Acknowledging and Supplanting White Supremacy Culture in Science Communication and STEM: The Role of Science Communication Trainers

Karlisa A. Callwood · Marissa S. Weiss · Rose K. Hendricks · Temis G. Taylor

40 citations0/0 files storedFrontiers in Communication

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Career Development and Diversity Academic Publishing and Open Access Critical Race Theory in Education

Abstract

Racism remains a root cause of underrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx scholars across STEM. It also contributes to a lack of diversity in science communication, the types of science stories that are told, and the communities science communicators seek to engage. Racism is omnipresent in STEM, from education to research to science communication (SciComm), because STEM institutions operate within a culture systematically privileging Whiteness, i.e., a White supremacy culture (WSC), that dictates the norms and practices that most in these fields heedlessly accept and replicate. In this Perspective, we acknowledge the ways in which SciComm and SciComm training perpetuate WSC and examine how SciComm trainers can use their power to dismantle it. SciComm trainers pioneer new methods of sharing ideas and influence the culture of STEM, so are uniquely situated to bring about systemic change to address these problems in SciComm, STEM, and society, starting with four core themes for action: (1) Authentic Interrogation, Acknowledgment, and Accountability; (2) Representation; (3) Culturally Responsive Practice; and (4) Inclusion. We also describe our current work, which builds upon the Key Traits of Inclusive SciComm identified by leaders in the field, to co-create a framework to guide authentic, culturally competent, and inclusive SciComm. The draft framework integrates the Key Traits across spheres of influence (e.g., self, interpersonal, community, institution, society: politics and culture), with the ultimate goal of using SciComm to supplant WSC across these spheres of influence, with new co-created norms centering minoritized scholars, science communicators, and audiences in STEM.

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2007The Increasing Dominance of Teams in Production of Knowledge 2019Topic choice contributes to the lower rate of NIH awards to African-American/black scientists 2015What happens before? A field experiment exploring how pay and representation differentially shape bias on the pathway into organizations.2020The Meritocracy Trap: How America’s Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite 2008Towards an Analytical Framework of Science Communication Models 2015Quality of evidence revealing subtle gender biases in science is in the eye of the beholder 2018Reimagining publics and (non) participation: Exploring exclusion from science communication through the experiences of low-income, minority ethnic groups 2021Racial inequity in grant funding from the US National Institutes of Health

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2023Minoritized Scientists in the United States: An Identity Perspective to Science Communication 2023Inclusive Science Communication training for first-year STEM students promotes their identity and self-efficacy as scientists and science communicators 2022Making science communication inclusive: an exploratory study of choices, challenges and change mechanisms in the United States from an emerging movement

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