Black Scientists Research Articles

A change in the air

Atmospheric science is overwhelmingly white. These Black scientists ignited a change.

The Important Role of Chemistry Department Chairs and Recommendations for Actions They Can Enact to Advance Black Student Success

There is a severe shortage of Black scientists in the United States. Amid the recent national movement to dismantle systemic racism and racial injustices, many scientists publicly highlighted the prevalence of racist learning environments in STEM, contributing to the underrepresentation of Black students in STEM fields. Acknowledging this longstanding troubling reality, this article emphasizes the instrumental role of chemistry department chairs in advancing Black student success in chemistry and STEM broadly. Guided by literature on systemic change and equity in higher education as well as our research on the Black student experience and teaching practices in chemistry, this article describes the following five recommendations for actions that chemistry chairs should consider enacting to promote equity-mindedness within their departments to advance Black student success: (i) disaggregate data to make publicly visible racial inequities; (ii) offer formal opportunities for Black students to candidly share their perspectives; (iii) conduct systematic assessment of course syllabus; (iv) measure teaching practices; and (v) create chemistry education research positions. The enactment of these recommendations by chemistry chairs provides meaningful opportunities for faculty and staff to critically examine the chemistry learning environment using an equity-minded approach to in turn inform the development of strategic efforts to support the advancement of Black student success.

Andean Man & the Astronaut

In 1958, Bruno Balke, a former German Luftwaffe doctor working for the United States Air Force (USAF), led a team of airmen up Colorado’s Mount Evans. Could acclimatization to the thin mountain air boost the oxygen efficiency of future astronauts living in artificial low-pressure spacecraft environments? To judge their improvement, Balke, an expert in the nascent field of space medicine, compared their performance not with military test-pilots, but with high-altitude Indigenous people he had studied in the Peruvian Andes. This article expands discussions of race in space history beyond Black scientists, mathematicians, and pilots in the Civil Rights era to this earlier case of the permanent residents of Morococha, Peru, who participated in efforts to define an ideal spacefaring body. More than recovering the story of a nearly forgotten group of astronaut-adjacent test-subjects, this article shows how racial discrimination in space medicine functioned by inclusion. Balke studied and even celebrated the bodies of Morocochans, but never considered them potential astronauts. This article begins with Balke’s participation in the 1938 Nazi-funded expedition to summit Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas, and his follow-on work acclimatizing Luftwaffe pilots during World War Two. Then it focuses on his USAF work in the 1950s studying miners living and working in Morococha, Peru, and his attempt to replicate their altitude tolerance in American airmen on Mount Evans. Recovering Balke’s work places the high-altitude Indigenous person and the mountaineer alongside the familiar figure of the pilot in the genealogy of the early American astronaut.

Programming girlhood: digital labor and the twenty-first century girl coder in the United States

ABSTRACT There has been a marked rise in U.S. clubs and television programs promoting coding for young girls. These clubs and television shows position girls as either benefiting economically through the figure of the “can-do girl” or potentially failing as an “at-risk girl.” This article looks at two iterations of the girl coder – in Nickelodeon’s 2015 sitcom Game Shakers and in the rhetoric of Black Girl CODE and Girls Who Code – placing them within broader understandings of girlhood, economics, race, and labor. This analysis reveals the ways in which girl programmers become attached to racialized economic imaginings in these two instances either as idealized white child workers in the case of Game Shakers or future Black computer scientists within coding clubs. This positioning intimately ties girl programmers to economics, labor, and neoliberal ideals; however, this paper proposes that we need to imagine other possible goals for the girl programmer, particularly for Black and Brown girls. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Since 2010 there has been a push to get girls into computer coding with particular attention paid to the pipeline problem. This rhetoric has been both touted and questioned. b. Novel Contributions: This article adds a critical look at how Black and Brown girls are positioned within computer programming initiatives and discourses using two primary case studies. It then offers a non-future oriented way of considering computer coding for girls. c. Practical Implications: This project suggests that researchers must continue to pay attention to the nuances of raced neoliberal capitalism in studies on girl’s media even as initiatives are widely considered positive.

Seeing is believing: Representation as a powerful tool in the fight against racism in science.

Over the past year, Cell Stem Cell has introduced early-career researchers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closures to our readers. One year since our first introductions, we've invited several participants to reflect on their experiences and key issues. In this Story, Binyam Mogessie discusses the impact of structural racism on young Black scientists and the critical importance of representation in science.

Black scientists gather to form communities and boost diversity in science

Black scientists have been historically underrepresented in academia and science. A 2018 study of the National Center for Education Statistics found that only 6% of faculty in the USA were Black. Systemic racism and other issues that translate into a lack of diversity in research often cause unwelcoming environments for Black scientists. Last fall, sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement and triggered by the #BlackBirdersWeek virtual event, several scientific communities took to social media to create ‘#BlackIn...’ movements. Over the course of a week, organizers offered virtual talks, workshops and social events highlighting Black scientists in their fields. We spoke with the founders of four of these ‘#BlackIn...’ movements to learn how they are empowering the Black scientific community to start conversations about being Black in science, and to discuss strategies for continuing to diversify scientific research.

Why scientists agree to participate in science festivals: evidence from South Africa

ABSTRACT Scientists are key actors in public engagement activities, such as science festivals. This study sought to explore factors that encouraged and/or deterred scientists’ participation in Scifest Africa, the flagship science festival in South Africa. A self-administered, online survey was completed by 40 scientists who participated in this science festival in 2019. The survey was comprised of a mix of closed- and open-ended questions, and responses were processed statistically and thematically. The results showed that objectives of informing, exciting and inspiring the public were key motivators, while time constraints and concerns over the efficacy of engagement were prominent deterrents. Factors linked to the legacy of apartheid in South Africa and current societal challenges, inspired a strong moral obligation amongst most scientists to give something back to society through inclusive platforms such as the Scifest. In particular, for black African and/or female scientists, being role models was a key motivating factor. Our findings illustrate the importance of context-specific factors concerning motivators for public engagement. Understanding why scientists participate in public engagement events, is crucial for festival organisers, who rely on scientists as volunteers. These insights could also help to advance public engagement with science, which features prominently in government policy frameworks.

A invisibilidade da mulher negra na Ciência: uma análise a partir de livros didáticos de Ciências e Biologia

A perpetuação do discurso racista e machista na sociedade atual tem influência em todas as áreas e, em especial, na área científica. O presente trabalho objetivou investigar a presença de mulheres negras na história da Ciência, por meio da análise de duas coleções de livros didáticos de Ciência e Biologia. Os livros de Ciências e Biologia analisados foram os do último programa Nacional de livro didático (PNLD), adotados por escolas do município de Cruzeiro do Oeste (PR). Os resultados demonstraram a ausência de relatos sobre a presença de mulheres negras da Ciência. Por fim, com a finalidade de instrumentalização para o ensino na Educação Básica, o presente estudo apresenta uma relação de cientistas negras nas mais diferentes áreas das Ciências Biológicas.

Introducing the Black Microbiologists Association

In 2018, fewer than 5% of doctoral degrees in microbiology in the USA were awarded to Black scientists.1 According to a 2017 report, of all US tenured professors in the life sciences, only 2·3% are Black; only 1% are Black women.1 The proportion of life science faculty of any rank who are Black is 2·6%.1 We suspect that the numbers are even more devastating in microbiological disciplines, although, to our knowledge, these data are not available. Similar barriers are faced by Black scientists internationally.

Still we rise

Olufolakemi "Fola" Olusanya is the winner of the first Rising Black Scientist Award for an undergraduate scholar. For this award, we asked emerging Black scientists to tell us about the experiences that sparked their journey in the life sciences. This is her story.

Transforming myself and academia for good

Dr. Chrystal Starbird is the winner of the first Rising Black Scientist Award for a post-graduate scholar. For this award, we asked emerging Black scientists to tell us about the experiences that sparked their journey in the life sciences. This is her story.

Training matters! Narrative from a Black scientist.

As STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) professionals, we are tasked with increasing our understanding of the universe and generating discoveries that advance our society. An essential aspect is the training of the next generation of scientists, including concerted efforts to increase diversity within the scientific field. Despite these efforts, there remains disproportional underrepresentation of Black scientists in STEM. Further, efforts to recruit and hire Black faculty and researchers have been largely unsuccessful, in part due to a lack of minority candidates. Several factors contribute to this including access to opportunities, negative training experiences, lack of effective mentoring, and other more lucrative career options. This is a narrative of a Black male scientist to illustrate some of the issues in retaining Black students in STEM and to highlight the impact of toxic training environments that exists at many institutions. To increase Black participation in STEM careers, we must first acknowledge, then address, the problems that exist within our STEM training environments in hopes to inspire and retain Black students at every level of training.

Fund Black scientists

Our nationwide network of BME women faculty collectively argue that racial funding disparity by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) remains the most insidious barrier to success of Black faculty in our profession. We thus refocus attention on this critical barrier and suggest solutions on how it can be dismantled.

What kind of abolitionist was Benjamin Banneker? Reluctant activism and the intellectual lives of early black Americans

ABSTRACT In recent years, Benjamin Banneker, the early American republic’s most celebrated black scientific thinker, has been routinely cast as a radical black abolitionist, while his intellectual life has largely been neglected. Drawing on the manuscripts of Banneker and his white antislavery allies, this article argues that Banneker was hardly a radical: he was a reluctant abolitionist, aiding the white-controlled movement in part so he could gain scientific recognition. Situating Banneker within the history of science and African diasporic intellectual history, it further argues that he was not America’s ‘first’ black scientist, but one among many talented eighteenth-century black thinkers. What made Banneker unique was his ability to translate the possibly African-derived intellectual traditions of his youth into a form of ‘credible’ knowledge—scientific knowledge—at a moment when white antislavery elites were briefly interested in publicizing black men with intellectual skill. This essay ultimately cautions against the tendency to instinctually equate black activism with ‘radicalism’. Instead, it calls for more careful attention to the dangers black people faced, the dubious commitments of their white allies, and the fullness of black lives, ones that may have included activism but cannot be reduced to it.

Despite calls to action, Black scientists remain underrepresented at neuroscience meetings

Despite calls to action, Black scientists remain underrepresented at neuroscience meetings

Voices on Diversity: Combating Racial Inequality to Increase Diversity

As part of our commitment to amplifying the voices of underrepresented scientists, we are publishing the insights and experiences of a panel of underrepresented scientists in a series of questions and answers. Here, they discuss ways that the scientific community can combat racial inequality and increase diversity. These are the personal opinions of the authors and may not reflect the views of their institutions.

'I want to generate opportunities for Black scientists'.

UK geoscientist Christopher Jackson will be the first Black researcher to deliver a Christmas lecture at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. UK geoscientist Christopher Jackson will be the first Black researcher to deliver a Christmas lecture at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Learning From the Past and Working in the Present to Create an Antiracist Future for Academic Medicine.

Learning From the Past and Working in the Present to Create an Antiracist Future for Academic Medicine.

Black scientists matter

Most people agree that ethnic minorities are generally under-represented in science. But is there anything that can be done to correct this injustice and who should do it?

A bright spot in training Black Scientists

Isaiah Speight had taken three chemistry courses in high school. So when he got to his first college chemistry class he didn’t think he needed to take it seriously. “I got slammed in my first exam,...