Stereotypes of who belong in STEM can influence our thinking and how we perceive our own position within the STEM disciplines. If you take a few minutes to visualise who you think would be a ‘typical’ STEM professional, what images and/or words come to mind? Were they male or female? White or racially marginalised? Able bodied or disabled? LGBQT+ or straight?
It is not uncommon to think of STEM professionals as being predominantly white, able bodied, cis-gendered men! So don’t feel bad if you did this too. We often see and hear culturally normative images of STEM scholars that draw on gender and trait-based stereotypes. We know that certain groups are discriminated against in STEM subjects and that racially marginalised people are likely to have poorer outcomes than their white counterparts.
Sarah Chapman, a successful leader in engineering, recently said in an article:
‘Close your eyes and picture an engineer. It’s hard not to bring a stereotypical image to mind - even if you yourself are evidence to the contrary [...] Indeed, I still find it hard not to recall the image of the lone, white, male boffin when I think of science and engineering. Yet I know, first-hand, that the industry is more diverse than that. I see in my work that creative ideas can come from anyone regardless of race, age, gender or sexuality. I believe that to solve the world’s most pressing challenges, and to solve them for the many, not just the few, we need everyone to be represented.’
Read more in the Institute of Civil Engineers article here.
We asked AI to provide an image of a scientist.
What is AI telling us (implicitly) about who belongs in STEM?
Destabilising stereotypes
One of the main barriers to participation in STEM subjects is the way in which the media, generative AI, and our own perceptions can perpetuate stereotypes. What we’re aiming to do on this page is share some inspiring stories from a broad range of people that go beyond these dated stereotypes and explore a positive identify of who belongs in STEM.
We asked some OU academics and students the following questions:
1. Who are you, what do you do in STEM/have you done in STEM?
2. Why did you choose to study STEM subjects?
3. Why choose a STEM career?
4. Why do you belong in STEM?
Who are you, what do you do/have you done in STEM?
Why did you choose to study STEM subjects?
Why choose a STEM career?
Why do you belong in STEM?
So, how would you answer these questions?
Anknowledgements: with thanks to Jennifer Hillman, Ewelina
Grzanka, Maggie Bates
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