Dr. Maitreyi Das’s Statement on Fostering a Supportive Academic Environment

I was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and moved to the United States as a post-doctoral associate. Coming from an upper-middle-class family, I had early exposure to science and higher education. After moving to the U.S., I have made a conscious effort to understand and address barriers that limit access and success in academia.

In my experience, many efforts focus on bringing in students and trainees from different backgrounds but do not always ensure that they have the support needed to thrive. My approach goes beyond increasing representation—I strive to create an environment where all individuals feel valued, supported, and empowered, both in the classroom and in the lab. I see these efforts as essential not only for those who have historically faced obstacles but also for educating those who may not have encountered such challenges firsthand.

As a female scientist of color and an immigrant, I bring a unique perspective to the academic community and serve as a mentor for students from various backgrounds. I take this responsibility seriously and work to create a welcoming and safe space where students and trainees—regardless of race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, or nationality—can develop and succeed. My lab currently includes individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, and I am committed to learning and refining my approach to fostering a supportive and fair academic setting. Below, I have outlined some of the strategies and practices I use to promote a supportive learning environment in my lab and classroom.

Mentoring

1. I encourage students from less privileged backgrounds to apply for research opportunities in my lab. Time and again this strategy has worked for me and I have discovered some exceptionally talented students.
2. I run my lab with strict adherence to an environment of respect, compassion, and empathy for all my trainees. Trainees are made aware at the very onset that hateful and discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated in the lab.
3. Trainees are encouraged to reach out and ask for help whenever needed. This is only possible when I as a PI work on gaining their trust. I work on educating myself about the challenges and struggles faced by minoritized groups so I can help them better. I feel strongly that I have to be proactive in my approach. Educating myself allows me to identify potential challenges for trainees and help them accordingly.
4. Every trainee must have multiple mentors. I make sure to reach out to scientists from different backgrounds and introduce them to my trainees. This allows the trainees to reach PIs outside the lab with different experiences and perspectives than me.  
5. In my grants, I always budget for undergraduate student stipends to perform research in the lab so that they can avoid having to do multiple jobs to pay for college.
6. Each student is unique with their strengths and weaknesses. I pay close attention to the needs of the students so that I can tailor my mentoring style accordingly. The goal here is to help the students thrive.
7. I encourage students to work on their Individual Development plans (IDPs). This helps the student and me to keep track of their goals, their progress, and identify areas that need special attention.
8. I provide hands-on training for all the research trainees in the lab, especially in the first two years. Since I do bench work in the lab, students can approach me anytime with questions and doubts. This makes for a better experience for the beginning students as they feel more confident in their research activities.
9. In the first couple of years in the lab, I help students design experiments and plan their projects. The goal here is that as the student near the end of their degree, they will be independent researchers.
10. I provide personalized training with writing manuscripts and grants. Science writing is not taught in college and most students do not have any insight into how to write scientific papers. I work with students closely, by not only editing their documents but providing detailed explanations for all my suggested edits. Students are encouraged to think about the best ways to present their data and the precise language that will enable proper comprehension by the reader.
11. Students are trained to hone their communication skills. They get multiple opportunities to present their research through posters and oral presentations at meetings. I provide detailed training on the best practices for presentations.
12. Networking is an important aspect of doing science. Science is a team endeavor after all. I provide opportunities for networking to my students through meetings and seminars. I also train them on how to effectively network in academia.
13. I regularly participate in different outreach activities in the University and the community and encourage my graduate students to do the same.

In the Classroom     

1. I recognize that students come from diverse backgrounds with different levels of preparedness. I structure my lectures keeping this in mind and provide additional help to students whenever necessary.
2. I make every effort to keep the cost of learning in my class as low as possible and avoid the use of expensive in-class tools/technologies.
3. Underprivileged students are often less interactive in class and hesitate to take advantage of all the learning opportunities due to their past experiences. I make every effort to be cognizant of these issues and reach out to students who appear to be struggling in class and provide help whenever possible.
4. I teach science in an inclusive manner where I emphasize the research contributions of women and people of color. Textbooks often ignore these contributions and do not highlight these scientists. A simple image with the contributions listed on a slide in a lecture goes a long way in helping all students see the contributions of scientists from all backgrounds.
5. I design the curriculum and exams to ensure students of all backgrounds are evaluated fairly. The exams will be designed to test the student’s strengths and basic understanding of scientific concepts.
6. I take advantage of the fact that I teach molecular and cellular biology to undergraduates. This allows me to include descriptions in my curriculum of how science refutes false ideas such as climate change denial, vaccine denial, anti-GMO, eugenics, and race and gender as biological constructs.