Increasing Equity in STEMM through Community Science
By Christofer Nelson, President and CEO of Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC); and Laura Bartock, Community Science Fellow, ASTC
Historically marginalized communities face systemic barriers and limited access to the science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) ecosystem as researchers, research participants, and research beneficiaries. This has not only limited opportunities for individuals and communities, but it has also meant that breakthroughs in science and technology have the greatest benefit for members of dominant cultures, and often actively harm disenfranchised and minoritized people and groups.
Community-driven approaches to science and technology help broaden participation in STEMM and can help ensure that science and technology advance the priorities and address the needs of all people. The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) is a network of nearly 600 science and technology centers, museums, and allied organizations who share a vision of increasing the understanding of and engagement with science and technology among all people. As institutions of science engagement, science learning, and scientific research, ASTC members often serve as boundary organizations. This role is imperative to facilitating connections between communities and scientists and their work.
ASTC and our members share the STEMM Opportunity Alliance’s (SOA) commitment to ensuring that the full diversity of people and communities are equal participants in learning about, contributing to, and benefiting from science and technology. This ambition means not only are we working to increase the diversity of people who are pursuing STEMM careers, but we are also working to expand the range of individuals and communities engaging in the scientific process, whether they are designing research questions, collecting data, or advocating for evidence-based change. Only the equitable and just participation of diverse people, perspectives, and groups will enable humanity to fully understand and engage in solving our most pressing challenges.
As one example of this work, ASTC's Community Science Initiative, strengthens our members’ capacity to more effectively join their communities in creating solutions to local priorities. Through community science, community members collaborate to conduct and leverage scientific research and technological innovation to advance community priorities and benefit from knowledge and advancements of science and engineering, often in collaboration with scientists and science-engagement practitioners. We define “communities” broadly—as connected or organized groups of people who share a common geography, jurisdiction, set of characteristics, or interests and goals—not just a particular racial or ethnic group or zip code.
The STEMM Opportunity Alliance’s project to achieve equity in STEMM must go beyond removing barriers in higher education and professional STEMM environments. To succeed fully, our work must include supporting organizations that increase scientific agency at the community level.
Community science is essential because our world faces critical challenges that are multi-disciplinary and exist at the intersection of science and society: climate change and the biodiversity crash, public-health preparedness, and the opportunities and risks associated with rapidly developing technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced computational technology. In each realm, there are ethical considerations and trade-offs for which diverse people and communities must help construct solutions to ensure relevance and equity. Community science encompasses a diverse set of community-centered approaches, models, and tools that support communities’ use of science and technology to answer questions and construct solutions to their most important problems.
Community science is grounded in a deep mutual respect and understanding for community agency and strengths. As trusted institutions and inclusive spaces, science centers are uniquely positioned to mobilize and support community science to meet the needs and desires of local communities while advancing their missions. Scientific and technological expertise is needed to help answer questions and design solutions that are impactful. STEMM professionals who want to engage with communities must begin with an open mind, ready to share how their expertise can improve the everyday lives of the community members.
Community science approaches are adding to and strengthening the work that science and technology centers and museums do to increase their community’s understanding of scientific principles and modern technologies, supporting lifelong STEMM learning, and cultivating future generations of STEMM professionals. Science centers and museums partner with K-12 schools, universities, and industry to design and deliver STEMM curriculum, programs, and experiences that are specifically targeted at individuals from historically marginalized communities and help develop STEMM career pathways for these diverse individuals. This engagement, in turn, strengthens the scientific enterprise and our country as a whole. In fact, U.S. innovation would quadruple if women, people of color, and low-income Americans entered the STEMM workforce at the same rate as men from high-income families.
The goal of the STEMM Opportunity Alliance is to coordinate work across sectors and partners at an unprecedented level, and supporting community science centers is a necessary part of that work. Through our partnership with SOA, ASTC will continue to support science and technology centers across the country and identify and scale best practices. Part of SOA’s mission will be to broaden the definition of who gets to “do science,” and extend the notion of what it means to “do science” to include more full and equitable participation by individuals and communities who have historically been excluded from this enterprise.