Advancing inclusion through culturally relevant science communication: a perspective from Puerto Rico

Abstract

The past 20 years of science communication have seen important progress towards inclusion, equity, and justice. In this commentary, I review some of those changes and discuss how culturally relevant science communication activities are part of a broad movement seeking to change the culture, research, and practice of science communication. I draw on my experiences as a practitioner working with the nonprofit organization Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) to offer lessons for the whole field to continue to address past and present exclusions and injustices and avoid future ones.

Minoritized Scientists in the United States: An Identity Perspective to Science Communication

“…This could mean developing more training programs that actively recruit and/or serve people of color, and that are offered by trainers from those groups. Third, trainings need to be designed in ways that are culturally relevant (Feliú-Mójer, 2022), following existing work in STEM education (e.g., Brown, 2021). Finally, science communication training should rigorously evaluate the training using a social justice and inclusion lens that would allow for iterative revisions of training materials and approaches.…”

Increasing culturally relevant science media coverage: exploring the outcomes of a collaboration in Puerto Rico

“…Several of these early career collaborators mentioned that writing the articles, receiving feedback from CienciaPR editors, and getting published in END provided a valuable professional development experience that allowed them to improve their science communication skills, explore science communication as a career, and give back to their community. The lessons learned from this aspect of CienciaPR’s collaboration with END have led to several efforts to provide scientists with culturally relevant science communication skills and practice, including dozens of virtual and in-person workshops, panels, and seminars at academic institutions and professional conferences and embedding such trainings into professional development programs [ Feliú-Mójer, 2022 ].…”