Biostatistics and statistics departments around the country have strived to embed justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) into their development and growth. Amstat News asked faculty and deans from both biostatistics and statistics departments to describe their work, along with their challenges and successes. To read about more academic departments making JEDI efforts, visit the November article.

University of California, Riverside

Esra Kurum, associate professor in the department of statistics at the University of California at Riverside, earned her PhD in statistics from the Pennsylvania State University. Her research includes analysis of survival and longitudinal data and semi- and nonparametric regression models.

Analisa Flores, assistant professor of teaching in the department of statistics at the University of California at Riverside, earned her PhD in applied statistics from the University of California at Riverside. Her research interests lie in statistics education for undergraduate students.

Yehua Li, professor and chair in the department of statistics at the University of California at Riverside, earned his PhD in statistics from Texas A&M University. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

Describe your department’s mission in implementing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. What steps have you taken to achieve this mission?

The department of statistics has a long tradition of supporting Hispanic and other underrepresented minority students from local Southern California communities. It has established many clubs and programs to provide professional development, networking, and outreach opportunities with the goal of increasing student involvement and improving their sense of belonging. Active student clubs include the Highlander Statistics Society for undergraduates, Statistics Graduate Student Association, and Mu Sigma Rho honor society for statistics.

The Highlander Statistics Society aims to foster a supportive environment in which students can learn and collaborate together. Club activities include coding workshops, social events, community service, and participation in the annual ASA DataFest competition hosted by the University of California at Los Angeles.

The Statistics Graduate Student Association aims to advance the academic, professional, and social lives of statistics graduate students by hosting social events and organizing student seminars.

Mu Sigma Rho memberships are awarded to both undergraduate and graduate students with academic distinction, accompanied by a free one-year ASA membership.

The Statistical Mentoring in Application, Research, and Technology Program was recently developed to provide statistics undergraduate students with the opportunity to conduct research under the supervision of graduate students. It gives our undergraduates exposure to research and motivates them to pursue a graduate degree, while providing our graduate students with mentoring and leadership experiences.

Many faculty members are actively involved in supervising undergraduate capstone projects or participating in the college Summer Bridge to Research program and CAMP Scholar program. The latter is specifically designed to support underrepresented minority undergraduate student research.

In honor of the late professor D.V. Gokhale, the department established the Gokhale Lecture series in 2012. Each year, with support from the Gokhale Family Endowed Fund, the department brings to the University of California at Riverside campus a prominent speaker who presents a topic in statistics at an undergraduate level that will inspire our undergraduate students to conduct research.

In 2021, the department further established a DEI committee with members representing the faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students. Our DEI committee embraces the unique and rich perspectives and experiences that arise from racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, sexual, and religious diversity within the department. The mission is to foster an inclusive and welcoming culture and atmosphere.

During its first year, the committee organized several DEI-centered activities, including a DEI social hour to foster a sense of togetherness and camaraderie and a DEI alumni panel discussion that provided an opportunity to hear from our underrepresented minority alumni who have built their careers in statistics. The DEI committee also hosted a workshop on the imposter phenomenon that focused on strategies to counter it and help others.

Finally, a DEI climate survey, analysis, and presentation was completed by our undergraduate students in an effort to better understand the DEI climate in the department. The committee will use the results of the survey to identify and guide future DEI activities.

What have been the biggest challenges in implementing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in your department?

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the biggest challenges of implementing JEDI in our department. Most of our efforts have been held in a remote format, which can make connecting and engaging in meaningful discussions difficult. Additionally, the extra responsibilities that faculty, staff, and students have taken on during the pandemic have limited the available time for people to participate in some of the scheduled activities. As we return to a more normal schedule this fall, we hope face-to-face meetings and training will garner larger attendance and involvement.

What can other departments learn from your JEDI work? Do you have a toolkit or resources you can share?

We have learned that representation is paramount. Our DEI committee is composed of members from each group in our department—faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students. Through this structure, we are able to focus our efforts on the various ideas and diverse perspectives of those we are aiming to serve. Advocating for people to be heard, acknowledged, and valued is the strongest tool for successfully implementing our JEDI work.

Our department DEI committee website includes our mission, committee members, and recent activities. Also, our university’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion shares a wealth of resources through their website.

What have been the benefits and results of your JEDI undertakings?

On a personal level, we have benefited by becoming more familiar with the types of support our students are seeking and resources available to help them. Through campus DEI training, we become more aware of the inequalities and biases and we better understand the importance of adding DEI statements to our syllabus, strategies for countering imposter phenomenon, and methods for encouraging community within our classrooms. All of these seemingly nuanced efforts make an impact on our students.

More generally, raising JEDI awareness among faculty, staff, and students is the biggest benefit thus far. Sending the message that our department embraces diversity and actively strives to combat inequalities is the first step to enacting changes.

Is there anything you would do differently if you could go back to the formation of your department?

Starting our JEDI efforts early on, including more student outreach to further diversify our student body and integrating all aspects of diversity as a crucial element in faculty hiring, would significantly increase the impact of our mission in implementing JEDI in the department.

If time and resources were not an issue, what one thing would you immediately do to bolster your JEDI efforts?

Our JEDI efforts could be bolstered by (1) requiring formal DEI training and workshops for all members of the department; (2) formally recognizing DEI efforts through awards and/or scholarships; (3) providing mentoring for underrepresented minority students; and (4) creating a space within the department to promote interaction and community building among faculty, staff, and students.

How does your university support your efforts?

Our university DEI office provides resources and training (imposter phenomenon, unconscious/implicit bias, how to write a diversity statement, etc.) to support JEDI efforts. Departments can arrange workshops through this office, using the various resources (syllabus samples, survey question bank, etc.) on their website.

Our college has also formed a DEI Advisory Committee that informs and provides feedback to the dean about JEDI efforts. The advisory committee consists of members from all departments, which allows for the exchange of ideas and discussion of department-level challenges that require higher-level support. Additionally, the college established a DEI scholarship, awarded to a graduate student in each department for excellence in DEI efforts.

Drexel University

Reneé H. Moore is a research professor and director of the Biostatistics Scientific Collaboration Center. She is also the director of DEI for her department and dedicated to recruiting, mentoring, and facilitating the retention of the next generation of diverse statistical scientists.

Leslie A. McClure is professor and chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. She is passionate about increasing representation in statistics and has worked with several organizations dedicated to DEI efforts.

Describe your department’s mission in implementing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. What steps have you taken to achieve this mission?

Our department is committed to combating racism as a public health threat, as well as creating policies and practices that are more equitable and inclusive and promote a more diverse and anti-racist culture with a collective consciousness rooted in dignity, equity, inclusion, and justice. These values reflect those of the Dornsife School of Public Health. Our approach incorporates the perspectives of students, staff, and faculty, and we hope to weave our desire to make real change throughout the fabric of all department endeavors, including research, teaching, service, and culture.

In addition, we join external organizations that also make it a priority to implement justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in biostatistics, public health, and beyond. Members of our department have played key roles in activities such as the ENAR Fostering Diversity in Biostatistics Workshop, StatFest, JSM Diversity Mentoring Program, and Math Alliance.

Furthermore, we have successfully competed for and received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Transforming Academia for Equity Initiative that allows us to advance our school and department’s anti-racism agenda.

We have additionally incorporated our anti-racist perspective into our educational programs, developing learning priorities that ensure all students in our department learn about the threats of racism in public health, regardless of their degree track or major. Specifically, for biostatistics, our students will complete assessments to “demonstrate (1) an awareness of structural racism as an underlying cause of health disparities and health inequities; (2) the ability to serve as culturally competent collaborators; and (3) an understanding of the historical connections between eugenics and statistics.”

What have been the biggest challenges in implementing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in your department?

The biggest challenges in implementing JEDI are the time required to do it well and unpaid labor (both in terms of finance and reward in academic success). However, our school and department are working toward compensating labor through positions such as director of DEI for the department (part of Reneé’s overall percent effort) and naming and compensating a set of students each year as inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism (IDEA) fellows.

In addition, JEDI work is recognized and collected each year in faculty annual reports, and annual reviews and promotion view JEDI efforts as important to both individual success and furthering our school and department missions. As our department mission indicates, we seek to create a culture that recognizes JEDI work is the responsibility of each member of the department.

What can other departments learn from your JEDI work? Do you have a toolkit or resources you can share?

We do not have a toolkit, but do have a draft action plan. If we had to share one lesson, it would be that JEDI efforts do not happen by accident. Our efforts in JEDI are intentional, and we are passionate about it, even if some aspects are unpaid or unrecognized.

Further, if we could share a second lesson, it’s that advancements in JEDI will not happen if these activities are not valued. JEDI activities are valued in our department and school, where success as a student, staff member, and faculty member is broadly defined.

Last, we strive to recognize that different lived experiences bring different benefits to our community. In recruitment, retention, and recognition, we acknowledge the unique background, strengths, and contributions of each individual.

What have been the benefits and results of your JEDI undertakings?

We are proud to have a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students that is also reflected in our departmental and school leadership. This diverse community is seen and recognized both internally and by others in the statistics community, and many members of our community attribute it as a main reason why they decided to join our department.

Our JEDI undertakings have resulted in a community in which we feel welcome to openly speak and contribute, and these open dialogs have helped us to think more broadly, not just as a community but also in our science.

Our efforts to embrace JEDI principles and make them a central part of our community have helped create a strong department.

Is there anything you would do differently if you could go back to the formation of your department?

We are fortunate that our department was founded in a school for which health as a human right and health equity were framing principles. As a joint department of epidemiology and biostatistics, we have many social epidemiologists who have been examining health inequities from the start. This formed the foundation of our strength in JEDI, and we are lucky to be part of an effort that has been in place since the formation of our department.

Our social epidemiologists continue their JEDI research and, in biostatistics, we have faculty whose research focuses on the development and application of statistical methodology to investigate environmental and neighborhood determinants of health disparities.

If time and resources were not an issue, what one thing would you immediately do to bolster your JEDI efforts?

If time and resources were not an issue, we would immediately develop student programs, such as a summer program for undergraduates, a postbaccalaureate (bridge) program, year-round internships, and partnerships/programming with students and staff/faculty who often have fewer resources (e.g., K–12, historically Black colleges and universities, and Hispanic-serving institutions). In the future, we hope we can be successful in obtaining resources to implement some of these pipeline programs that can support our efforts to broaden participation in the statistical sciences.

How does your university support your efforts?

At a time when college was traditionally reserved for upper-class men, Drexel was founded in 1891 to make education—including hands-on training—accessible to all with no restrictions on religion, race, gender, or socioeconomic status. We are fortunate to be at a university that maintains this commitment of developing a culture of inclusion. There is much support for our JEDI efforts at both the university and the school levels. The efforts are from top down and bottom up.