Building and Sustaining Diverse Functioning Networks Using Social Media and Digital Platforms to Improve Diversity and Inclusivity

Abstract

There has long been a focus on building inclusion and diversity in the sciences through a range of efforts intended to increase representation and access. Despite expansive efforts supported by higher education institutions, funding agencies and others, a need persists to support broad participation and success. Digital platforms, including blogs, and social media such as Twitter TM , offer emergent paths for scientists to proactively build supportive communities, even where structural diversity or numerical representation of diverse groups remains low. Use of these platforms can range from community building, to proactive mentoring, and advocacy, as well as more customary uses for supporting scholarly success of diverse individuals, including dissemination and accessible discussions of research findings. I discuss specific uses of social-media digital platforms for building and cultivating communities of underrepresented scholars and facilitating engagement around issues of broad concern to groups underrepresented in science and higher education. These uses include mentoring and support to promote equity, inclusion and diversity, promoting self-definition and personal agency, community building, and advocacy. I draw on published literature about using social media and digital platforms in higher education to build and cultivate "social networks" for connecting widely distributed individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to cultivate communities of interest, support and practice, including a focus on mentoring, sponsorship, and advocacy. I highlight the power of Twitter TM and social media platforms to build and cultivate connections of individuals underrepresented in science and the academy and to offer meaningful means for mitigating local deficits related to low structural diversity and inequity.

Factors influencing participation of underrepresented students in STEM fields: matched mentors and mindsets

“…The consideration of media as a potential pathway for mentorship may represent a more novel and modern approach to mentor interactions. The current generation of students, and minority students in particular, are spending a large percentage of their time interacting with media (Montgomery, 2018;Pew Research Center, 2019). We found that women and students of color are relatively familiar with minority social media influencers, but may not have been exposed to media depictions of minority female STEM professionals to the same extent.…”

The Virtual Streptococcal Seminar Series and Trainee Symposium: Adaptations of a Research Community during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This series was sponsored by Kelly Doran and organized by Lindsey Burcham and Brady Spencer at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-AMC) in Aurora, CO. To reach scientists with a particular interest in streptococcal research, the seminar was advertised by e-mail to the previous attendees and registered attendees for the 2018 and 2020 Streptococcal Biology GRC/GRS, respectively. In an attempt to attract a broad and diverse audience, the organizers also advertised through social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook) ( 6 ). On Twitter, the organizers primarily interact with other academic scientists, while the organizers’ Facebook accounts primarily reach social contacts; however, overlap exists in the networks across the two platforms.…”

Hostile climates are barriers to diversifying the geosciences

“…A report from the US National Academies of Sciences underscored the importance of intentional and inclusive mentoring for positive personal and professional growth (NASEM, 2019). The report recommends changes to institutional structures and cultures to better support commitments to effective mentorship and adoption of collective or group mentoring and mentoring networks (Montgomery and Page, 2019), which can help diffuse power imbalances in the more traditional one-to-one mentoring relationships, as well as more independent funding support for students and earlycareer researchers. In addition, universities need to destigmatize mental health and provide more support services.…”

“…Some organizations were started directly through building community via social media, like Ge-oLatinas. While recognizing that an increased online presence raises exposure to targeted harassment and other hos-tility, social media can serve as a transformational platform for building community and sharing of resources and experiences beyond institutional, disciplinary and national boundaries (Montgomery, 2018;Britton et al, 2019). Social media is facilitating relationship building across organizations and networks especially among early-career geoscientists, who are leading actions for change in the discipline.…”