Online Course “Scientific Integrity”

5. Diversity in Science
Diversity in Science

• Diversity of Why don‘t we have any new

ideas?
• Fields and disciplines
• Projects
• Research methods
• People

To cover all socially relevant areas with research, they must be adequately represented in science

DFG 2017, illustration adapted by Tom Fishburne

Diversity in Science

No one may be excluded from a scientific career

based on non-scientific facts such as
• Gender
• Ethnic Origin
• Age
• State of health
• Sexual identity
• Religion or ideology

This is also stated in the German General Equal Treatment Act (AGG: Allgemeines
Gleichbehandlungsgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland)

DFG 2017, AGG 2006

Diversity in Science – Advantages

• The German Research Foundation (DFG) offers measures for equal opportunities in the
individual funding procedures to support
• Equality between men and women in science and
• Compatibility of family life and scientific career
• Socially diverse groups breed demonstrably more innovation than homogeneous groups
• Wide range of individual expertise can aid in solving complex problems

DFG 2017, Schiebinger & Schraudner 2011, Phillips 2014

Diversity in Science – Advantages

• Thus promotes added value for research and technology through

• Ensuring excellence and quality of results, and
• Improving sustainability
• Added value for society by making research more responsive to social needs
• Creating value for companies by developing new ideas, patents and
technologies

DFG 2017, Schiebinger & Schraudner 2011, Phillips 2014

Diversity in Science – Guidance

„Researchers examine whether and to what extent

gender and diversity dimensions may be of
significance to the research project (with regard to
methods, work programme, objectives, etc.). The
context in which the research was conducted is
taken into consideration when interpreting findings.“
(DFG 2019:15f.)

DFG 2019
 Practical Example – Communication in Science

• Educational textbooks reproduce gender stereotypes through

• ...language (e.g. choice of words, metaphors and process names)
• ...and presentation (pictures, graphics and tables)

Statement of RWTH Aachen University

„Equality starts with our language. In accordance with the What does a „scientist“ look like?
Landesgleichstellungsgesetz (state equal opportunities law),
the university must ensure equal treatment of men and
women in terms of language in official correspondence.“
(transl. Förderung der Gleichstellung, RWTH Aachen)

RWTH Aachen 2019, Schiebinger 2013, Fermilab

Practical Example – "Nude" is not a colour

• „Skin-coloured" underwear or plasters are almost always designed for

white skin
• Mostly the colour "beige" is meant by this
• Defining "nude" or "skin colour" as the colour of white skin solidifies the
idea that white skin is the norm
→ "Nude" is a state, not a colour

Rethinking language and visual presentation in textbooks can help to eliminate

unconscious gender inequalities that hinder research and innovation.

Gregull 2012, Schiebinger 2013, own illustration

Practical Example – Pregnant Crashtest-Dummies

• Conventional seat belts do not functionally fit the body of pregnant

women

• Even emergency braking at slow speeds damages mother and child

Main cause of death for unborn children when mothers are involved
in an accident

• The male body was defined as the norm in science for a long time and
is considered as the reference for development and research
Development of crash test dummies
Source: www.volpe.dot.gov

• Not thinking about size, shape, gender or skin colour can be life-
threatening

Standards for reference models of the population must be questioned!

Pearlman 1996, Schiebinger 2013

Code of Conduct of DFG on the Responsibility of Supervisors and Assistants

„Researchers are responsible for putting the

fundamental values and norms of research into
practice and advocating for them. Education in the
principles of good research begins at the earliest
possible stage in academic teaching and research
training.“ (DFG 2019:9f.)

DFG 2019
Code of Conduct of DFG on the Responsibility of Supervisors and Assistants

„The heads of HEIs and non-HEI research

institutions create the basic framework for research.
They are responsible for ensuring adherence to and
the promotion of good practice, and for appropriate
career support for all researchers.“ (DFG 2019:10)

DFG 2019
Promotion of scientific staff

• Academic staff are entitled to individual support and career development within the framework of the
organisational concept of the respective institution
• Structural concepts prevent abuse of power and the exploitation of dependency

Promotion of doctoral projects

• Graduate schools and trainings as well as doctoral programmes in universities and non-university
research institutions generally have doctoral guidelines and conclude supervision agreements

DFG 2019, Sponholz 2019

 References

• Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG) (2006), online available:

https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/publikationen/AGG/agg_gleichbehandlungsgeset
z.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (Status: 23.04.2020).
• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (2019) Leitlinien zur Sicherung guter wissenschaftlicher Praxis. Kodex,
online available:
https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/rechtliche_rahmenbedingungen/gute_wissenschaftliche_praxis/kodex_gw
p.pdf (Status: 18.03.2020).
English translation available: German Research Foundation (2019) Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice. Code of
Conduct, online available:
https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/foerderung/rechtliche_rahmenbedingungen/gute_wissenschaftliche_praxis/kodex_gwp_en.pdf (Status:
25.06.2020).

• Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (2017) Inklusiv forschen. Forschung – Das Magazin der deutschen
Forschungsgemeinschaft, 03, 26, online available:
https://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_magazin/aus_der_forschung/forschung_magazin/2017/forschung_2017_03.pdf
(Status: 19.03.2020).
• Gregull, E. (2012) „Wie Rassismus aus Wörtern spricht“ - Ein Nachschlagewerk zu Sprache, deutschem Kolonialismus
und Rassismus. Heimatkunde - Heinrich Böll Stiftung, online available: https://heimatkunde.boell.de/de/2012/04/01/wie-
rassismus-aus-woertern-spricht-ein-nachschlagewerk-zu-sprache-deutschem-kolonialismus (Status: 22.05.2020).
• Pearlman, J., Viano, D. (1996) Automobile crash simulation with the first pregnant crash test dummy. American Journal
of Obstetrics & Gynecology 175, 977-981.
 References
• Phillips, K. W., Medin, D., Lee, C. D., Bang, M., Bishop, S., & Lee, D. N. (2014) How diversity works. Scientific
American, 311(4), 42-47, online available:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Megan_Bang/publication/280845360_Particular_Points_of_View/links/57485c2808
ae18b6dce91abf.pdf (Status: 19.03.2020).
• RWTH Aachen (2019) Förderung der Gleichstellung, online available: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Die-
RWTH/Profil/Gender-Diversity/~ckpm/Foerderung-der-Gleichstellung/ (Status: 18.03.2020).
• Schiebinger, L. (2013) Gendered Innovations: How Gender Analysis Contributes to Research, online available:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248399777_Gendered_Innovations_How_Gender_Analysis_Contributes_to_
Research (Status: 30.03.2020).
• Schiebinger, L., & Schraudner, M. (2011) Interdisciplinary approaches to achieving gendered innovations in science,
medicine, and engineering1. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 36(2), 154-167, online available:
https://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/ISR_07_Schiebinger.pdf (Status: 19.03.2020).
• Sponholz, G. (2019) Curriculum für Lehrveranstaltungen zur „Guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis “für alle
wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, online available: https://ombudsman-fuer-die-wissenschaft.de/wp-
content/uploads/2019/11/2019-Curriculum-f%C3%BCr-Lehrveranstaltungen-zur-GWP.pdf (Status: 19.03.2020).
• Image Sources
− Fermilab: https://ed.fnal.gov/projects/scientists/amy.html, https://ed.fnal.gov/projects/scientists/eric.html
− Tom Fishburne: https://marketoonist.com/2018/08/diversity.html