Top 5 Take-aways: Diversity in science

Promoting diversity in science

At a recent lab meeting, our group had an engaging conversation about diversity in science. We summarized this conversation into our top 5 take-aways:

1. Diversity extends beyond just race and we need to be mindful about inclusion among individuals of all gender identities, sexual orientations, physical and psychological abilities, etc. 
2. As research staff, we need to make all of our participants feel comfortable and be accepting. While our goal is to collect data, data should not be our main focus and we need to prioritize the experience of our research participants and families. 
3. It is important to also have diversity within the lab staff/research team as well as within our research participants. We must respect each other and be inclusive to all students who want to be a part of research on campus and in our lab. 
4. We must increase accessibility to research in our community among areas and individuals who have not been reached in the past. When thinking about recruitment, we should consider groups who may not be familiar with our research opportunities and be mindful of ways we can increase involvement.
5. We must be mindful of  the use of "professionalism". It is often misused by authority as a way to discriminate so re-defining the term is important as well as evaluating its value as a whole.