Language Matters: Considering Microaggressions in Science

Harrison, Colin; Tanner, Kimberly D.

doi:10.1187/cbe.18-01-0011

Cited by 86 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The authors of the present study are a group of 2 black women and 3 white women who have personally experienced incivility, unwanted comments on personal appearance and behavior, and inappropriate personal contact at conferences. People from historically marginalized groups report experiencing incivility leading to exclusion in academic conferences (4,6,16,37), and sexual harassment experiences are unlikely isolated (9). These experiences and our results motivate our recommendations that organizations create robust codes for academic conferences to increase inclusivity and promote equitable access for marginalized groups in science (9).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the prevalence and quality of conference codes of conduct

Foxx

Barak

Lichtenberger

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Efforts to increase inclusion in science face multiple barriers, including cultural and social behaviors in settings such as academic conferences. Conferences are beneficial, but the culture can promote inequities and power differentials that harm historically underrepresented groups. Science suffers when conference culture propagates exclusion and discrimination that leads to attrition of scientists. Codes of conduct represent a tool to shift conference culture to better support diverse scientists and clearly detail unacceptable behaviors. We examined the prevalence and content of codes of conduct at biology conferences in the United States and Canada. We highlight how codes of conduct address issues of sexual misconduct and identity-based discrimination. Surprisingly, only 24% of the 195 surveyed conferences had codes. Of the conferences with codes, 43% did not mention sexual misconduct and 17% did not mention identity-based discrimination. Further, 26% of these conferences failed to include a way to report violations of the code and 35% lacked consequences for misconduct. We found that larger and national conferences are more likely to have codes than smaller (P = 0.04) and international or regional (P = 0.03) conferences. Conferences that lack codes risk creating and perpetuating negative environments that make underrepresented groups feel unwelcome, or worse, actively cause harm. We recommend that conferences have codes that are easily accessible, explicitly address identity-based discrimination and sexual misconduct, provide channels for anonymous impartial reporting, and contain clear consequences. These efforts will improve inclusivity and reduce the loss of scientists who have been historically marginalized.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the prevalence and quality of conference codes of conduct

Foxx

Barak

Lichtenberger

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Our unconscious biases may lead us to unintentionally use microaggressions in our interactions with students. Microaggressions are brief and often subtle statements, exchanges, or behaviors that communicate insults, prejudice, and/ or hostility, and send denigrating messages to individuals, especially those in marginalized groups (for increased description and instructive examples of microaggressions, see [12,13]). Bringing awareness to unconscious biases and educating ourselves to address and avoid microaggressions can have an important impact on our classroom climate and on students' sense of belonging (13).…”

Section: Section II Prompts: Individuation and Affirmationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microaggressions are brief and often subtle statements, exchanges, or behaviors that communicate insults, prejudice, and/ or hostility, and send denigrating messages to individuals, especially those in marginalized groups (for increased description and instructive examples of microaggressions, see [12,13]). Bringing awareness to unconscious biases and educating ourselves to address and avoid microaggressions can have an important impact on our classroom climate and on students' sense of belonging (13). We can reduce the negative impact of biases and stereotypes by individuating, or gathering specific information about our students directly from our students (14,15).…”

Section: Section II Prompts: Individuation and Affirmationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Reflect on how the information provided by your students challenges your initial assumptions about who they are as individuals and then use the information provided to reframe false assumptions. Learn more about how to identify and address microaggressions made by you or the students in your class (13,19). • Strategically incorporate career connections, diverse scientists, and links to your students' cultural backgrounds and home countries into your course content.…”

Section: Section II Prompts: Individuation and Affirmationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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First-Day Info Sheets: A Tool to Prompt Semester-Long Inclusive Teaching

Killpack

Melón

2020

J Microbiol Biol Educ.

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What faculty do and say on the first day of class is crucial to establishing and maintaining an inclusive learning environment for the duration of the semester. First-day information sheets ("info sheets") are commonly used by instructors. By making simple modifications to this tool, we can gather more information about the goals and experiences of our students, the lives of our students outside of our classroom, and how our students' lives may impact their engagement with the course material and course structure. We can also use this information to actively highlight to students that their full selves (names, pronouns, background) belong in our biology classroom. We provide a set of prompts and suggested steps, rooted in the scholarly literature, to encourage and facilitate faculty use of info-sheets as a valuable tool to inform semester-long inclusive teaching efforts.

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“…Additional inclusive instructional practices relate to the affective domain with regard to how learning is influenced by emotions, attitudes, and biases (Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964). Examples include increasing students' sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2012;Walton & Cohen, 2007), avoiding microaggressions (Harrison & Tanner, 2018), addressing implicit biases (Grunspan et al, 2016), and minimizing stereotype threat (Steele, 1997). Within the context of these many beneficial practices, limited documentation exists as to the frequency with which they are employed by science faculty.…”

Section: Evidence-based Educational Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing the National Geoscience Faculty Survey for reported use of practices that support inclusive learning environments in undergraduate courses

Beane

McNeal

Macdonald

2019

Journal of Geoscience Education

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What is the extent to which college and university geoscience faculty report using education practices that contribute to more inclusive learning environments and engage a diverse population of students? In the 2016 National Geoscience Faculty Survey, faculty answered questions about their practices in a specific introductory or major course they had taught in the previous two years, and about how they share and learn about the content and methods used in their teaching. Based on factor analysis, 22 of the survey questions divided into four categories associated with inclusive teaching practices: geoscientist representations, curricular choices, learning strategies, and career pathways. The self-reported use of practices across these four categories varies greatly, with some used by as many as 71% of faculty respondents whereas others by only 8%. These data provide new information on the current state of teaching practices in the geosciences with regard to inclusive practices, and establish a baseline to which responses from future surveys may be compared. Univariate general modeling combined with ANOVA tests on the responses to the questions shows that education practices differ based on variables such as teaching style, communication with colleagues, years of teaching experience, faculty type, institution type, class size, and course type (introductory or major). These differences suggest opportunities for focused geoscience faculty development around education practices that support the success of a diverse population of undergraduate students and the enhancement of inclusive learning environments in the geosciences.

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Language Matters: Considering Microaggressions in Science

Cited by 86 publications

References 46 publications

Evaluating the prevalence and quality of conference codes of conduct

Evaluating the prevalence and quality of conference codes of conduct

First-Day Info Sheets: A Tool to Prompt Semester-Long Inclusive Teaching

Probing the National Geoscience Faculty Survey for reported use of practices that support inclusive learning environments in undergraduate courses

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