Strategies for and Barriers to Collaboratively Developing Anti‐Racist Policies and Resources as Described by Geoscientists of Color Participating in the Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) Program

Abstract

The Unlearning Racism in Geosciences (URGE) program guides groups of geoscientists as they draft, implement, and assess anti‐racist policies and resources for their workplace. Some participating Geoscientists of Color (GoC) shared concerns about microaggression, tokenism, and power struggles within their groups. These reports led us to collect and analyze data that describe the experiences of GoC in URGE. The data are from five discussion groups and two surveys. Our analyses revealed that participating GoC want to continue working with White colleagues on anti‐racist work. GoC want White colleagues not to shy away from doing anti‐racist work. Instead, GoC want White colleagues (a) to create and adhere to robust behavioral codes of conduct, (b) to focus discussions on anti‐racism, (c) to act on anti‐racism initiatives, (d) not to prompt GoC to educate them or reveal trauma, and (e) to refrain from microaggressions and tokenism. These desired outcomes were achieved in some groups with varying degrees of success. Correcting a history of mistrust relating to racism and anti‐racism action is key to implementing and assessing effective anti‐racist policies and resources. This requires leadership support, following through on anti‐racism action, and deepening relationships between GoC and White colleagues. Future anti‐racist programs should spend a substantial amount of time on and demonstrate the importance of training participants how to discuss racism effectively and how to create and adhere to robust behavioral codes of conduct. Future programs should also explore developing a robust program‐wide code of conduct that includes a policy for reporting offenses.

Welcoming More Participation in Open Data Science for the Oceans

“…Second, the geosciences remain one of the least diverse STEM fields (Burton et al 2023, Marín-Spiotta et al 2020, along with ecology (Primack et al 2023). We recognize that these inequities, and potential solutions, are highly varied and multidimensional.…”

Not Enough: Efforts to Diversify Biogeosciences Benefit Limited Segment of Society

“…Efforts such as requiring Codes of Conduct and Field Safety plans mark progress and provide guidance for accountability to the community. Geoscientist-led research around mentoring (Burt et al, 2023), accessibility of field courses (Gilley et al, 2015), anti-racism (Burton et al, 2023) and workplace climate (Marín-Spiotta et al, 2022) provide evidence-based interventions and resources for making your classroom, laboratory, and team meetings more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible.…”

“…As stated by Morris (2021), “ideological changes are required within the geosciences to remove racialized barriers and the psychological violence that prevents access and opportunities for full participation of BIPOC+ in the academy and other careers.” Efforts such as requiring Codes of Conduct and Field Safety plans mark progress and provide guidance for accountability to the community. Geoscientist‐led research around mentoring (Burt et al., 2023), accessibility of field courses (Gilley et al., 2015), anti‐racism (Burton et al., 2023) and workplace climate (Marín‐Spiotta et al., 2022) provide evidence‐based interventions and resources for making your classroom, laboratory, and team meetings more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible.…”

The decolonial pedagogies of colonial violence: Curricular decolonisation in the (geo)sciences

“…Decolonising scholarship within the geosciences falls into two main camps. The first is the growing body of important work that draws attention to the extent of racism and racist exclusions within the discipline (see Burton et al., 2023; Dowey et al., 2021; Dutt, 2020; Morris, 2021; Thompson, 2022). These debates are crucial for existing academics who work in the field and for undergraduate and postgraduate students, but they need to be better articulated to the debates within the second camp that engage explicitly with colonial legacies and questions of decoloniality.…”