Racism in STEM
Last Updated: August 31st, 2020
The Black Lives Movement has shown that racism exists not only in obvious forms but also takes subtle shapes in our society as racist attitudes are ingrained in too many systems. As highlighted by #shutdownstem, STEM is not immune to racism.
As members of the STEM community, we solve problems by learning more, reading more, understanding more. Similarly, we can only make STEM a more inclusive field by educating ourselves on its history of exploiting marginalized persons and the implications of past underrepresentation. Below is a compilation of readings about racism in STEM divided by discipline, designed to shed light on how race impacts science fields.
If you know of any resources that are not listed below and you would like to share through this page, submit your resource through the following form.
Anti-Racist STEM Reading List
General STEM
The following sources come from members of the Follette Lab at Amherst College who created this plan for #shutdownstem
- What is the plan for including Tamir Rice in #STEM?
- #BLACKandSTEM
- American Studies Association President’s Statement on Black Lives Matter and the Rebellion of 2020
- The Role of Professional Societies in STEM Diversity
- Are we pressuring students to choose a hostile STEM?
- Intersectionality as a Blueprint for Postcolonial Scientific Community Building
- Do Not Be Afraid to Be #BlackandSTEM
- Being Human in STEM
- Ten simple rules for building an anti-racist lab
The following sources come from the grassroots organization #shutdownstem, which organized the nationwide event on June 6 to halt STEM and academic activities to instead learn about the Black Lives Matter movement and the issues it addresses. More about their work can be foundhere
- Does STEM Stand Out? Examining Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Persistance Across Postsecondary Fields
- Is Science for Us? Black Students’ and Parents’ Views of Science and Science Career
- How Gender and Race Stereotypes Impact the Advancement of Scholars in STEM: Professors’ Biased Evaluations of Physics and Biology Post-Doctoral Candidates
Astronomy/Physics
- Particles for justice
- This Is Why There Are So Few Black Physicists And Astronomers (And How To Fix It)
The following sources come from members of the Follette Lab at Amherst College who created this plan for #shutdownstem
- Out of the Margins
- Teaching for Justice
- Why Are There So Few Black Physicists? A New Report Describes What Needs to Change
- THE TIME IS NOW: AIP Team-up report
- A Different Kind of Dark Energy: Placing Race and Gender in Physics [reading:MSG]
- Educational pathways of Black women physicists: Stories of experiencing and overcoming obstacles in life
- #BlackInAstro: How Can We Support Black Astronomers?
- Let Astro | Physics Be The Dream It Used To Be (original & one year later)
- Surviving and Thriving: How to be an Underrepresented Minority astro/physics student: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (series ongoing)
- The ‘Benefits’ of Black Physics Students
- National Society of Black Physicists
- African American Women in Physics
- Making Black Women Scientists under White Empiricism: The Racialization of Epistemology in Physics
- Building an Inclusive AAS — The Critical Role of Diversity and Inclusion Training for AAS Council and Astronomy Research
Biology
- Black women in Biology, Eco, and Marine Science
- How Science and Genetics are Reshaping the Race Debate of the 21st Century
Chemistry
Computer Science
- How white engineers built racist code — and why it’s dangerous for black people
- Algorithms that run our lives are racist and sexist. Meet the women trying to fix them
Environmental Science
- Read Up on the Links Between Racism and the Environment
- Includes further reading
- Environmental Studies Field Erases Black People
- Environmental Justice goes hand in hand with BLM
- Racism is killing the Environment: We must overcome white supremacy to save the planet
- How to create an inclusive, meaningful and long-term conservation
Geology
- The Geosciences Community Needs to Be More Diverse and Inclusive: It’s essential if we are going to protect the planet
- Promoting Racial Diversity in Geoscience Through Transparency
- No Progress on Diversity in 40 years
Mathematics/Statistics
- How Does Race Affect a Student’s Math Education
- Examining Institutional Racism Within Mathematic Instruction
- How mathematics can be an anti-racist, feminist enterprise
Medicine
Neuroscience/ Psychology