Inclusion and equity through STEM training

doi:10.1126/science.abj1410

GSTDTAP > 气候变化

DOI	10.1126/science.abj1410
	Inclusion and equity through STEM training
	Muhammad Hamid Zaman
	2021-05-28
发表期刊	Science
出版年	2021
英文摘要	Structural racism, negative stereotypes, and lack of mentorship are pervasive in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines ([ 1 ][1]–[ 3 ][2]), with negative effects on the recruitment, retention, and professional development of scholars from racial and ethnic minorities ([ 2 ][3]). STEM practitioners would benefit from addressing inequity in their workplaces. To create a culture of inclusion, STEM fields should reexamine the scope of scientific training. Scientific undergraduate and graduate programs should raise students' awareness about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in science labs and departments by incorporating the national and global discourse on racial justice into their training. Currently, STEM training provides few incentives (and sometimes disincentives) for investing time in such efforts. STEM students are less likely than their peers in non-STEM disciplines to vote and engage in political processes ([ 4 ][4]). Requiring coursework in the humanities, philosophy, ethics, and social sciences would better prepare STEM students to appreciate the complexity of issues surrounding structural racism and colonialism in academia ([ 5 ][5], [ 6 ][6]) and empower them to support more inclusive policies in their own institutions ([ 7 ][7], [ 8 ][8]). A broad curriculum would also help scientists and engineers produce more effective science ([ 7 ][7], [ 8 ][8]). Meeting scientific goals requires an exploration of the root causes of the problems under investigation and an understanding of the broader implications of potential results. Improving the poor health outcomes of COVID-19 among Black and Hispanic or Latino communities ([ 9 ][9]), for example, requires an understanding of how the health system continues to fail those who are already suffering and vulnerable. Ethical research extends beyond issues of informed consent to the risks of inequity and unethical use of results. A well-rounded scientific education would lay the groundwork for students who become professional scientists or administrators to grapple with the fact that research funded by public money may lead to therapeutics that only the very rich can afford or that software systems designed by university scholars may be used by authoritarian regimes to target an ethnic minority. Recent programs have started to integrate artificial intelligence and computer science education with philosophy and ethics [e.g., ([ 10 ][10], [ 11 ][11])]. These initiatives should be expanded to all STEM fields. Scientists, engineers, and mathematicians deserve access to the tools and resources required to create a more equitable scientific enterprise and, in turn, better and more ethical science. 1. [↵][12]1. E. O. McGee, 2. W. H. Robinson , Eds., Diversifying STEM: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Race and Gender (Rutgers University Press, 2020). 2. [↵][13]1. E. O. McGee , Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Innovation (Harvard Education Press, 2020). 3. [↵][14]1. N. Forrester , Nature 585, S65 (2020). [OpenUrl][15] 4. [↵][16]1. N. Thomas et al ., “Democracy counts: A report on U.S. college and university student voting” (Institute for Democracy & Higher Education, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, 2017). 5. [↵][17]1. R. D. Roy , “Science still bears the fingerprints of colonialism,” Smithsonian Magazine (2018). 6. [↵][18]1. K. Norton , “Where science and social justice meet,” PBS (2020). 7. [↵][19]1. J. Horgan , “Why STEM students need humanities courses,” Scientific American (2018). 8. [↵][20]1. D. Albert , “Ten important reasons to include the humanities in your preparation for a scientific career,” Science (2011); . 9. [↵][21]1. W. F. Marshall , “Coronavirus infection by race: What's behind the health disparities?”, Mayo Clinic (2020). 10. [↵][22]Georgetown University, “Ethics to become key part of Georgetown's computer science curriculum” (2019). 11. [↵][23]1. P. Karoff , “Embedding ethics in computer science curriculum,” The Harvard Gazette (2019). 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领域	气候变化 ; 资源环境
URL	查看原文
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/328847
专题	气候变化资源环境科学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Muhammad Hamid Zaman. Inclusion and equity through STEM training[J]. Science,2021.
APA	Muhammad Hamid Zaman.(2021).Inclusion and equity through STEM training.Science.
MLA	Muhammad Hamid Zaman."Inclusion and equity through STEM training".Science (2021).