scientific enterprise is biased even if scientific method is impartial
June 13, 2022 9:57 AM Subscribe
Responses to 10 common criticisms of anti-racism action in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine.
Criticism #4: “I only hire/award/cite based on merit. I do not need to consider race." It should be noted that the concept of “meritocracy” was introduced as satire by novelist Michael Dunlop Young, who believed that a society structured as a meritocracy would appear equitable, but ultimately serve to reinforce and perpetuate preexisting inequality.
Large national datasets have documented no differences between the proportions of white, Black, and Latinx students who enter college with a declared STEMM major [86]. However, Black and Latinx STEMM majors are much more likely to switch majors or drop out, demonstrating a clear issue of retention [95,96]. This pattern is not observed in the social sciences and humanities [95]. Furthermore, Black individuals are more likely than other racial groups to pursue careers unrelated to STEMM after earning their PhD in a STEMM field [97].
On average, Black students take out the largest loans to complete a bachelor’s degree compared with any other racial group, putting them at a financial disadvantage after graduation [24]. Black graduates are also more likely than any other demographic to be unemployed 1 year after the completion of their bachelor’s degree [24]. This is due in part to hiring discrimination
Criticism #4: “I only hire/award/cite based on merit. I do not need to consider race." It should be noted that the concept of “meritocracy” was introduced as satire by novelist Michael Dunlop Young, who believed that a society structured as a meritocracy would appear equitable, but ultimately serve to reinforce and perpetuate preexisting inequality.
Large national datasets have documented no differences between the proportions of white, Black, and Latinx students who enter college with a declared STEMM major [86]. However, Black and Latinx STEMM majors are much more likely to switch majors or drop out, demonstrating a clear issue of retention [95,96]. This pattern is not observed in the social sciences and humanities [95]. Furthermore, Black individuals are more likely than other racial groups to pursue careers unrelated to STEMM after earning their PhD in a STEMM field [97].
On average, Black students take out the largest loans to complete a bachelor’s degree compared with any other racial group, putting them at a financial disadvantage after graduation [24]. Black graduates are also more likely than any other demographic to be unemployed 1 year after the completion of their bachelor’s degree [24]. This is due in part to hiring discrimination
This is one of the rare times I just want to spam an article link to everybody. Maybe print out a thousand copies a week and hand them out like Chick tracts as I walk the streets.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 12:16 PM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Ignorantsavage at 12:16 PM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
I remember reading the biography of a Black Female scientist who grew up in the segregated south. She ultimately ended up in an integrated university and took a biology course where she was expected already know how to use a microscope. Her high school didn't have any lab equipment, so she just drew pictures of dust motes for her assignments until she finally got enough help to figure it out.
How many schools are there today where the lab equipment is broken or missing or substandard? And that's just one little thing that makes it harder if you're trying to take that STEM pathway.
posted by Alison at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
How many schools are there today where the lab equipment is broken or missing or substandard? And that's just one little thing that makes it harder if you're trying to take that STEM pathway.
posted by Alison at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2022 [13 favorites]
Beyond being a moral obligation, promoting diversity and inclusion directly benefits all of STEMM. Diversity fosters novel ideas, effective problem-solving, and creative solutions. Given a set of problems to solve, groups that are diverse in their demographic characteristics, ethnicities, and cultural identities outperform groups that are demographically homogeneous [143]. This is true in an academic context as well; a study of more than 1 million US doctoral recipients found that students from underrepresented groups produce higher rates of scientific novelty [144]. Another study of more than 9 million scientific papers found that the ethnic diversity of the authors strongly correlated with the impact of their scientific work [145]. Scientific advancement cannot reach its full potential without uplifting and incorporating the work of people who have historically been silenced.
This is so well done. I particularly like how they focus the answers/citations on the criticisms based on STEMM, but the conclusions can really apply in any organization/institution.
Forwarding to both my D&I team and my "Data nerd" team. Thanks for posting!
posted by Gorgik at 12:58 PM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is excellent, thank you so much for sharing.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:32 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nouvelle-personne at 12:32 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I remember reading the biography of a Black Female scientist who grew up in the segregated south. She ultimately ended up in an integrated university and took a biology course where she was expected already know how to use a microscope. Her high school didn't have any lab equipment, so she just drew pictures of dust motes for her assignments until she finally got enough help to figure it out.
I teach new college students how to use a microscope every semester in intro bio. Can confirm that this is still very, very real, even as we also have students who attended a fancy science charter high school that has nicer labs than we do.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:49 AM on June 14, 2022
I teach new college students how to use a microscope every semester in intro bio. Can confirm that this is still very, very real, even as we also have students who attended a fancy science charter high school that has nicer labs than we do.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:49 AM on June 14, 2022
Coming out of exile to say that I have mailed this to pretty much every campus and professional list where it seemed remotely appropriate. It is a really a very clear and succinct summation of many common issues (and their refutation).
One thing they didn't really address is the way many STEM departments seem to rely on international students and faculty to mask that they aren't great at recruiting, retaining, promoting, and/or graduating Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students and faculty from the institution's country (in my case and most of the authors', the US, but I expect the dynamic is similar in other countries).
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:10 PM on June 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
One thing they didn't really address is the way many STEM departments seem to rely on international students and faculty to mask that they aren't great at recruiting, retaining, promoting, and/or graduating Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students and faculty from the institution's country (in my case and most of the authors', the US, but I expect the dynamic is similar in other countries).
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:10 PM on June 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
To be clear -- I'm not saying that we should not have international students and faculty; that sort of nativist garbage has been waved around enough by awful people during the last 6 years. But departments are doing those scholars a disservice by using them as cover for weak recruitment of domestic students.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:52 PM on June 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:52 PM on June 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
More!
Understanding Differences in Underrepresented Minorities and First-Generation Student Perceptions in the Introductory Biology Classroom (2021 article in the Journal of Microbiology & Biological Education.
Understanding Differences in Underrepresented Minorities and First-Generation Student Perceptions in the Introductory Biology Classroom (2021 article in the Journal of Microbiology & Biological Education.
We selected Biology 101, the first course students take in biology, for several reasons. Introductory biology is a “gateway” course usually required for students to major in many STEM disciplines as well as most health care-related professional programs. At the institutions where we conducted our research, about 40% of all first-year students take Biology 101 during their first semester. Much of STEM attrition occurs during or at the end of the introductory course sequence and can be linked to poor performance in the introductory courses (18, 40). A better understanding of URM [under-represented minority] and FG [first generation to go to college] students’ experiences in Biology 101 could lead to changes that address structural and programmatic issues negatively impacting URM and FG students’ experiences and academic outcomes.posted by spamandkimchi at 9:46 AM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
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I learned about the UN's Declaration on Principles of Tolerance from this article, which I had not known about. PDF link to the Declaration.
posted by papayaninja at 11:37 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]