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

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.

Making science communication inclusive: an exploratory study of choices, challenges and change mechanisms in the United States from an emerging movement

“…Several survey respondents attributed the institutional "inertia" and failure to adopt more equitable practices to a white supremacy culture where culturally diverse influences are notably lacking [Callwood et al, 2022]. Others drew connections between white dominance in STEMM and the educational "STEMM pipeline", [National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2007] which is full of obstacles to inclusion [Berhe et al, 2022].…”

“…Yet, we are seeing a paradigm shift. A growing body of literature has explored science communication and publics through theories of social justice [e.g., Burris, 2019;Callwood, Weiss, Hendricks & Taylor, 2022;Dawson, 2014Dawson, , 2017Dawson, , 2018Dawson, , 2019Habibi Doroh & Streicher, 2021;Honma, 2017;Isler et al, 2021;Jones, 2021;Landis et al, 2020;Márquez & Porras, 2020;Nadkarni et al, 2019;Rasekoala & Orthia, 2020]. In fact, equitable, asset-based [Yosso, 2005] science communication has taken place in contexts well beyond the academy for generations [Finlay et al, 2021;Kankaria, Jarreau, Manna, Rasekoala & Bonea, 2022].…”

ReclaimingSTEM: A healing-centered counterspace model for inclusive science communication and policy training

“…It is important to note that inclusion practices require extensive, ongoing, and recursive reflections and actions. We recommend the work of Callwood et al (2022) in which the authors call out that racism remains a root cause of underrepresentation across STEM and contributes to a lack of diversity in science communication. The underrepresentation affects the types of science stories that are told and the communities science communicators seek to engage.…”

“…The underrepresentation affects the types of science stories that are told and the communities science communicators seek to engage. The paper also identifies reflection questions that could be useful for trainers and organizers (Callwood et al, 2022).…”

Undergraduate STEM Students’ Science Communication Skills, Science Identity, and Science Self-Efficacy Influence Their Motivations and Behaviors in STEM Community Engagement

“…Fortunately, confidence in science communication skills was a positive predictor for both community engagement motivations and community engagement behavior. Thus, training in science communication skills, especially inclusive science communication skills that would facilitate equitable community engagement ( 23 , 54 , 55 ), should be included in undergraduate STEM curricula and will facilitate increases in community engagement attitudes and behaviors. Such science communication trainings have been shown to support public science communication behavioral intents in STEM graduate students ( 23 ) and STEM professionals ( 40 ).…”