Elitist science is harmful to us all 

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• Our knowledge of the world is shaped by an elite minority of the population. Historically, and in current times, this dictates what scientific problems we take on and who ultimately benefits (and who is harmed). Check out: ​​​

  • Science must be for everyone.​

  • The hidden work created by artificial intelligence programs

  • Public Value Science

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• In extreme cases, elite scientists have taken advantage of minority populations, even experimenting on those unwilling or unable to consent. Acknowledging and teaching about these events is critical for preventing future atrocities, as is making sure these groups have a voice in the scientific community.​

  • Giving full justice to the number and extent of these atrocities would take literal volumes, but some examples from the US include:

    • The infamous Tuskegee syphilis study 

    • Forced sterilizations on ethnic minorities and those suffering from mental illness, which in the US, still occurred as late as the 1970s.

    • Often fatal experiments performed on African American children unable to give consent at the "Hospital for the Negro Insane" in Baltimore through the 1950s.

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• Inaccessible science and the atrocities mentioned above fuel mistrust and anti-science sentiment, impacting the health and safety of entire communities. More: 

  • ​More than Tuskegee: Understanding Mistrust about Research Participation

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Even though science is becoming more diverse, we have a long way to go. 

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• The elitism of science is far from being ancient history: 

  • Today, women and minority groups in STEM still make less money for the same jobs and are 3 to 5 times more likely to experience discrimination in STEM than white colleagues. 

  • As recently as the past few years, prominent scientists including Richard Herrnstein and James Watson have argued that races are genetically different and that people of color are less intelligent because of their biology. 
     

• Although minority groups are becoming more represented in early stages of STEM careers, these individuals continue to leave STEM at higher rates as they continue their careers- the so-called "leaky pipeline." ​

  • Researchers from minority ethnic groups are 10x less likely to sustain careers in academic science. 

  • Women are twice as likely to leave STEM to start a family as men.
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• Many minority groups still have disproportionately low representation in the sciences. This includes:

  • ​Rural and small town students ​
  • Students with disabilities 
  • Female and female-identifying individuals 
  • Members of the LGBTQ+ community
  • Ethnic minorities
     

• Many of these same minority groups, including Hispanic and Black Americans, find STEM fields unwelcoming and experience continued discrimination. ​
   

• While representation for minority groups is getting somewhat better, some fields, including computer science and engineering, see no improvement or decreasing representation. ​

Great discoveries and advancements are fueled by diverse viewpoints and inclusion

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• Scientists are only human: we have implicit and explicit biases that influence how we interpret the world around us. The best way to keep these biases in check is to include many diverse viewpoints.
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• Even though it might seem like scientific discoveries occur in huge leaps thanks to one incredible individual, most of our knowledge comes from many small, individual contributions from generations of scientists and their different viewpoints. Every voice is important.
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• By all metrics, diverse groups perform better.
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• Many fields have seen incredible recent advances thanks to a formally marginalized group joining the conversation and turning the way of looking at a problem upside down. For example: 

  • The idea of "man the hunter" (aka that we owe our large brains to the calories our ancestors got from the meat men hunted) was overturned when women entered the male-dominated field in the late 1960s. 

  • Temple Grandin revolutionized animal behavior studies and the treatment of animals, especially cattle and other animals raised for meat. These changes were inspired by Grandin's own experience with severe autism, including ways she was able to calm herself down. 

  • Indigenous researchers, including wildlife biologist Flo Gardipee and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, pioneered non-invasive methods for sampling animal DNA and using traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples to prevent environmental degradation.

    • Check out this excerpt from Dr. Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass, on the challenges and rewards of tackling scientific problems from a new angle. 

  • Ralph William Braun invented and engineered the first motorized wheelchairs, which he initially used to keep up with colleagues at his job.
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Mentoring prevents exclusion from science by encouraging individuals on a personal level

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• It might seem like a no-brainer, but research backs up the fact that being mentored by individuals with similar identities increases retention in STEM, fosters a sense of belonging, and helps mentees find relevant guidance and advice. 
   

• Check out:

  • ​Stats on Hispanic and Black Americans' perceptions on STEM and the importance of peer mentoring from Pew Research Center.​
     

  • Female peer mentors early in college increase women’s positive academic experiences and retention in engineering
     

  • "Looking at Myself in the Future": how mentoring shapes scientific identity for STEM students from underrepresented groups
     

  • We need to address ableism in science