This year's Science Literacy Week, happening October 27 - November 2, is intended to showcase and explore diversity of information in STEM. There is an increasing awareness of the need to include the voices and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC), women, and other marginalized groups who continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, as well as in leadership positions within academia and industry.
In Canadian post-secondary institutions, for example, women represent 12% of full-time STEM professor positions, receive lower wages, and achieve fewer senior faculty and administrative positions. Similar under-representation and pay disparities exist for Indigenous, Black, and racially diverse professors.
In any discussion about structural barriers to inclusion and diversity in academia, it is important to also talk about intersectionality. Systemic structures can result in even greater inequities for people with multiple marginalized identities and ultimately affect a few under-represented groups differently. For example, BIPOC women face greater power and pay disparities than white women, both inside and outside of higher education settings.
This guide highlights resources to make diversity in STEM more visible within the academic community in hopes of inspiring greater appreciation and recognition of these important contributions.
