[Grad-postdoc-assn] A Must-Read: Steps to counteract systemic bias right now

[Valerie Sloan]

Good morning,

I thought I would share this excellent article in EOS
<https://eos.org/articles/seven-ways-pis-can-counteract-systematic-bias-right-now>
with
you. Our colleague Erika Marín-Spiotta
<https://geography.wisc.edu/profile.php?p=22>, a biogeochemist at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison, served as an independent reviewer of the
work, and said it’s “a must-read for those leading lab, classroom and field
activities and who therefore have the responsibility to build and ensure
safe, equitable, just, and inclusive environments.”
Seven Ways PIs Can Counteract Systematic Bias Right Now

Principal investigators are the monarchs of their science kingdoms. Here
are seven things they can do for the betterment of the realm—ehrm, lab group

By Jenessa Duncombe <https://eos.org/author/j-duncombe>  3 hours ago

The geosciences have a problem with diversity, equity, and inclusion. In
the past 40 years, the number of racial and ethnic minorities in the
field hasn’t
risen <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0116-6>, and the
geosciences are the least racially diverse field in STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics).

When a worldwide call for racial justice in 2020 resonated into the halls,
labs, and fields
<https://eos.org/articles/geoscience-commits-to-racial-justice-now-weve-got-work-to-do>
of
geoscientists, postdoc Christine Y. Chen <https://people.llnl.gov/chen127> saw
departments discussing strategic plans and systematic changes. “But there
was also so much low-hanging fruit that could be implemented immediately to
reduce harm happening to our most marginalized community members right now.”

Chen wrote a practical guide
<https://www.essoar.org/doi/10.1002/essoar.10506277.1> to be published in *AGU
Advances* for principal investigators (PIs) to immediately enact change.
The paper discusses actions leaders can take in the classroom, field, and
lab and applies to any leader in science, including teaching assistants,
lab technicians, and field organizers. These actions focus on how
individuals can enact change in their spheres of influence.

Erika Marín-Spiotta <https://geography.wisc.edu/profile.php?p=22>, a
biogeochemist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who served as an
independent reviewer of the work, said it’s “a must-read for those leading
lab, classroom and field activities and who therefore have the
responsibility to build and ensure safe, equitable, just, and inclusive
environments.”

Here are seven takeaways from the paper.
1. Normalize talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion in scientific
settings.

“I had to hide the fact that I was doing any kind of work related to
diversity, equity, and inclusion
<https://eos.org/articles/teaching-geoscience-history-in-context> because
it was seen as an activity that would take away from my primary science,”
said Chen of her past research.

“That discomfort is part of the growth.”PIs can encourage discourse in
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by talking openly about their own
work in that space or articles they read about DEI
<https://eos.org/topics/diversity-equity-inclusion>. They can also organize
a weekly seminar, like coauthor and assistant professor Emily H. G.
Cooperdock <https://earth.usc.edu/cooperdock/> has done at the University
of Southern California.

Scared to talk about it? Know that you’re not alone. “It’s not like there’s
a group of us for whom it is not uncomfortable,” said Cooperdock. “That
discomfort is part of the growth.”

Training in bystander intervention and conflict mitigation can help too.
2. Write fair and balanced reference letters.

“Faculty and PIs have the power to change the trajectory of their trainee’s
career path.”Follow guides for reducing gender bias
<https://csw.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/avoiding_gender_bias_in_letter_of_reference_writing.pdf>
 and racial bias
<https://www.montana.edu/lachowieclab/dei/ref_letter_racial_bias.html> when
writing reference letters. And remember to watch for biased language when
reading reference letters, too.

“There are actual social science studies to support that there are racial
and gender bias introduced into letter writing,” Chen explained. It’s “one
specific example of where faculty and PIs have the power to change the
trajectory of their trainee’s career path.”
3. Design your class field trips to be universally accessible.

Create spaces for geoscientists with disabilities
<https://eos.org/opinions/creating-spaces-for-geoscientists-with-disabilities-to-thrive>
in
class field trips. COVID-19 was a crash course in flexible course design
<https://eos.org/features/accessibility-and-fieldwork-in-the-time-of-coronavirus>,
and the International Association for Geoscience Diversity
<https://theiagd.org/> is a great resource to keep the juices flowing.

Remember financial barriers, too.

Offer a gear-sharing locker so that first timers in the field can afford
it. Consider dedicating a lecture to field basics: clothing, layering,
tents, bathrooms, menstruation, hydration, etc. Chen lectured her
sedimentology class about this and got great class reviews, she said.
4. Write safety plans for the field.

People who are nonwhite, LGBTQ+, disabled, and members of gender minorities
and other minoritized groups face dangers in the field. PIs can help make
them safer by implementing these 10 steps to protect BIPOC (Black,
Indigenous, and People of Color) scholars in the field
<https://eos.org/opinions/ten-steps-to-protect-bipoc-scholars-in-the-field>.
Remember the challenges that LGBTQ+ scientists
<https://eos.org/features/the-challenges-of-fieldwork-for-lgbtq-geoscientists>
face
in the field, too.

Use that information to write safety plans that include not only emergency
medicine, supplies, and weather precautions but also field inclusivity,
accessibility, and procedures for misconduct.
<https://serc.carleton.edu/advancegeo/resources/field_work.html>
5. Partner with local communities.

Examples of scientific imperialism
<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-bears-fingerprints-colonialism-180968709/>
are
common, like the phenomenon of many Africa-focused geoscience papers being
written by non-African scientists
<https://eos.org/articles/why-arent-there-more-journal-papers-by-african-geoscientists>.
Scientists must break out of the colonial mold.
“We asked them specifically what Indigenous environmental knowledge they
felt was most important.”

Dominique M. David-Chavez
<https://nni.arizona.edu/people/staff/dominique-m-david-chavez-phd-arawak-taino>
 explained
<https://eos.org/articles/keeping-indigenous-science-knowledge-out-of-a-colonial-mold>
how
she avoided this pattern in her doctoral research studying her Indigenous
community’s climate knowledge. She first met with community elders and
leaders in the Cidra and Comerío municipalities in Puerto Rico. “We asked
them specifically what Indigenous environmental knowledge they felt was
most important for the youth and future generations to learn about.”
6. Feature scientists from many backgrounds in the classroom.


Try featuring careers and real-life scientists in lectures. One community
college professor <https://eos.org/features/the-two-year-on-ramp> did that
in Texas at the end of each class.

Don’t know where to look for scientists from diverse backgrounds? Check out
the profiles on the Diverse Geologist
<https://www.diversegeologists.org/blog> website or the Latinas in Earth
and Planetary Sciences page (@geolatinas
<https://twitter.com/GeoLatinas?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor>)
and #BlackInGeoscience hashtag on Twitter.
7. Most important of all: You’re a leader. Just do something.

PIs may be the royalty of the science world, but with that power comes
great responsibility.

When it comes to working on these issues, “there’s a wave of enthusiasm
from a grassroots level, mainly [by] students, postdocs, and early-career
people,” said Cooperdock.

But where she sees the most progress is in places where people at the top
match that energy.

“The ball is really in other people’s court now,” said Chen. “The
limitation is really: Will other people pick up the mantle and move to
action?”






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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Valerie Sloan, Ph.D.
NCAR Education & Outreach
National Center for Atmospheric Research
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
Office: 303-497-2752
Email: vsloan at ucar.edu
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