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UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA SYMPOSIUM:
What Does Diversity Have to Do with Good Science?
John Matsui, director of the Biology Scholars Program, has been working for 13 years to increase the diversity of life science majors at the University of California, Berkeley. From the beginning, he has faced some resistance from colleagues. Scientists, he noted, like to think that they view every student without prejudice, and that merit alone determines success.
But Matsui and other faculty and students at the symposium expressed a different view. One graduate student related a story of being called “the whitest black girl I know” by a colleague. When she asked what the comment meant, her colleague pointed to her intelligence and serious study habits. An undergraduate student described walking into his first science course—the only African-American in the class—and being asked if he was on the football team. “There is a mentality on campuses that if you are African American, you are supposed to go into business, or religion, or education—not science,” the student said.
But beyond expressions of prejudice, Matsui said he sees a larger uphill battle to be fought in diversity work—trying to answer the question he hears from many colleagues: “What does diversity have to do with good science?”
To address that issue, Matsui found ammunition in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling on the University of Michigan law school’s affirmative action policy. The friend-of-the-court briefs that were submitted included studies showing that workers from diverse student groups are better prepared to compete in a global world economy, and that national security requires diverse armed forces.
Even more convincing for scientists, argued Matsui, should be numerous examples taken from biomedical history. He asked: Would there have been a 50-year lag between the discovery of sickle cell anemia and research for its treatment if there had been more African American scientists in the early 1900s? Would the birth control pill have been tested on poor women in Mexico in the 1960s had there been more Latino scientists in the ranks? Today, would an HIV vaccine that protects Asians and African Americans more effectively than it does white patients have been called a “failure” if more science journalists of color worked in the media?
Matsui suggested that symposia participants conduct more site visits to other campuses to really understand how diversity work translates. “The most important thing is to talk to the students. There are continuing inequities that many students are facing daily,” he said.
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