For Dr. Padi Boyd, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the time is now to make changes in STEM higher education to make the field accessible to students from nontraditional backgrounds.
“The pandemic has really put a spotlight on some inequities in our culture and now that we’re seeing this light at the end of the tunnel … we do need to be very mindful that the inequities grew,” Boyd said.
Boyd is starting a new temporary assignment at NASA headquarters to develop and direct the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Bridge Program, an initiative to increase diversity and inclusion in the NASA workforce and the science community.
“I’m excited about the timing of this program,” she said. “I think this is really an opportunity to take a look at how our resources are allocated and who does that let in the door, who does that leave out and to take a look at what’s happening and see if we can correct the imbalances so that the doors can be opened to more.”
NASA recognized the momentum of creating bridge programs into graduate schools as a tool to diversify STEM fields, Boyd said, and looked to replicate them.
NASA plans to partner with existing bridge programs at universities, as well as create new programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Laura Vega, a recent alumna of the Fisk Vanderbilt Master’s to Ph.D. Bridge Program, learned about bridge programs at a conference for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences.
“They told me all about the resources, the funding, the community, the family-type experience I would get as a graduate student being in a bridge program,” Vega said.
After working on her undergraduate degree for about six-and-a-half years, Vega said she felt burnt out. The mentorship and resources available through bridge programs made working toward a Ph.D. more manageable for her, she said.
Vega, a Greenbelt resident, works with Boyd as a postdoctoral fellow with a joint appointment at the University of Maryland and Goddard.
“She’s always been understanding, and I’ve never felt uncomfortable around her, even if I didn’t have an update to give. She always starts the meetings with, ‘How’s it going?’ Nothing related to work, or nothing related to research. It’s just personable,” Vega said about Boyd.
Vega said that as a mentor, Boyd helped her network with other scientists and build connections in the industry. “She’ll always introduce me so people know who I am, and I think that’s really useful for budding scientists,” Vega said.
One of Boyd’s goals is to increase the number of research proposals that are being submitted to NASA for funding at those institutions by building partnerships to lower barriers preventing faculty from proposing projects.
Boyd said organizers will also prioritize supporting students from “nontraditional pathways,” including community colleges and primarily undergraduate schools, where resources directed at students are not as plentiful as they are at research universities.
Dr. Elisa Quintana, a scientist in Goddard’s astrophysics division, started at a community college and said she struggled with self-consciousness when adjusting to larger, more competitive programs.
“It’s hard if you have a nontraditional background and you don’t have the opportunities, or maybe you do, but you don’t know they’re there. Then you automatically assume that you’re not as prepared or not as good as everybody and you kind of become your own worst enemy,” Quintana said.
Boyd is personally committed to developing mentorship in the project by intentionally selecting strong mentors from within the NASA workforce and ensuring that they have training and resources to manage challenging circumstances.
Half of Quintana’s group of postdoctoral researchers are from underrepresented populations, she said, because Boyd “seeded the development” of a diverse lab by going beyond her duties to personally elevate early career employees at NASA.
The American Institute of Physics TEAM-UP Project found a variety of factors that influence people of color in U.S. undergraduate physics tracks, including psychological safety, cultural issues and managing stereotypes. Boyd said she plans to utilize this research when training mentors.
“We’re going to make sure that our mentoring takes advantage of what’s already been done in the field. … We’re going to make sure that they have access to resources ahead of time and continuously,” Boyd said.
As Boyd and her team continue to hold town hall meetings with stakeholders, the specific elements of the project will become more concrete, Boyd said. She is committed to ensuring that participants have financial and social support to succeed.
“The goal would be to diversify the NASA workforce and also to increase the level of inclusion that underrepresented folks feel when they are working in STEM,” Boyd said.
NASA said in its Equity Action Plan that it will fund the SMD Bridge Program with a budget of $5 million in Fiscal Year 22 and $7.5 million in Fiscal Year 23 with the goal to “create an environment where underserved communities are better equipped to partner with NASA.”
Boyd said she hopes that the bridge project’s goals for growth in project proposals and graduation rates, as well as financial accessibility, will be shared with the institutions they serve.
“I’m honestly really excited to see what comes out of this because we’ve seen a lot of students that have come to Goddard rise into successful next stages of their careers,” Quintana said. “Padi’s the perfect person to lead these new initiatives.”
