01:08And and also, like you realize that our self.
01:01:13We have a lot of biases like maybe we
01:01:16think at an engineer mostly for men,
01:01:19but actually women.
01:01:20We can be very successful in that world.
01:01:23So this is also when I started university
01:01:27there was like the majority of the
01:01:30classes at the engineer were like of
01:01:32male like maybe 2-3 girls and I'm
01:01:35not Speaking of I'm speaking about.
01:01:38Italy 15 years ago.
01:01:40So we we are really far from from
01:01:45spreading this like and knowledge
01:01:49and environment of.
01:01:51Of inclusion and equity and I as
01:01:56a as a female.
01:01:57I also I feel like when I attempt like
01:02:01conference that with my colleagues
01:02:03other females so we are a bit like
01:02:06more shy to speak up even if we do
01:02:09good research and so in that case
01:02:12I think a supportive mentor.
01:02:15Would be very important and in my
01:02:18case like my mentor is a strong woman
01:02:21that she survived and in this kind of
01:02:25in research field that is very difficult so.
01:02:28A very good example,
01:02:31but yeah I think also having
01:02:35multiple mentors might help you
01:02:37to discover your your value.
01:02:40So So what?
01:02:41What other like suggestion would
01:02:43you have for us?
01:02:46So in I I highly support having more
01:02:49than one midterm because one mentor
01:02:53cannot do everything and there are some
01:02:56things that you want your mentor to do.
01:03:01There's some things you need from a mentor
01:03:03that a mentor may not be able to provide,
01:03:05so I have I have a personal mentor and coach.
01:03:11That helps me figure out how I prioritize.
01:03:16I have a research mentor who is
01:03:19talking to me about my science.
01:03:23I have a mentor around leadership.
01:03:26Who's teaching and guiding me
01:03:29as I make leadership decisions?
01:03:32Yeah, there are.
01:03:33There are mentors who can do a lot of things.
01:03:36And then I have mentors who are.
01:03:39Are people who are not even in the field
01:03:42of medicine but are other professionals?
01:03:45Who understand?
01:03:49What it is to be a black professor?
01:03:51A black professional?
01:03:52And and we talk about
01:03:55the issues that come up.
01:03:57I highly recommend that one tries
01:03:59to get more than one mentor using
01:04:02many of the national organizations
01:04:05now have mentorship programs.
01:04:08So, for example,
01:04:09for American thoracic society,
01:04:11all of the different assemblies
01:04:13have mentorship programs.
01:04:14I am mentoring someone from Seattle, WA.
01:04:17I'm mentoring someone from Philadelphia.
01:04:22And and it's because our interests aligned,
01:04:25aligned and one of them.
01:04:27I'm interested, I'm mentoring in research,
01:04:30but the other I'm mentoring around
01:04:32issues of DEI at their institution
01:04:34and so looking at your national
01:04:36organizations for mentorship,
01:04:38if you don't have it locally.
01:04:42Often your mentor.
01:04:44Can also recommend other people
01:04:46who can help you depending on what
01:04:50what questions and what areas
01:04:52you of mentorship are needed.
01:04:54But I highly recommend more than one mentor.
01:05:12We receive a comment in the chat
01:05:14room if you want to. To share.
01:05:21I can't hi so this is.
01:05:25This was a comment. Let me just share this.
01:05:30From Tamara, I can vouch that I
01:05:34loved my HB CU and thrived there.
01:05:38I went to Howard and now at Yale I
01:05:40think the biggest struggle is the shift
01:05:42in environment more than the rigor.
01:05:45The shift in environment.
01:05:50More than the rigor. Ohh absolutely.
01:05:55HBC use are rigorous. They produce scholars.
01:06:03They have a history of producing scholars.
01:06:09And more and more. Students.
01:06:13Of color are looking at HBC use.
01:06:18Because they want to become scholars
01:06:21in a supportive environment.
01:06:24That's why my.
01:06:26Two God children and three nieces
01:06:29all chose Spelman College,
01:06:31which is an HBC U and they could have.
01:06:35They could have gone anywhere.
01:06:37They were very intentional about an HBC
01:06:41U because they wanted their lifestyle,
01:06:45their culture and their environment
01:06:47to bathe them in that nurturing broth.
01:06:52So that they could experiment and
01:06:55make mistakes and still be supported.
01:06:59And and be in an environment where the
01:07:03whole environmental or academic enterprise.
01:07:06Was interested in promoting their success.
01:07:12And one of the advantages at talking to
01:07:16them about their experiences is that
01:07:19then they go on to wherever they go.
01:07:22But they have a network of
01:07:25other professionals,
01:07:26so they have a network of
01:07:28professionals wherever they go.
01:07:30That they can call on for support anywhere
01:07:33in the country or anywhere in the world,
01:07:36and and that that's a built-in
01:07:39network by virtue of being a graduate
01:07:42of an HBC U so Tamara.
01:07:44I I definitely understand,
01:07:47appreciate that and agree that that is,
01:07:51you know,
01:07:52we need to do the hard work of culture
01:07:55change in our institution so that.
01:07:58Anybody?
01:07:59Of any identity entering into this space.
01:08:04Actually belong, not feel like they belong,
01:08:07but actually belong.
01:08:08That's the work that we have to do in order.
01:08:10If we're really going to achieve
01:08:12equity in academia.
01:08:23Yeah, I also wanted to go back on what to
01:08:27Mary said because I also feel the same way,
01:08:30although I did not graduate from HBC.
01:08:33I did when I graduated from high school.
01:08:35I attended a PWI in South Dakota and
01:08:38my time like my experience there.
01:08:42I had a very hard time.
01:08:44There was no support I.
01:08:46Felt like I was alone.
01:08:47There was even advisers if I would
01:08:50try to talk to them they could never
01:08:53understand the issues that I was
01:08:55dealing with from my perspective and
01:08:58after that I had transferred to an HBC
01:09:01U in Texas with Texas City University and.
01:09:05My experience there was like no other.
01:09:10My confidence in myself as a black
01:09:13woman increased dramatically.
01:09:15My grades were much better.
01:09:17There were so many people that were
01:09:19around me that wanted me to succeed.
01:09:21There were so many people
01:09:23that just wanted to help,
01:09:24even if I didn't ask for it.
01:09:26Even if I didn't know that I needed the
01:09:29help and I feel that that experience
01:09:31going to an HBCU for some time help
01:09:34to propel and change my mindset.
01:09:36To let me know that I, you know,
01:09:39I can also take up space and that I
01:09:42shouldn't feel bad for taking up space,
01:09:44wherever where,
01:09:45wherever I am and.
01:09:48That experience I feel has led
01:09:49me to where I am now,
01:09:51which is doing an internship with Yale.
01:09:53This is something I've never
01:09:54thought in my life.
01:09:55I would be able to do and I'm just
01:09:58I'm grateful for every experience
01:10:01I have and I'm grateful for the
01:10:03HPC that I went to as well.
01:10:06Yes, I I think you. I mean, we're on
01:10:10something that's the thing of of of
01:10:13really creating a supportive nurturing.
01:10:20Pro environment that builds confidence.
01:10:25Instead of undermines confidence.
01:10:28If we're going to get. The best.
01:10:33Out of each member of our community.
01:10:37The point of diversity is not counting.
01:10:42Just counting numbers,
01:10:43the point of diversity is diversity
01:10:46should change us and make us better.
01:10:49And in order for us to be changed,
01:10:52we have to be open to change.
01:10:54We have to see that we need to be changed,
01:10:56but we also need to put the resources
01:10:59behind the change that is needed.
01:11:04I totally agree with all these points
01:11:06because I think a lot of the narrative
01:11:08has been focusing on trying to make
01:11:10sure that we have like classes or
01:11:12particular seminars to make sure
01:11:14that we have more diverse scholars.
01:11:15But I think the big thing is not diversity
01:11:18and also trying to help with the rigor,
01:11:20but it's actually the inclusion piece,
01:11:22and I think the inclusion piece is the big
01:11:24one that we seem to sometimes forget about.
01:11:27But it's like we have to make sure
01:11:28that people feel like they belong.
01:11:29They feel like they're supportive,
01:11:31they have mentors, they have peers,
01:11:33so yeah, thank you.
01:11:34Everybody for sharing.
01:11:37Thank you.
01:11:40Yeah, thank you.
01:11:41Thank you everyone for sharing your
01:11:44stories and again thank you Professor.
01:11:47Cheers for your amazing
01:11:49like witness for life and.
01:11:52Engagement in uh in creating
01:11:55an inclusive environment.
01:11:57You really captures our attention.
01:12:00I think everyone is really.
01:12:03Amazed by you your way of
01:12:06presenting this really touching
01:12:08and topic and very sensitive topic.
01:12:12But as you said,
01:12:13we really need to engage
01:12:15and put effort to change.
01:12:17I I give you like the stage to you for.
01:12:21Well, thank you for the invitation.
01:12:23Thanks to all of you for staying late.
01:12:25I really appreciate your
01:12:26time and I and thanks.
01:12:28Karim, Soraya and Julia wherever you are.
01:12:31I appreciate the invitation. Take care.
01:12:35Thank you very much for joining.