Diversity & Inclusion for Excellence in Science- ICAR 2023
“In the UK , the current efforts towards gender balance need to be spread to other minority groups”
“In the US, DEI is increasingly important, including in academia. But a lot of the work falls on Black & Indigenous people who are left out of the conversations. ”
“In Japan, we are late to work on DEI. There is some effort at individual places, but we need to do it more on nationwide level.”
“LATAM is very politically volatile but recently, some social movements have started to make changes in perceptions. I am hopeful that the DEI efforts will stay- at least in Argentina, where some opportunities have been established- now we have to fight to keep them.”
“Taking specific actions to promote inclusion are important- in addition to talking and sharing.”
“We started a series of seminars to talk about the story of person’s life. Not so much about science. This gives space to hear people’s stories, and helps people connect more.”
“DEI should be something that all faculty are evaluated on- regardless of whether they support it or not. Coming from the top makes it easier.”
“Many DEI projects are disconnected from the people they’re supposed to support. We should find more authentic ways to connect people.”
~ 150 people participated in the Diversity & Inclusion for Equity in Science panel organized by Joanna Friesner (North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee & DiversifyPlantSci, USA), Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso (Leeds University & Black in Plant Science Network, UK) and Kanako Bessho-Uehara (Tohoku University, Japan) on June 8 at ICAR 2023-Japan. As exciting as the great turnout was how engaged the audience was. Some organizers & panelists also represented networks & organizations engaged in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) in science.
Moderator: Keiko Torii (HHMI/UT Austin, USA; Nagoya University, Japan)
Panelists: Yoselin & Kanako, Terri Long (NCSU & Ai2EAR, USA), Keith Slotkin (DDPSC, University of Missouri, NAASC, USA), Gabriela Auge (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET) & ARGNET, Argentina), Andrea Ramirez (Stanford, USA), & Hironaka Tsukagoshi (Meijo University, Japan)
“Think globally. Understand our own biases & systemic biases. Understand local constraints (e.g., the government). Finally- understand that we are ALL human.”
Below is a summary of the Panel Discussion
(1) How might people in your country define diversity, and how is DEI viewed in your country?
Panel:
Yoselin: In the UK, DEI work has mostly been aimed at improving the number of women in academia with some effort for LGBTQ and disabled people. The main challenge is to spread the effort to everyone and apply the effort for gender balance to other minority groups.
Kanako: DEI in Japan is slower to happen, partly because most people are Japanese so many haven't thought about DEI. Academic organizations & the government try to push some DEI, but we need to do more, nationwide.
Andrea: In the US, DEI becoming increasingly important overall, and in academia. However, a lot of the work is still falling on Black and Indigenous people to do, and they are left out the conversations on how to improve DEI.
(2) In light of political environments, how do you see DEI efforts evolving in your country over the next 2-5 years?
Panel:
Keith: The US political climate is split in two: one world that is accepting and pushing DEIB, and another that is very recalcitrant to this. The US executive branch controls a lot of what our country does, and so a lot will hinge on what happens in fall, 2024 [when the next US President is elected].
Terri: I'm alarmed and quite scared about DEI in the US. A lot of DEI efforts put forth during Covid are being reversed, and I'm nervous of the rollback of DEI efforts at our institutions. Those of us that are invested in this need to ask the right questions, need to vote, and we need to be in the room to argue for DEI.
Gaby: Latin America is very politically volatile and much depends on the government. It's unusual for governments to support DEI very much. Recently, many social movements have started to change perceptions. I am hopeful that these DEI efforts will stay- at least in Argentina- where some opportunities have been established and must fight to keep them.
(3) What can people do, that are in the majority, to engage & change & inspire "majority" people to take action?
Panel:
Keith: To create change: firstly- there's a lot of people in positions of power that feel that DEIB efforts are against them, or they feel alienated. It's important to understand this and bring them in, rather than make them feel like this is antagonistic to them. We can create situations where they understand the issues and this best comes from stories. To help others understand diverse perspectives- and value them- we need to keep our stories and where we come from to the forefront and convey this to others. The second thing to realize is that DEIB work is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable- and this is ok- but they may not want to take part in certain activities if they don't feel like they bring diversity. Bring them other outlets to support DEIB- such as help fund a workshop or help write a white paper about DEIB. Provide some other valuable actions for them to do.
Hiro: People in the majority should keep saying their opinions [about the value of DEI] especially if you can withstand the criticism. We need to say our opinions to support DEI.
Keiko: if you push DEI, some people feel they aren't part of these efforts (i.e., they're not a woman or Black)- or they may feel threatened in their career. If you find yourself in leadership, you have more power to support DEI and you should.
Terri: I recently asked a colleague "how can we get people in power to help?" Her reply was "sometimes you just can't- some people aren't going to care." So maybe we should focus our efforts on those that are willing to participate- and who are on the fence but open to learning more.
Kanako: Communication is very important in the lab, where often there are groups of people from the same countries that might talk with each other more often. One example is her group leader that has people in the lab rotate talking to each other for 30 minutes in weekly sessions.
Keith: NSF [the main US fundamental research] funding agency has a "Broader Impacts" mandate that your research must make societal change. For basic research this often comes across as a DEIB project, and as the grant-writer, you try as hard as you can get funded, and so there is good incentive to propose a good DEIB project. By doing these projects you learn much more about DEIB, its value, and become invested in its success.
Yoselin: I try to create safe spaces that colleagues can talk to me in confidence. Also- we must highlight how diverse community can benefit innovation. This is somewhat difficult to prove with numbers, but there are numbers that demonstrate this. We can't address any of these sustainable development goals without having diverse involvement.
[Joanna’s note: you can google "diversity for science" and find many articles; here's one]
Audience Discussion
For a long time, I thought that all biases were personal, and only in the last few years did I start to realize that there's systemic bias. Talking to people about systemic biases can diffuse the issue of people feeling defensive. About implicit bias- we all have a lot of our own learning we need to do; some resources for this include the free 6 week online Inclusive STEM teaching course for higher education; the next session runs Oct 1- Nov 21 and the recent US National Academies report on how to address systemic bias in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) higher education and workforce. Everyone should give the report to your Deans and department chairs and have a journal club about it.
[in my society] we are now providing mentors to minority attendees so they can feel more comfortable at the conference.
We must take specific actions to promote inclusion. For example- her PhD program recognized their recruitment process failed to bring in the diversity of applicants they wanted. They developed a program to provide mentorship to Black applicants and this has helped increase in the program.
I'm from Latin America originally, but now am in the US. At my university, we started a seminar series where instead of science, the speakers talk about their story- where they were born, their background, etc. This provides space to hear people's stories and is helping people connect more.
[Joanna's note: NAASC recently started a series called "My Plant Biology Story" which is precisely this- scientists tell their story about their life, focusing less on their science and more on what and who motivated, inspired, and supported them along their path. You can find recorded stories here.]
Sometimes DEI efforts are too slow and only happen by those that already think about them. Top-down efforts make it easier, such as evaluating ALL faculty on DEI activities, regardless of whether they personally support them or not.
Many common DEI activities- such as taking a DEI workshop- are disconnected from the people they intend to support. We should find more natural ways to get people in rooms together- across disciplines- cultures- etc.
[as a Black African working now in Europe] My message is to minorities: sometimes people really don't know how to act around you. It's important to be open and approachable; what has worked for me is to invite colleagues to my house for dinner. This allows us to build relationships.
“The US political climate is split about 50:50 right now with those that support DEIB and those that do not. A lot will come down to who is elected President in fall 2024, since so much depends on our government.”
“The challenge for the DEI effort is how to engage those who are outside of this room.”
“I’m alarmed- A lot of efforts in the US put forth during Covid are being reversed. I’m nervous about the rollback of DEI efforts at our institutions. We, who are invested in this- need to ask the right questions- we need to vote- we need to be in the room to argue for DEI.”
“DEI efforts are always pushed by those that are trying to get equity- when what we need is the “majority” to do the work. ”
“[To bring in the majority] there’s a lot of people in power that feel that DEIB is against them or they feel alienated. It’s important to understand that and bring them in. What helps in understanding is sharing our stories; we need to share our stories and where we come from.”
“Some people just aren’t going to care. We can focus our efforts on those that are willing and those who are on the fence.”
“Our main funder (NSF)- has a mandate for Broader Impacts- this often is a DEIB project. By doing these activities, we can learn much more about DEIB.”
“I long I thought that biases were only personal but I’ve come to realize there’s systemic bias. Talking to people about these systemic biases can diffuse people feeling defensive because it’s less personal.”