Building a More Diverse Scientific Team
Posted September 19th, 2014
The STEM workforce is unfortunately known for its homogeneous character. For most of the 20th century, it was dominated by white males. And while certain minority groups have made headway into various scientific professions, there is still a marked lacked of diversity across the board. If you are looking to diversify you team in order to broaden the number of perspectives and backgrounds that you can draw on, consider these strategies:
Recruit Internationally
New technologies make international recruiting far more feasible than it was in the past. Thanks to the internet and modern workplace capabilities, you can make job vacancies known around the world, solicit resumes through the internet, and conduct interviews through video conferencing. And with new translation services and software, even language barriers are no longer the hurdle they once were.
Recruit Early
As many as half of all science and engineering bachelor’s degrees are awarded to women, but only one in seven engineers is a woman. This startling fact suggests that systemic obstacles are keeping qualified female STEM professionals from entering the workforce. One way to rectify that is to reach out to these recruits while they are still in college. Offer internship opportunities, sponsor competitions and conference, and make your presence known on college campuses. This not only helps you to diversify your workforce, it helps you to attract the nation’s top talent – before someone scoops them up!
Recruit Anonymously
A number of studies have shown a clear bias against women by hiring managers in scientific professions, even when the hiring manager is herself a woman. One way to overcome this unfortunate stigma is to evaluate resumes anonymously. Ask someone to remove the names, and then evaluate the resumes based only on the candidate’s skills, experiences, and test scores. More often than not, the candidate pool you choose to interview will have more women in it than normal.
Change Your Workplace
The reason you have struggled to diversify your scientific team might be because women and minorities simply don’t want to work for your company. Considering expanding the length of maternity leave, offering more expansive healthcare coverage, offering tuition reimbursement, and encouraging professional development opportunities. You can’t expect diverse candidates to come and work for you if your workplace does not welcome them.
If diversifying your workforce is a priority for you, consider streamlining the evolution by working with a recruiter. You can draw from a pool of qualified candidates that have the skills, experience, and demographic makeup you are looking for. Partner with the recruitment experts at Bayside Solutions, and get the help you need to build your ideal scientific team.
