Search for: All records

Institutions’ motivations for pursuing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) often center on the benefits to the organization, an argument known as the business case for diversity in which diverse teams are more creative, set high bars for research, and produce ideas that are more innovative than those produced by homogeneous groups. As the sole motivation for DEIJ efforts, the business case is flawed and does not address the harmful workplaces many marginalized scholars encounter. Institutions can make more progress towards diversifying the STEM workforce by acknowledging the ethical responsibilities for doing so and transitioning to an equity-centered approach. Emphasizing personal motivations to actively engage in DEIJ work resonates with individuals more, rather than engaging with DEIJ to benefit an institution’s goals. Two recent studies support this argument. The first is an alumni survey and focus groups of postdoctoral fellows in the Advanced Studies Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research to explore alumni efforts and motivations for engaging in DEIJ work. The second study surveyed attitudes towards DEIJ efforts among STEM graduate students at Colorado State University who took a course on social responsibility in science. Both studies show the motivations for scientists to support and get involved in these efforts and indicate that the business case is misaligned with the motivations of students and professionals in STEM. Understanding the attitudes and motivations that individuals have for DEIJ in STEM presents an opportunity for how institutions can best learn from and support these motivations for systemic change. 

Today’s data-driven world requires earth and environmental scientists to have skills at the intersection of domain and data science. These skills are imperative to harness information contained in a growing volume of complex data to solve the world's most pressing environmental challenges. Despite the importance of these skills, Earth and Environmental Data Science (EDS) training is not equally accessible, contributing to a lack of diversity in the field. This creates a critical need for EDS training opportunities designed specifically for underrepresented groups. In response, we designed the Earth Data Science Corps (EDSC) which couples a paid internship for undergraduate students with faculty training to build capacity to teach and learn EDS using Python at smaller Minority Serving Institutions. EDSC participants are further empowered to teach these skills at their home institutions which scales the program beyond the training lead by our team. Using a Rasch modeling approach, we found that participating in the EDSC program had a significant impact on learners’ comfort and confidence with technical and non-technical data science skills, as well as their science identity and sense of belonging in science, two critical aspects of recruiting and retaining members of underrepresented groups in STEM. 

Abstract To increase inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility in Antarctic science, we must build more positive and inclusive Antarctic field work environments. The International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) has engaged in efforts to contribute to that goal through a variety of activities since 2018, including creating an open-access ‘Field and Ship Best Practices’ guide, engaging in pre-field season team dynamics meetings, and surveying post-field season reflections and experiences. We report specific actions taken by ITGC and their outcomes. We found that strong and supported early career researchers brought new and important perspectives regarding strategies for transforming culture. We discovered that engaged and involved senior leadership was also critical for expanding participation and securing funding to support efforts. Pre-field discussions involving all field team members were particularly helpful for setting expectations, improving sense of belonging, describing field work best practices, and co-creating a positive work culture.