Nicole Cabrera Salazar - Retaining People of Color in STEM

Date
Mon February 12th 2018, 3:30pm
Event Sponsor
Physics Equity & Inclusion Committee
Location
PAB 102/103
Nicole Cabrera Salazar - Retaining People of Color in STEM

"In the past, we have tried to remedy the “lack of women and minorities” in our field by encouraging children from marginalized groups to pursue a STEM career. Yet, little attention is paid to what happens once they arrive in our departments for scientific training. While many of us now recognize the systemic bias toward marginalized groups -- and perhaps even our own implicit bias -- the challenge lies in what to do about it. Over 40 years of “diversity” initiatives have largely benefited white women, while the numbers of black, brown, and indigenous astronomers remain dismally low (<1%). In this talk, I will highlight often overlooked factors that contribute to the overrepresentation of “majority groups” in STEM."

Nicole E. Cabrera Salazar was born in Santiago, Chile and grew up in Miami, Florida. She is a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Chateaubriand Research Fellowship from the Embassy of France. Both awards allowed Dr. Cabrera Salazar to pursue international research for her doctoral dissertation, “Fundamental Properties, Activity, and Planet-Hosting Potential of Young Suns Near Earth,” which she successfully defended in 2016.

As a consultant for equity and inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Dr. Cabrera Salazar believes that all people should have equal access to science regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic status. She has spoken about these issues on platforms such as the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast, Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM, and TEDxGeorgiaStateU. She has also written about subjects that disproportionally affect marginalized people such as depression and sexual harassment.