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HARVARD SYMPOSIUM:
Biology Scholars Program:
University of California, Berkeley
The Biology Scholars Program (BSP) at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, aims to help biology majors acquire the tools for academic and future career success. The program, funded by HHMI and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, began in 1988 and has 900 graduates. Of those students, 60 percent are URM students, 70 percent are women, and 80 percent are from low-income families and/or were the first in their family to attend college.
John Matsui, director of the BSP, said the program purposefully targets students who are underprepared to major in biology or who are struggling academically. Once in the program, students can choose to attend preparatory courses, courses on research and medical careers, professional seminars, academic workshops, and study groups. They also get individual counseling from program directors on their next career steps.
Believing that scientists who promote diversity should “hold our own feet to the fire,” Matsui did a controlled study of BSP’s success. From 13 years of data, he concluded that although students in the BSP program start college with an academic disadvantage, more BSP students graduate with a biology degree than students not participating in the program. Also, minority BSP students leave the university with a higher GPA than minority biology majors who do not participate in the program.
“We can still only conclude a correlation with success,” Matsui noted. “We don’t know why it works so well—perhaps we attract more motivated students.” He challenged the symposia participants to focus on the undervalued students with potential—like the ones who are succeeding in BSP. “I’m really concerned that we may not be fully tapping the potential talent that is out there” if programs only focus on the academic highfliers, he said.
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