How to Explore Equity and Access in Research
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How to Explore Equity and Access in Research

A collection of resources from our Research team, in a variety of topics and mediums, that can be used to further your own knowledge about equity and access in research. Foundry10 Follow Dec 18, 2020 · 10 min read

Illustration by Thy Karla Nguyen

Over the past week, foundry10’s Research team has posted research, resources, and thoughts all centered around one topic: equity and access in research. Though we’ve covered many subjects throughout the week — including how to engage with families more equitably and recommendations for how to support students who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic — we weren’t able to talk about everything, since equity and access is such an expansive topic in research. The state of equity and access in research is continually progressing.

Given the importance of equity and access in research at this moment and at foundry10, we also wanted to acknowledge how broad the scope of equity and access in research is and how much our thinking has been shaped by the work of other researchers in the field.

For that reason, we created this “toolkit” with some next steps for those who want to continue learning about equity and access in research after this week. We hope that this can serve as a resource of next steps for those who are interested in equity and access in research but aren’t sure exactly where to start.

This collection of resources includes some research articles on equity and access that had a deep impact on our team, some researchers in the field that we admire for their work around equity and access, some barriers to equity and access that various groups in the research community face, and a list of research studies centered on equity and access that we’ve done over the years here at foundry10.

Research | Researchers | The research community | foundry10’s research

Research

It can be difficult to know where to start when learning about equity and access in research. To help, we’ve collected a couple of articles on equity and access in research from the members of our Research team for suggested reading. Here are some of the articles that furthered their own thinking on the topic:

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Researchers

We asked the members of our Research team to think about people in the field that they admire who are doing important work around equity and access in research. Below we share some of their responses on researchers who have done commendable research on equity and access, along with some of their key insights:

Follow them on social media: Sapna Cheryan (@scheryan1), Django Paris (@django_paris), Onnie Rogers, Ann Ishimaru (@prof_ishimaru), SESEC (@SESECWA), FEEST (@feestseattle), Road Map Project (@RoadMapProject).

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The research community

Strides have been made to make the research community more equitable and accessible, but it’s an ongoing and imperfect project. Here we discuss some, though by no means all, of the barriers to equity and access that members of various groups face in the research community:

Undergraduate research students from historically underrepresented groups may encounter more difficulties with getting involved in research than other students.

A study with approximately 58,000 students from six research universities on the barriers that first generation students face found that “first-generation students more frequently encounter obstacles that compromise their academic success as compared to non-first-generation students, such as job responsibilities, family responsibilities, perceived weak English and math skills, inadequate study skills, and feelings of depression” (Stebleton & Soria, 2012).

face found that “first-generation students more frequently encounter obstacles that compromise their academic success as compared to non-first-generation students, such as job responsibilities, family responsibilities, perceived weak English and math skills, inadequate study skills, and feelings of depression” (Stebleton & Soria, 2012). Bangera and Brownell (2017) discuss seven barriers to research that undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups may face. They also talk about the importance of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for creating more equitable opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved in research.

may face. They also talk about the importance of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for creating more equitable opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved in research. Some colleges and universities have programs that have provided opportunities for underrepresented undergraduate students to participate in research. One such program is the UROP program at the University of Michigan. The SROP program at Big Ten Universities provides summer research opportunities for underrepresented students who want to pursue graduate studies, as does the NSF-funded UROP program.

Early career researchers face many challenges at the outset of their research careers, including: coping with change, post PhD blues, personal life changes, lack of access to resources, lack of support from supervisors, time management, sustaining writing productivity, identity crises, and career issues.

There are often unique barriers to research that researchers from underrepresented groups face.

For example, BIPOC researchers may face increased difficulty with visibility in the research community. In “What I’ve learned about being a Black scientist,” Neil A. Lewis, Jr. discusses his experience as a Black researcher: “I am not just a scientist. I am also a Black man in the United States. My job may be the pinnacle of privilege. But in the country in which I do that job, scientists who look like me often have to wrestle with not just our research questions, but also with being seen — due to the color of our skin — as a problem.”

may face increased difficulty with visibility in the research community. In “What I’ve learned about being a Black scientist,” Neil A. Lewis, Jr. discusses his experience as a Black researcher: “I am not just a scientist. I am also a Black man in the United States. My job may be the pinnacle of privilege. But in the country in which I do that job, scientists who look like me often have to wrestle with not just our research questions, but also with being seen — due to the color of our skin — as a problem.” The research community also isn’t always the most inviting to women, especially women with children. “I didn’t really understand how unjust the academic system was for career advancement for women until I had children,” said Dr. Rebecca Calisi in “The Special Challenges of Being Both a Scientist and A Mom” for the Scientific American.

“I didn’t really understand how unjust the academic system was for career advancement for women until I had children,” said Dr. Rebecca Calisi in “The Special Challenges of Being Both a Scientist and A Mom” for the Scientific American. Calisi and a Work Group of Mothers in Science also offer solutions for ways to make research conferences more friendly to mothers in “Opinion: How to tackle the childcare-conference conundrum.” They suggest that conferences support childcare, accommodate families, provide facilities and equipment for nursing and changing, and help establish a support network of parents and caregivers specifically for conferences.

In a conversation with the Research team about equity and access, the team also discussed how the cycle of applying for grants and the focus of some mainstream research journals can be a barrier to truly equitable research.

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Our research

Equity and access have been important to our work at foundry10 for a long time. Though we have done many research studies around equity and access, our thinking and engagement with equity and access in research have changed and evolved over the years. Below are some of the studies related to equity and access that we’ve done here at foundry10:

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Want to hear more about equity and access in research or continue this conversation with our Research team? Connect with us at research@foundry10.org. To learn more about foundry10, follow us on social and subscribe to our monthly Newsletter.

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