Harriot College Doctoral Programs Create Diverse Workforce

East Carolina University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, outlined in the university mission and strategic plan, states that we “prepare students with the knowledge, skills and values to succeed in a global, multicultural society,” and that “we will reflect a global workplace and society by diversifying our faculty, staff and students.”

Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences doctoral programs and partnerships embody the university’s goal of inclusion, while also providing students with mentorship and interdisciplinary research opportunities that prepare them for their futures.

The mission of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Biology, Biomedicine, and Chemistry (IDPBBC), housed within Harriot College, is to promote student creativity and excellence via the acquisition, interpretation and synthesis of scientific information through three scientific concentrations: biology, biomedicine and chemistry. Students pursue individual interests in the context of a structured but flexible program of classroom instruction, theoretical or empirical research, professional development experience and a doctoral dissertation. Students in the program often come from programs in biology, chemistry and the biomedical sciences.

“Trainees are conducting research that requires a strong foundation in disciplinary knowledge and approaches, but oftentimes research topics also require additional skills and knowledge outside the discipline. The program provides a flexible curriculum that can be tailored to a trainee’s research interests and career pathway,” said Dr. Ariane Peralta, program director and associate professor of biology. “Trainees apply existing approaches, or collaboratively develop new approaches, to address complex knowledge gaps and pressing issues in biological, chemical and biomedical sciences. This type of graduate training provides early career researchers with a strong foundation to work with collaborators (within and outside of academia) and communities at the regional, national or international settings.”

The IDPBBC also works in conjunction with students and faculty researchers from the Integrated Coastal Sciences (ICS) Ph.D. Program, previously known as the CRM PhD.

The ICS provides a unique, integrated and multidisciplinary research-intensive approach to coastal problems being faced globally, such as climate change, hypoxia, shoreline erosion and water availability and quality. This research emphasizes links between natural, social, economic and health sciences. Students who receive degrees from Harriot College’s program in maritime studies; and departments of anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, geography, geological sciences, and history may transition into the program.

“The scientific community at large has concluded that such complex global problems require interdisciplinary teams to solve them. Students learn to integrate disciplines and conduct ‘team science,’ a unique type of active interdisciplinary training,” said Dr. Siddhartha Mitra, professor of geology and director of the program.

This November, the IDPBBC and ICS held an online event for prospective students to learn more about the programs and explore current research projects they may want to participate in next fall. Research opportunities include working with biologist Dr. Erin Field on increasing the resiliency of municipal wastewater treatment methods; performing biochemistry and quantum biology research with chemistry professor Dr. Adam Offenbacher; or surveying submerged WWII aircraft and shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean under the direction of Dr. Jennifer McKinnon, associate professor and chair of history and maritime archaeologist. More examples are available online and students may apply for the doctoral programs by January 15, 2022, through the ECU Graduate School.

Cross-collaborative research and mentorship is prevalent in the college’s doctoral program in Biomedical Physics, which prepares scientists who can apply the tools and concepts of physics to solve biological and medical problems. This interdisciplinary program combines physics with problems in biology and medicine and includes joint research and mentoring between Harriot College’s Department of Physics and the Brody School of Medicine’s Department of Radiation Oncology.

While interdisciplinary research and collaboration are important in the college’s doctoral programs, so are diversity, equity and inclusion, and broadening the topics and course work explored to attract new students. Examples of this are present in the doctoral programs offered in English and psychology.

In the PhD in Rhetoric, Writing and Professional Communication degree program, “We have made an effort to shift our recruitment practices so that we reach a more diverse audience, particularly in terms of race and ethnicity. We have also worked consciously to reduce implicit bias in the application process,” said Dr. Erin Frost, PhD program coordinator and associate professor of English.

She said they have designed their processes with many checks (formal and informal) “to help students for whom the academy may present challenges due to structural racism, sexism, ableism or just opaque ways of doing things.”

Over the years, the program has recruited and enrolled more diverse students, and now, more than 70 percent of current students are members of at least one marginalized group. Today, Frost said the program is focused on racial and ethnic diversity in the faculty because the faculty do not reflect the demographics of the region, or how the department wants their field to look.

“We are working to hire people of color so that our students can see themselves reflected in the faculty,” said Frost. “We are also working to make the program more family-friendly, so that non-traditionally aged students are more likely to consider our program.”

Diversity, equity and inclusion also play a part in the activities and goals of the Health Psychology doctoral program. The program offers students three unique concentrations — clinical health psychology, occupational health psychology and pediatric school psychology — that are designed to provide the knowledge, skills and judgment needed to become active contributors at the highest levels of research, teaching and service.

Professors in the program are committed to a training process that ensures graduate students develop and adopt a multicultural framework in their professional life. They state that developing knowledge, skills and attitudes to work effectively with a diverse public who embody intersecting identities (including differing attitudes, beliefs and values) is a lifelong process, and therefore, multicultural training is provided across the coursework and through invited speakers, workshops and research presentations.

In addition, the program plays an active role in increasing the diversity of the graduate psychology applicant pool by hosting an annual Graduate Psychology Diversity Pipeline event.

Established in 2015 by Dr. Lisa Campbell, associate professor of clinical health psychology, the event makes students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups aware of the psychology graduate program at ECU, discusses tips on how to be competitive for admission, and encourages students to consider ECU for their doctoral training when they are ready to apply.

“When the event began, we considered enrollment in our program to be a long-term outcome, given our focus on undergraduates who often find they need to gain more post-baccalaureate research experience to be competitive,” Campbell said.

In 2017, the program enrolled its first pipeline event participant, and to date, three additional individuals have been recruited into the clinical health and pediatric school psychology concentrations of the doctoral program.

“A diverse student body is one of the hallmarks of a high-quality graduate education in health psychology,” Campbell said. “By showcasing our training programs and building interest in the profession as a whole, we are working toward having a steady stream of competitive applicants to keep our training programs strong and our profession relevant in an increasingly diverse society.”