Summary

This initiative promotes workforce diversity within the biomedical and behavioral sciences and other STEM fields through collaborative efforts with the non-profit organization Understanding Interventions. The collaboration as resulted in the development of several proposals to NIH and NSF, the development of a prototype for a web portal containing various resources for researchers, diversity program staff, program evaluators and other stakeholders.

Understanding Interventions Index

Between 2014 and 2017, DRPP researchers held a subaward from Understanding Interventions (housed at Long island University), to plan, develop, and implement a prototype for the UI Index. The UI Index was envisions as an online searchable database of publications related to STEM workforce diversity. Working with Understanding Interventions leaders and colleagues at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, DRPP refined the initial vision for the UI Index.

DRPP researchers expanded the types of resources available within the UI Index beyond a searchable database of peer-reviewed articles. After the initial creation of this database, the UI Index developers realized that the UI community needed to access information through multiple entry points. DRPP has primarily been responsible for the substantive content available while UCCS has developed the databases and published the seven resources on the UI Index web portal:

The UI Index article database 

The UI Index article database is a searchable resource containing a representative, non-exhaustive, and expanding set of published articles that are relevant to interventions that diversify science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The UI Index journal list. The UI Journal List contains a representative, non-exhaustive, and expanding list of journals that have published articles relevant to interventions that diversify science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The UI Journal List is also searchable, enabling users to locate journals that may contain articles of interest or journals in which the user’s own research might be published.

The UI Index reports. UI Reports is a searchable database containing a representative, non-exhaustive, and expanding list of reports relevant to interventions that diversify STEM fields.

The UI index evaluation measures. UI Evaluation Measures is a searchable database containing a representative, non-exhaustive, and expanding set of articles pertaining to measures (i.e., scales, instruments) of concepts of interest (e.g., self-efficacy, academic identity, resilience, etc.) to researchers, evaluators, and intervention program staff.

The UI Index of articles with 50+ citations. The UI Articles with 50+ citations consists of a searchable database containing citations obtained from different academic databases. The articles report on studies of STEM and biomedical/behavioral science interventions, programs, and enrichment activities designed to diversify these fields.

The UI Index NIH funded research on interventions. Of special note above is NIH-funded Research on Interventions, is a resource containing information on the research programs that have been funded by the NIH-NIGMS mechanisms related to research on interventions. The funding mechanisms covered by the resource are: a) Research on Interventions that Promote Research Careers; b) Research to Understand and Inform Interventions that Promote the Research Careers of Students in Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences; and c) the ARRA funded Pathfinder Award to Promote Diversity in the Scientific Workforce.

The UI Index NSF Broadening Participation: The NSF Broadening Participation resource contains information on the research programs that have been funded by NSF that can be categorized under its Broadening Participation initiatives. The funding mechanisms covered by this resource include: a) AGEP; b) ADVANCE; c) LSAMP; d) STEP; e) HPCU-UP; f) Tribal Colleges; g) INCLUDES; h) BPE; i) RISE; j) CREST; k) TCUP among others.