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There has been a great deal of research published on the lower success rates of women and underrepresented (UR) students in Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related (STEM) occupations. For biomedical scientists in particular, many of the obstacles to success occur during graduate training and may be related, at least in part, to certain demographic characteristics (i.e. gender or ethnicity). In particular, women and UR students may be positioned disproportionately into labs with fewer resources and less productive faculty advisors. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The present study examines the distribution of biomedical science graduate students into research laboratories, based on the gender and ethnicity of both students and faculty advisors. This is archival data that were collected via publicly available information on the internet.

Results indicate that female (vs male) students and UR (vs white and Asian) students are paired with advisors who are less successful (i.e. fewer publications, lower h-indices). Additionally, the data show patterns of homophily in that female (vs male) and white and Asian (vs UR) students are more likely to be paired with female and white and Asian advisors, respectively.

This research uses real-world, archival data to demonstrate that phenomena suggested in previous literature (e.g. less favorable pairings for female and UR students, homophilic pairings) occurs with this specific population.

This paper aims to highlight interventions that promote female (and male) faculty’s ability to balance work-family issues at a specific academic institution, in response to a demand in the literature that examines the intersection between research and implementation of organizational policies within a university setting.

Using a case study framework, the researchers present qualitative experiences and quantitative data to evaluate the successful application of a work-family balance and organizational climate improvement initiative within an academic setting.

By highlighting specific examples of work-family and climate initiatives at the individual, organization, and community levels, this case study presents several ways in which academic institutions specifically, and organizations generally, can implement policies that make a difference.

Successful implementation of work-family balance and family-friendly organizational policies can positively impact employees.

Our goal is to highlight and provide data showing a specific example of how female (and male) faculty members’ experiences can be (and have been) improved in a prototype institution.

This study aims to foster work-family balance goals by evaluating the utility of two types of video-based realistic job previews on creating accurate expectations among future academics.

The first realistic job preview divulged information specific to jobs in academia. The second divulged work-family balance information specific to academia. Participants viewed one of the two realistic job preview conditions or a third control condition in which they did not watch a realistic job preview. Participants then indicated their knowledge about job and work-family characteristics in academia and their changing expectations.

Results supported both types of realistic job previews as a way to communicate information about academia, and individuals also expressed changing their own expectations as a result of viewing the realistic job previews.

This study implemented a classic tool – the realistic job preview – to communicate work-family balance information in a new and dynamic way.