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COMMUNITY:
Mass Media Article

Without Inclusion, Diversity Initiatives May Not Be Enough

September 15, 2017 | Informal/Formal Connections
Diversity among scientists can foster better science, yet engaging and retaining a diversity of students and researchers in science has been difficult. Actions that promote diversity are well defined, organizations are increasingly focused on diversity, and many institutions are developing initiatives to recruit and enroll students from underrepresented minority (URM) groups (racial, ethnic, gender, sexual identity, or persons with disabilities). Yet representation of URM groups in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields lag behind demographics in society at large, and many URM students feel unwelcome in academic departments and in scientific fields. Why is progress so limited? We see a widespread and under-acknowledged disconnect between initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in academic and professional institutions and the experience of URM students (including many of us authors). We argue that failure to grasp foundations of this disconnect is the crux of why diversity initiatives fail to reach the students that they were made to recruit. We believe that addressing this will resonate with other individuals and groups and help advance discussion in the scientific community.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Chandler Puritty
    Author
    University of California–San Diego
  • Lynette R. Strickland
    Author
    University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
  • Eanas Alia
    Author
    North Carolina State University
  • Benjamin Blonder
    Author
    University of Oxford
  • Emily Klein
    Author
    Farallon Institute
  • Michael T. Kohl
    Author
    Utah State University
  • Earyn McGee
    Author
    Howard University
  • Maclovia Quintana
    Author
    Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
  • Robyn E. Ridley
    Author
    University of California–San Diego
  • Beth Tellman
    Author
    Arizona State University
  • Leah R. Gerber
    Author
    Arizona State University
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.1126/science.aai9054
    Publication Name: Science
    Volume: 357
    Number: 6356
    Page Number: 1101-1102
    Resource Type: Reference Materials
    Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
    Audience: Undergraduate/Graduate Students | Administration/Leadership/Policymakers | Educators/Teachers | Scientists | Learning Researchers
    Environment Type: Higher Education Programs
    Access and Inclusion: Ethnic/Racial | Women and Girls | LGBTQIA | People with Disabilities

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