SF BUILD is a project funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH Funded Workforce. SF BUILD activities are grounded in the Signaling Affirmation for Equity (SAFE) Model that was developed for the successful NIH grant application. Through its implementation, we focus on students, faculty, and institutional practices to create change that will transform teaching and research environments and thereby enhance the diversity of the biomedical research workforce.
Our Mission
To overcome these limitations, the mission of SF BUILD is to enhance the diversity of the biomedical research workforce by transforming the teaching and research environments at SF State. We create engaging and supportive spaces where students and faculty can safely represent different backgrounds and perspectives. Additionally, in partnership with UC San Francisco (UCSF), students and faculty receive training and mentoring to make significant contributions to biomedical research by asking innovative questions that are relevant to local communities.
Why is SF BUILD important?
- Limited diversity within the biomedical research workforce contributes to health disparities. We believe that enhancing the diversity of the biomedical research workforce holds promise for both advancing science and improving the health of the entire nation.
- SF BUILD realizes that Stereotype Threat (ST) is one reason that some students end up exiting the sciences. ST occurs when individuals experience worry about the possibility of confirming a negative stereotype about their gender and/or ethnicity. These concerns have been documented to lead to underperformance in science and math classes and even to early exit from the biomedical research field. To reduce ST and support students, the SF BUILD approach is to Signal Safety and use Communal Goal Affirmation to engage, sustain, and enable students at SF State to be successful in their path to an NIH-funded career.
Visit here to hear Dr. Claude Steele (on the right) speak about Stereotype Threat.
SF BUILD: Creating Agents of Change in STEM
Learn More About SF BUILD
