Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations Beyond Broadening Participation (2023) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Gatekeepers of STEMM: How Individual Bias and Inequality Persist and How STEMM Professionals Can Help
6 The Gatekeepers of STEMM: How Individual Bias and Inequality Persist and How STEMM Professionals Can Help
Pages 154-190
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From page 154... ...
However, Chapters 5 and 6 are meant to be read and understood together as they are not mutually exclusive phenomena, but rather two sides of the same coin. Like the previous chapter, the current chapter addresses the charge in the statement of task on reviewing the research and evidence on the ways in which racism at the individual level impedes STEMM careers for minoritized individuals.
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, hardly conducive to STEMM recruitment. White individuals tend to view Native Americans through varied lenses also: the noble, wise, nature-loving elder Indian stereotype versus the ignoble, disreputable alcoholic stereotype (Burkeley et al., 2017)
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They can directly shape minoritized individuals' ability to access, be included, and thrive in STEMM, as they define the skills, identities, and values necessary for minoritized individuals to persist (Estrada et al., 2011)
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White Gatekeepers in STEMM Chapter 2 covers an extensive history of how a racial hierarchy was created and reinforced in the United States to systematically advantage White individuals (structural racism) , and chapter 3 provides detailed figures on racial disparities in STEMM contexts.
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. While power and status are disproportionally located within this group, there is research demonstrating that many White individuals express discomfort identifying as White because of the association with White supremacy (Grzanka, Gonzalez, & Spanieman, 2019; Thomann & Suyemoto, 2018)
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That is, on average White individuals are prone to keeping their surroundings White (Charles, 2000)
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Overt racism, forged in years of slavery and oppression, inaccurately views Black individuals as inferior to White individuals, even as subhuman, dating back to pseudo-logic justifying slavery (Oh, 2020)
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Instead, White individuals on average view their own group as losing ground, as Black individuals gain civil rights. Conversely, research demonstrates Black individuals less often view civil rights as a zero-sum game over time (Peacock & Biernat, 2021)
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. Another difference is by personality; certain personalities among White individuals are predictive of tendencies toward exhibiting biases more than others.
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. Aversive racism is where individuals who hold and may express outwardly egalitarian attitudes nevertheless have an aversion to members of their outgroups (e.g., White individuals having an aversion to Black individuals, Indigenous individuals, Latine individuals)
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. Furthermore, these experiences of microaggressions act as a major barrier because they reduce minoritized individuals' sense of belonging within STEMM contexts (Miles et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2022)
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To counter racism in STEMM, systemic accountability at the organizational level will be essential. Automatic Category Detection and Implicit Associations The following research will show that ordinary individual racial bias is more automatic than most people think.
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. Decades of research using the IAT have demonstrated a substantial prevalence of implicit bias against Black individuals, such that White individuals on average associate their own group labels (White, European-American)
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People working in racially homogenous STEMM departments and organizations may be particularly susceptible to perpetuating racial biases, given they are not being challenged to question their existing worldviews. Increased numeric diversity may be essential to interrupting existing social cognitive processes for White individuals.
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6-15 Pre-Publication Copy, Uncorrected Proofs
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. Ambivalent, Plausibly Deniable Biases Research shows that ordinary individual racial bias is more ambivalent than most people think.
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. If these results characterize STEMM interactions, it is possible that White individuals are unintentionally patronizing their Black colleagues, while feeling friendly in the attempt.
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. When White gatekeepers opt to choose others similar to self, they are not necessarily displaying hostility to minoritized individuals, but perhaps comfort with other ingroup White individuals.
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Comprehending these motives can suggest how to intervene in systemic structures that routinely advantage White individuals. Belonging works as 6-19 Pre-Publication Copy, Uncorrected Proofs
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reasons for policy, including policy pertaining to advancing diversity. Institutional justifications for antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion, if they focus on profit or benefits to White individuals, are generally pleasing to White respondents (Starck et al., 2021)
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. One study found that White individuals who were strong endorsers of social dominance orientation, as compared to those White individuals who were not, were more likely to categorize a multiracial (Black-White)
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. Individual differences in social dominance orientation therefore predicts which STEMM gatekeepers will be open to leveling the playing field and which will favor hierarchies.
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Gatekeepers can exploit this, because justifying the system entails endorsing positive stereotypes about their own group. Indeed, system justification works better for White individuals than for Black individuals (Rankin et al., 2009)
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Taking these perceptions together, White individuals and minoritized individuals during interracial interactions may have different impression management goals stemming from their meta-perceptions (Fiske et al., 2015)
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. Consistent with these ideas, White individuals scoring higher on a White "fragility" scale also endorsed modern racism, social inequalities, and allegedly colorblind racial attitudes (Langrehr et al., 2021)
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. Specifically, the population of minoritized individuals has been growing faster than White individuals, and minoritized individuals could attain majority-minority status by 2050 (Richeson & Sommers, 2016)
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These factors contribute to advantage gatekeepers and disadvantage minoritized individuals, their position challenges the gatekeepers' proclivity to notice, let alone remedy racism in STEMM. Furthermore, additional research demonstrated demographic shifts occurring in the United States, specifically perceptions of the "majority-minority" shift, may be perceived as a potential threat to the preservation of the status quo, and a source of anxiety around this possible loss in power and status.
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6-28 Pre-Publication Copy, Uncorrected Proofs
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. White and minority demographic shifts, intergroup threat, and right wing extremism.
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. Bias in the air: A nationwide exploration of teachers' implicit racial attitudes, aggregate bias, and student outcomes.
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. Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test.
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. A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo.
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 99, 104266. Kruglanski, A
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3)
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. Racial disparities in school-based disciplinary actions are associated with county-level rates of racial bias.
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Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 64, 27 34. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J
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. Right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and prejudice.
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