Professionalism & Diversity
Current events in the US are quite exhausting, with a rapid onslaught of change that is set to change how we conduct research, do business, and interact with one another. As you may have noticed, the new administration has taken specific issue with a range of terms and approaches that may fall under the ‘diversity, equity & inclusion’ (DEI) umbrella.
As a member of our community, who is trying to lead research and also provide some guidance and governance at our University, and within my professional societies — I really value the contribution of people.
Specifically, I value how people can engage in conversations, address challenging problems, and come up with solutions that individually we may not have even thought of. I also recognize the critical role in making meaningful change that education provides, specifically in the forms of evidence-informed continuing professional development, as well as undergraduate &graduate education. This is perhaps why this sector has been targeted by one of the recent EOs with regards to admissions & affirmative action.
Until recently, while EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and it’s associated acronyms could be viewed politically, if we take it back to some core values it is easy to agree that people should have a fair chance at success and access to opportunities that may create them. This is a rebalance of power, and that has concerned people, but overall it was easy to articulate that there was a simple sense of fairness, access to opportunity that was important. Concurrently, we can highlight literature and reporting that shows that diverse teams produce better outcomes (e.g. more profit, more robust decisions, or just more productivity — The Inclusion Group for Equity in Research in STEMM have a lot of resources on this).
This type of view was easy to say in public and lauded by many, as for instance evidenced by the TMS Diversity Statement, which is a current cornerstone of the TMS’s society website.
For those outside of my field, TMS is a large US-based professional society which furthers the interests of its members in the fields of materials, minerals and mining science & engineering. As part of their mission, as a Professional Society which is funded by their members to bring people together, they recognize that “A more diverse and inclusive workplace benefits everyone — individual scientists and engineers, entire organizations, and the materials science and engineering profession as a whole.”
What is quite remarkable about the TMS statement is that physical science and engineering practitioners are often quite resistive to change. For example, there is evidence that many are taught as part of their training that people’s technical know-how and ideas could/should be separated from who they are, i.e. a disconnection of positionality. This is remarkable to consider, given how people wish to use their craft to effect change in society and their communities. Fortunately, in light of many studies, it is now apparent that this disconnection has significant issues and so this has motivated a significant change in how we bring people together and how we share our practice.
Given these changes, it is important to note that this language and approach is seemingly in conflict with the executive branch of the US government. The executive branch has issued orders to major branches of the federal government which impacts how the US funds significant amounts of US (and Canadian) research via it’s agencies, which include the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Health, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. For those us following the news, most of these agencies have had their business interrupted by recent Executive Orders which (amongst many matters) seem to be targeting language + activities that fall under the broad remit of ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ which threatens & impacts jobs, scholarships, research funding and more; and also is causing apparent fear and anxiety amongst staff and the wider research community. Furthermore, due to the nature of how professional societies work, many of the senior leaders/officers of the society are professionally directly associated with federal funds in one way or another.
At these times, there is a real threat to people’s livelihoods and their professional careers. Even writing this blog piece I have to balance what I write with how I conduct my work (and what opportunities or risks I may have). However, beyond that personal risk and in a more direct manner, even a blip in cashflow can impact the trajectory of those on temporary contracts and in vulnerable employment (e.g. post docs and PhD students who are living pay cheque to pay cheque — 100 NSF Post Docs in the US were locked out of their payment system). We also know that there are significant threats to the employment of even the ‘most secure’ of our workforce — the tenured academic — as without funding, what can we do? Furthermore, those in government related jobs are currently under the spotlight.
In some Universities, they have made public efforts to highlight the value of academic freedom and the importance free inquiry and research — though evaluation of the language highlights the care and fine line they have to now dance. Many other Universities are seeing, or are concerned, about ‘brain drain’ associated with their institutions not adequately defending themselves from political interference.
In these uncertain times, where does this leave us? For those of us who have realized that the system is stacked against many people due to factors outside of their control — it is heartening that in recent years we have been making progress and buoyed by activities, community, policy and culture shift that has recognize strife and put into place structures, approaches, and a culture shift that tries to address the imbalance*. And yes concurrently, the carpet is being ripped out from our feet in real time — where we can see in real time that fear is driving decision making through the destruction of community & collective action.
This brings us back to the start of my brief thought — what do the Professional Societies do in these difficult times?
In my view, if they don’t find ways to articulate and share the need to address imbalance (whatever we may call it) through evidence-informed policies and culture shift, what’s the point in the society existing in the first place? Why should we give our time and money, and lend our strength, to an organization that only supports us when the wind blows favorably?
One would hope that the US has checks and balances to enable other aspects of the US-governance structure to evaluate the legal implications of any decisions that are being made, and to ensure that these are compliant with past and present work in this space. However, in the fast paced nature of things, one does wonder if they have the speed or political-cover to act effectively.
To answer the question that my opening title begs — can you call yourself professional if you don’t recognize the value of diversity, inclusion and equity? We can rephrase it & call it something different , and we may address some of the challenges we currently face. Yet, fundamentally the core values we are trying to articulate & address — they will remain ever present.
Note that this imbalance is material as it gives rise the things like systemic racism, direct homophobia, and the on-going erasure and violence against people who have characteristics/identity that fall within specific groupings (and there is ample evidence in the press, academic literature and new policy trends).
Dr Ben Britton is a Professor at the University of British Columbia, based in BC, Canada. He’s an active member of the TMS DEI committee, former chair of TMS Pride, and also recognized as an expert in materials characterization & mechanical performance. He can be found on BlueSky as @bmatb.expmicromech.com. Note that the views in this piece are his own, but as a current UBC Senator he is also very aware of the academic freedom policy at UBC.
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