New developments in diversity and inclusiveness in geosciences

It has been 12 years since the Journal of Geoscience Education published a special issue on broadening participation in the Earth sciences (Riggs & Alexander, 2007). There have been a number of major initiatives by federal and private funding agencies to address the lack of diversity and inclusion in the geosciences, both before and since then, and as a result many dozens of projects have been attempted nationwide. Yet, in a recent comment in Nature Geoscience, Bernard and Cooperdock (2018) concluded that there has been no progress in overall diversity in the geosciences in the U.S. for 40 years. It is true that geoscience remains the least diverse of the sciences at all levels of education as well as in the profession (AGI, 2014). However, these broad, aggregate studies miss the successes of a number of projects operating at levels ranging from individual programs and departments up through collaborations involving several-institutions. With obstinate problems, progress can be slow, and many of these local, regional, and small-scale projects have proven successful—and made some a national impact (Sidder, 2017). This special issue provides a number of examples of approaches, designs, assessments, and results of initiatives on diversity and inclusion in the U.S. from across this range of project scales. If the Bernard and Cooperdock (2018) comment is a wake-up call to the geoscience community, this special issue may provide suggestions and opportunities for geoscientists to address issues of diversity and inclusion.

The special issue includes commentaries, curriculum and instruction papers, literature reviews and research papers that address a wide range of educational settings (informal education, K-12 settings, undergraduate education, graduate student preparation) and types of diversity (racial, gender, physical disabilities, mental disabilities). Several papers report on previous and current national initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion in the geosciences. A review of the lessons learned in the National Science Foundation OEDG program (Karsten) contrasts well with the practices of the ongoing GOLD program (Posselt, Chen, Dixon, Jackson, Kirsch, Nunez and Teppen) in two papers. Another paper (Bililign) reviews several national programs and their effectiveness in HBCU and MSI institutions with specific examples.

Several papers center around the theme of training faculty to become catalysts of change for diversity and inclusiveness in departments and programs. These include papers on the power of change agents (Macdonald, Beane, Baer, Eddy, Emerson, Hodder, Iverson, McDaris, O’Connell and Ormand) and champions of diversity (Quardokus Fisher, Kaufman, Calanga, Myles, Brinkworth, Simmons and Dixon) to transform programs and enhance both diversity and inclusion. Another paper (Weissman, Ibarra, Howland-Davis and Lammay) assesses the methods used in presenting and evaluating geoscience and STEM classes and whether they encourage or discourage diversity and inclusiveness.

A group of papers focus on recruitment and perception of geosciences in the geoscience pathway. These include a paper by Sherman-Morris, Del Valle-Martinez, Justice and Hall on the entry point into the geosciences for diverse students by way of high school guidance counselors and a description of an introductory assignment that connects underrepresented minority students with relevant societal issues (Reinen and Kortz). Bilingual education encourages Spanish-speaking students to pursue geoscience pathways (Medina Luna, Bartel, Hubenthal and Haacker). Connecting research and practice to show its value to society, is another paper (McDaris, Iverson, Manduca and Orr) to help further draw a more diverse group of students into the profession. This theme is echoed in a paper by Ricci and Riggs that focuses on Native American students in particular, to help them appreciate geology in the field using connection to culture and traditional knowledge as an entry point.

Another common theme is the power of mentoring in encouraging diverse students to persevere in the geosciences. These include descriptions of benefits to both mentors and mentees. One paper (Jin, Doser, Lougheed, Walsh, Hamdan, Zarei and Corral) describes the benefit to mentees at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Another paper (Gates) shows that undergraduate mentors also benefit from the experience which can enhance diversity in certain situations.

Several papers focus on the theme of teaching and learning environment modification and assessment for students with disabilities. Lang and Persico discuss accommodations and accessibility for autism spectrum students in the context of field courses. Atchison, Marshall and Collins describe how field geology courses can be designed to include persons with physical disabilities. Fairfax and Brown describe advances in accessible curricula and classroom practice in lab courses driven largely by modifications to the teaching assistant training program to include a focus on universal design principles. The National Geoscience Faculty Survey is also reviewed to determine practices that enhance inclusive learning environments in undergraduate courses (Beane, McNeal and Macdonald). Environment modification can also be in terms of adaptation of curricula to particularly salient dimensions of diversity and assessment results of this adaptation.

The author team of Mattheis, Murphy and Marin-Spiotta provides a literature review of the geoscience education literature itself, from the perspective of critical theory, a social science approach emphasizing identity, power dynamics and structural influences of elements of diversity (ethnicity, culture, disability, etc.) on student performance, learning outcomes and persistence. They analyze literature from this journal and related publications to understand how identity and diversity were research elements for studies.

Considering the projected need for trained professionals in STEM and especially in the geosciences coupled with the changes in demographics of the population, the lack of diversity and inclusion can realistically be considered a national crisis. We hope that this special issue might help interested educators to address it in a more effective manner and perhaps bring it to the attention to others so that can be more widely addressed.