EOS3.1
Presentations: Tue, 24 May | Room 1.14
The Erasmus+ Capacity Building program, created in 2014, aims at incentivizing the European universities to share knowledge with higher education institutions from other continents. The project “SUGERE” (Sustainable Sustainability and Wise Use of Geological Resources) aims at developing degree programs at different levels, from bachelors, to master and doctorate, in the field of earth sciences (Geology, Geological Engineering, and Mining Engineering) in universities from Africa. The main goal is to develop and implement programs focusing on three key areas: knowledge about earth sciences and natural resources, skills related to sustainable environmental development, and ethics and social economics. The purpose is to motivate both students and teaching staff to play a decisive role in the development of their countries through sustainable mining. Partners are working to integrate innovative ways to share knowledge and good training practices
How to cite: Nuvunga, F. O., Miguel, I., Vitória, S., Holden, E., Dino, G., and Pereira, M. D.: Linking continents through their educational programs, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-406, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-406, 2022.
'A Touch of Space Weather' is a project that brings space weather science into the hands of blind and visually impaired (B&VI) high-school students. This project was awarded an EGU Public Engagement Grant in 2021.
The goal of our project is to offer B&VI teachers a new approach to teaching complex STEM topics in a creative way. One of the main activities is the creation of audio booklets, a type of media in high demand by B&VI teachers. These audio booklets address various scientific topics that are taught in science classes in general high schools, such as the Sun, Earth's magnetic field, Moon exploration, and more.
This project wants to highlight the importance of space weather, as it influences nearly every aspect of our modern life ranging from banking, navigation, telecommunications to the power supply. It is an interdisciplinary subject and therefore ideal for explaining complex scientific topics to students while at the same time teaching them space- and geo-sciences. That is why each audio booklet includes a description of a space weather phenomenon or effect relevant to the topic.
3D printed models and a tactile image provide hands-on activities to complement the audio lessons. The EGU Public Engagement Grant is covering the physical costs of creating a minimum of 30 ‘A Touch of Space Weather’ boxes that will be distributed to the schools and organizations that are providing education to B&VI people. Each box will include material for one tactile image, one USB stick with all audio booklets, assignments for students, and 3D printed models to accompany audio booklets.
How to cite: Zychova, L., Lefever, K., and Crosby, N.: A Touch of Space Weather - Outreach project for visually impaired students, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5555, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5555, 2022.
Representation of BIPOC (black, indigenous people of colour) people in geoscience is severely lacking, and is most apparent in polar sciences. Despite representing 16% of the UK population, only 3% of polar scientist are BIPOC1. Polar sciences have a poor history of inclusivity, with examples of research being dominated by white males until as late as 1960, when the first British female scientist conducted research in Antarctica. Underrepresentation is apparent from undergraduate level to research staff. In the UK, black people account for 1.2% of research staff, despite making up 3.4% of the UK population2. Similar statistics appear for research students, where 6.5% of black people who begin research, discontinue before graduating, compared with only 3.8% of white students2. A 2018 study by Bernard and Cooperdock suggests that increased diversity benefits scientific advancements greatly, as different life experiences often spark unique approaches to research3. If we want to broaden the ethnic and racial range in polar science, we need to increase involvement in polar sciences from school age students by encouraging them to pursue further education on polar and environmental sciences.
This free event, taking place on31st March, is firmly grounded in widening participation and engaging with school children who may not have considered a career in polar science. We will be working with diverse schools in Surrey and West London to bring 13-14 and 16-17 year old students to discuss careers in polar science. These two age groups were selected as they represent pivotal points in education where students select option courses, and begin to consider further study and future careers. The day will involve talks from various diverse polar scientists, including speakers from BAS, SPRI, University of Reading and Cambridge. Having a role model to identify with is key to fostering a sense of belonging in the science community. Therefore, we have invited speakers from a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, which we hope the students will identify with and will be able to envisage themselves having a career in polar science. This will be followed by a computer based exercise working through Antarctica focused StoryMaps developed both by AntarcticGlaciers.org and specifically for this event.
The event is a part of the Diversity in Polar Science initiative funded by UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Polar Regions Department, and will be hosted by Royal Holloway, University of London’s geography department.
References
1. British Antarctic Survey. 2022. Diversity in UK Polar Science Initiative - British Antarctic Survey. [online] Available at: <https://www.bas.ac.uk/project/diversity-in-uk-polar-science-initiative/> [Accessed 11 January 2022].
2. BBC News. 2022. Black scientists say UK research is institutionally racist. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58795079> [Accessed 11 January 2022].
3. Bernard, R.E. and Cooperdock, E.H., 2018. No progress on diversity in 40 years. Nature Geoscience, 11(5), pp.292-295.
How to cite: Jenkins, H., Davies, B., and Boyall, L.: Widening participation and diversity in polar environments: taster day for school students, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5754, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5754, 2022.
“ENGIE - Encouraging Girls to Study Geosciences and Engineering” is an EIT Raw Materials funded project aimed to raise the interest of girls aged 13-18 for studying geosciences and related engineering disciplines. The final objective of the Project is to achieve gender equality in the future of geosciences as well as understanding the reasons for the gender imbalance and early female disinterest in geosciences and creating best practices for the future.
In EGU 2021, ENGIE presented the objectives and key messages from the project. Since then, the project has organized actions in 25 countries counting with a total of 11.117 participants, 64% of them girls. During the implementation of the actions the participants and partners have been part of the Impact Assessment carried out during said activities. Out of 11.117 participants only 939 answered the questionnaire to its completion. The variations in countries, demographics and, most often, the type of activity they participated is noticeable and could point out to the reasons for this low participation.
There has been a double approach into ensuring the assessment is correct and the results are pertinent by gathering feedback both from participants and organisers of the actions. For the participants, a short questionnaire in their national language created specifically for the targeted age and expertise that allows for quantitative and qualitative analysis and is in the process of being reformulated taking into account the lessons learnt this year.
As for the organisers, ENGIE’s Impact Assessment is based on ensuring coherence with the objectives and the communication the three key messages of the project:
- Changing circumstances not individuals
- Challenging rather than reproducing inequalities
- Taking variations into account
The double analysis carried out through these questionnaires and the wide extension of the ENGIE actions can show a glimpse of the most interesting actions for girls, as well as creating a baseline for tackling gender inequality in geosciences during COVID-19 times. The reformulation of the questions and adding of new feedback measures (wordclouds, forum questions…) by applying lessons learnt and comments from the collaborating stakeholders in more than 20 countries has been considered..
In 2021, ENGIE presented the main concepts and objectives of the project as well as the actions planned. In 2022, the implementations and assessment of the project during the present running time is to be presented as well as evaluated and analysed in order to disseminate ENGIE’s recommendations to organize and assess actions targeted at improving gender equality in geosciences.
How to cite: Ortega Rodríguez, A., Cseko, A., Hartai, É., and Johansson, K. and the The ENGIE Team: ENGIE: Encouraging girls to study geociences and engineering. Lessons learnt., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11600, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11600, 2022.
South Africa has an almost unparalled geological record, spanning from the early Archaean and the first traces to life on earth, right through to the Quaternary and the evolution of our own prehuman relatives. The University of Cape Town (UCT) is consistently recognised as the top university in African. Recent articles highlight issues of race and racism in the Geological Sciences[i] and harassment in the field[ii]. Given that our undergraduate cohort reflects the diverse demographics of South Africa, and our long history of excellence, as a department and institution, we are well placed to tackle both issues.
2021 brought the return of some normality to undergraduate teaching, and our department advocated to run in person field trips, organising COVID tests for all participants. We ran a three-day residential field training course for our first-year undergraduates. This trip has the potential to make or break future geologists – a good experience can influence their decision to major in geology. We modified the field guide to include precise locations and timings for all coach journeys and stops, as students commonly report feeling a lack of control on field trips, which can be disorientating, particularly for students who are anxious or have little travel experience. We included stops with toilet facilities at regular intervals and ensured students were aware of when the next rest break would be. This is important for female students who, worldwide, report finding the absence of facilities in the field distressing, sometimes forcing them to make unhealthy decisions (not changing menstrual products or intentionally becoming dehydrated[iii]). We provided free menstrual products and informed students that they could help themselves discretely as needed. We provided all meals, including lunch, to relieve financial stress for students living in catered residences, for whom field trips constitute an additional expense.
We made pedagogical changes to encourage student engagement and empowerment. Students were asked to research key topics in advance, and then present them in the field. We also reduced the number of stops and spent longer at each one, giving students time to make their own observations and interpretations before a group discussion. This improved student engagement and encouraged peer-to-peer learning. It also helped to empower the students and break down the model of field trip leaders (who are mostly White) being a fountain of knowledge and students being the “sponges”. Overall, even the COVID adjusted version of the excursion was highly successful, as gauged by anonymous student feedback. By the time this meeting takes place, we will have a sense of how many of these students choose to continue into second year.
[i] Dutt, K. Race and racism in the geosciences. Nat. Geosci. 13, 2–3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0519-z
[ii] Clancy KBH, Nelson RG, Rutherford JN, Hinde K (2014) Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. PLoS ONE 9(7): e102172. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102172
[iii] Greene, S., Ashley, K., Dunne, E., Edgar, K., Giles, S., & Hanson, E. (2020, January 9). Toilet stops in the field: An educational primer and recommended best practices for field-based teaching. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/gnhj2
How to cite: Pickering, R., Hasbibi, S., and Tostevin, R.: Redesigning field training to provide an informative, safe, and even fun experience for first year students at the University of Cape Town, South Africa., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-522, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-522, 2022.
Many geomorphologists who are mothers find it challenging to balance field research alongside pregnancy and early motherhood. The barriers presented by carrying out fieldwork during pregnancy or as a mother of preschool-aged children can adversely affect the career progress of women and Early Career Scientists at a point that is critical for their retention in scientific research. We offer perspectives on the challenges of fieldwork as mothers and discuss possible solutions that have worked (or not) for us, as a means of promoting conversations and highlighting issues that are less commonly considered in field-based geomorphological research. Although every mother’s experience and needs are different, we discuss strategies for conducting fieldwork, addressing childcare issues, maintaining a research career through this life stage, and dealing with financial considerations such as additional childcare costs. We highlight funders that support mothers in carrying out fieldwork and the problem of institutional restrictions on such spending. We call for our community to support geomorphologists who are pregnant or caring for young children in carrying out fieldwork to help enhance the diversity of voices and perspectives within our discipline.
How to cite: Lininger, K., Rowan, A. V., Livers, B., Kramer, N., Ruiz-Villanueva, V., Sendrowski, A., and Burrough, S.: Promoting and supporting field-based geomorphologists during pregnancy and early motherhood, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-726, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-726, 2022.
Scientific research vessels are highly specialist resources in constant demand, often scheduled many years in advance of a research cruise and typically awarded to a narrow selection of permanently employed eligible investigators. The ability to access vessels is essential for a wide range of geoscientific research from paleoenvironmental sedimentary studies through to understanding modern day marine biodiversity. The high demand and low supply problem of accessing cruises means that participation can often be limited to small networks within the awarded discipline. This can present a barrier to marine scientists who wish to gain offshore experience, despite the fact that research vessels may have greater capacity than is required by any one scientific party. This is particularly true for early career scientists who usually work on timelines shorter than those required for cruise planning, and those from non-traditional academic backgrounds who may be less well connected to funded networks.
FindAScienceBerth is a project aiming to match those who wish to partake in a scientific cruise with spare capacity through identifying available berths on scheduled cruises. The long term goal of FindAScienceBerth is to provide opportunities to those who would otherwise be excluded from conducting offshore research to gain experience essential for career development, and in turn better utilise available ship capacity. Here, we will present our background research, quantifying unused berths on UK research vessels, demonstrating the potential of our initiative. Additionally, we will introduce the interface of FindAScienceBerth, showing how we have adapted the existing pan-European Marine Facilities Planning tool for cruise scheduling in order to identify and advertise spare capacity. We will demonstrate how principal scientific officers can advertise spare berths and how prospective participants can identify and apply for these roles. Finally, we will give an overview of the process we have developed to ensure an EDI compliant recruitment practice for filling ship berth vacancies and our EDI monitoring work throughout the application process. Such a process could be applicable to similar schemes across the geosciences which seek to increase equality, diversity and inclusivity by creating opportunities for the development of practical skills.
For further information please see our project site: findascienceberth.wordpress.com
How to cite: Fisher, B. J., McGregor, A., Hendry, K. R., Van Ladeghem, K. J. J., Marzocchi, A., Fielding, S., Darlington, E., Anderson, M., Joshi, S., and Sieradzan, K.: FindAScienceBerth: connecting underrepresented groups in marine science with available berths on scientific research vessels, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5267, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5267, 2022.
Participation in offshore fieldwork is a frequent pathway into a successful career in marine science due to the unique opportunities for practical skills development provided by such field experiences. However, the ability to participate in scientific research cruises can be hindered for those from certain backgrounds, such as physically disabled scientists with mobility limitations, those with caring responsibilities who cannot spend extended periods of time away from home, and early career researchers from minority groups who may perceive the limited confines of a research ship as a hostile or unwelcoming environment.
Digital twinning is a new and rapidly developing area that describes how technologies and capabilities, including modelling, remote sensing, and linking shipboard equipment to shore visually in real-time, can be intertwined with traditional offshore operations to promote inclusivity and broaden the diversity of people involved in marine sciences. Here we will present preliminary results from our project that explores whether perceptions of fieldwork as a requirement for a career in marine science exist and whether jobs in marine science explicitly require these skills and experiences. Perceptions of fieldwork were evaluated through a series of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with prospective marine scientists at undergraduate and PhD level. Additionally, we also conducted a systematic review of advertised vacancies in marine science to determine how perceived requirements for a career in marine science differed from the advertised required skills and experience. Finally, we collated several case studies of effective use of digital twinning as a tool to enable those who cannot access offshore fieldwork to participate in scientific cruises. We aim to use these case studies to highlight the potential for digital twinning to act as a complimentary route into the field and act as an evidence base for continued investment in, and development of, new technologies to facilitate equitable and inclusive marine science.
How to cite: McGregor, A., Fisher, B., Baker, C. A., Robinson, C., Damerell, G. M., Liszka, C. M., Simmonds, N., Fielding, S., and Muschitiello, P.: Is first-hand fieldwork still the best way into a career in marine sciences? Highlighting digital twinning of the oceans as a complementary and more inclusive pathway into a career in the marine sciences, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5569, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5569, 2022.
Geoscience research is inequitably distributed within the UK and worldwide due to a lack of access to analytical facilities and associated funding. This disproportionately affects minority and marginalised researchers. Geoscience research relies on access to analytical facilities to create fundamental datasets; however, lack of analytical facilities access negatively affects success and retention in research, impacting diversity in geoscience. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) issues in analytical geoscience were investigated through participating in a recent NERC’s Digital Technologies to Open Up Environmental Sciences Digital Sprint hackathon, including an online survey to understand how different groups access analytical facilities globally. Analysis of the survey data revealed a lack of funding to cover analytical costs and prohibitively competitive national schemes as barriers to accessing analytical facilities. The analysis also suggests that a lack of access or perceived lack of access to facilities has stopped 77% of respondents from pursuing an avenue of research, and 71% have switched research topics. To address the access gap, we are developing an app - GeoColab, a digital technology platform to break down barriers in analytical geoscience. The GeoCoLab App funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) aims to solve the lack of access by ‘match–making’ underserved geoscience researchers who need analytical services, with collaborating laboratory facilities that have agreed to offer a quota of pro-bono services.
How to cite: Raji, M., Bond, C., Carter, E., Davies-Vollum, S., Butcher, G., Lewis, E., Thomas, B., and Williams, R.: Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve EDI in Geosciences: GeoCoLab, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12869, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12869, 2022.
Presentations: Wed, 25 May | Room 1.14
The European Research Council (ERC), Europe’s premiere funding agency for frontier research, views equality of opportunities as an essential priority and a vital mission to ensure credibility in the review process. The ERC monitors closely various demographic data yearly on every call and has taken actions to tackle imbalances and potential implicit and explicit biases.
This presentation is focused on gender data for the three main funding schemes: Starting Grant, Consolidator Grant and Advanced Grant. After more than 12 years of existence, and various specific actions to tackle societal imbalances, ERC data provides an insight on the impact of various actions.
In the first framework programme (FP7, 2007-2013), 25% of applicants were women. In the last years (Horizon 2020, 2014-2020), this percentage increased by 4%, with 29% of women applying for ERC grants. In the same periods of time, the share of women as grantees has also increased from 20% to 29%. In the last years, men and women enjoy equal success rates.
The ERC knows that work to ensure equality of opportunities is never-ending. This presentation analyses the institutional efforts critically and considers possible steps to consolidate the accomplished results.
How to cite: Jesus-Rydin, C., Fariña-Busto, L., and Romanowicz, B.: Gender equity actions at the ERC: results of sustained measures , EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4838, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4838, 2022.
Our comics are based on real events experienced by real people, but should never have happened. Some events are blatant, others are subtle, but all leave you wondering “did this really happen?!”. Sadly the answer is yes, and they continue to happen, with testimonies on everyday sexism, sexist biases, aggressions and microaggressions regularly received by our team.
Started in 2016, the Did This Really Happen?! project was created from the shared experiences of a group of largely female scientists who found themselves in a male-dominated environment. By 2018 the project had progressed to collecting anonymous accounts of sexism in science from across the world, turning them into comics to share and spark a conversation. In 2020, in reflecting on the project so far, it was clear sexism in science was not confined to one career level in academia, with around half of testimonies coming from PhD and Early Career Researchers, with the other half coming from mid to senior level scientists. Several themes also emerged which were documented in Bocher et al., 2020 and identified the following;
- treating women as objects (in 70% of testimonies)
- questioning female competencies (in 61% of testimonies)
- confining males to stereotypical roles (in 41% of testimonies)
In 2021, the DTRH?! project was relaunched with new team members and a new illustrator as the career and life paths of the original team changed and evolved. Here we present how we aim to document and illustrate the widespread sexist attitudes that affect both women (and men) in science today, challenging this behaviour with humour and to inspire discussion.
How to cite: Perez Diaz, L., Wright, K., Arnould, M., Coltice, N., Gerault, M., and Mallard, C.: Sexism in Science: Changing the conversation with comics , EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3875, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3875, 2022.
Choosing academia as a career path is a luxury and privilege of the few. The place where you are born and the citizenship you hold can determine whether an academic career is possible as a life goal. Here, I will detail my own personal experiences and explain how I arrived to geosciences and seismology as a woman of color from a developing country (Nicaragua). These experiences have been shaped by me living in Mexico, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as by key personal choices and important mentors that have taken me from an industry job as an engineer to a postdoc.
How to cite: Talavera-Soza, S. and Deuss, A.: Choosing academia: an outsider's perspective, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-950, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-950, 2022.
Soapbox Science is an outreach platform dedicated to the promotion of women and non-binary people in science through the organisation of events mimicking Hide Park’s famous Speaker’s Corner. This platform was created in London in 2011, spread gradually worldwide and finally started in Belgium in 2019, where it was initiated by a group of researchers and science communicators from two Belgian Federal Scientific Institutes. It came to life as Soapbox Science Brussels, for the events were to take place in the capital.
While the start of Soapbox Science Brussels was challenged by the COVID pandemic, a first virtual event was organised in the fall of 2020 via the YouTube and Facebook platforms. Despite the difficulties related to the sanitary conditions, the first real-life edition of Soapbox Science Brussels finally took place in the heart of the Belgian capital in June 2021, following the standard format prescribed by the international Soapbox Science initiative. This event was a success, both with respect to the response of the scientific community and with regard to the interest of the public during the event. The third edition of Soapbox Science Brussels is currently in preparation, and the campaign for the recruitment of speakers has been launched early 2022.
In this presentation, on the basis of different indicators and of feedback from the public, we will show how Soapbox Science Brussels gradually finds its place in the Belgian scientific communication community and in the promotion of women and non-binary people in science, in a context where the promotion of gender equality encounters a growing importance in scientific research institutions.
Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoapboxScienceBrussels
Twitter account: @SoapboxscienceB
References:
Pham, L. B. S., et al., Soapbox Brussels, une première en Belgique, Science connection nr. 65, August-september 2021;
in French: http://www.belspo.be/belspo/organisation/publ/pub_ostc/sciencecon/65sci_fr.pdf;
in Dutch: http://www.belspo.be/belspo/organisation/publ/pub_ostc/sciencecon/65sci_nl.pdf
How to cite: Bingen, C., Pham, L. B. S., Lamort, L., Lefever, K., Piccialli, A., and Yseboodt, M.: Soapbox Science Brussels: A Growing Outreach Platform for the Promotion of Women in Sciences in Belgium, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11516, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11516, 2022.
Young Women of Geosciences (YWOG) is a group at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) which aims to create an equal and inclusive working environment for all employees in the faculty of Geosciences. Now in our fourth year, with an expanding committee and increasing support from the faculty, we share some details and insights from events held during the pandemic. After several years of having primarily the same small group of people attending our events (i.e. “preaching to the choir”) our aim was to engage with more people in our faculty. We wanted to pull up new chairs to the table and hear new opinions and thoughts and so, our events were planned with this primary goal in mind. However, under changing and variable conditions due to the pandemic, the planning of events to promote diversity and inclusion became more of a challenge. We had to devise strategies to keep people engaged in diversity and inclusion topics while people became tired of online events, and were busy just dealing with the pandemic.
Our primary success was a book giveaway and discussion where three books related to diversity and inclusion (some also with climate and environmental aspects) were given for free to 30 staff members. This was followed by an open online discussion about topics that arose in the books and how these issues were experienced in our own faculty. This session had the greatest number of male participants we have ever had at one of our events (despite all sessions always being open to all genders) and this led to great information sharing and discussions. We also organised two Wikipedia hackathons which aimed to improve information on Wikipedia about female and minority scientists. This event required a great deal of time and skill development which unfortunately many people were not able to commit to, which led to smaller numbers and less engagement than our book event.
Overall, we managed to introduce new groups of people to our discussions and engage with a broader audience than in previous years, within a virtual environment. We attribute this in large part to attractive events and hard work on our communication strategy. We found that engagement in activities, particularly for new attendees, was highly dependent on time availability and concrete communication of details of the event. We frequently used social media to communicate about our events and significant growth of these channels in the virtual-only environment of lockdowns led to overall increased engagement. This was particularly the case on Twitter, where we have found active and supportive fellow networks to engage with, be inspired by, and inspire.
How to cite: Cox, J., Thorslund, J., Roelofs, L., Ebner, R., Dunn, F., van Rijsingen, N., Baxter, A., Dhaubanjar, S., and Postma, M.: Pulling up new chairs to the table: experiences of organising diversity and inclusion events during a pandemic, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-739, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-739, 2022.
The equality and work well-being group at the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) has comprised a list of everyday behavior patterns that we should
pay attention to when striving to make the workplace culture welcoming to people with diverse backgrounds. The examples in the list are broadly categorized as 1) Accept and be interested in people as multidimensional beings, restricting manifestation of fear of differences 2) Be aware of the space and time different people are taking in workplace meetings and social situations 3) Support a balance between work and private life and recovery from work equally for different genders as well as for people with different ages and family situations 4) Be aware that discussions focusing in competition, status, hierarchies, and comparing the achievements of people (those present or not present) make many people uncomfortable 5) Be aware that discussing people in terms of being ‘smart’, ‘intelligent’, ‘brilliant’, ‘genius’ is not gender and culture neutral 6) Avoid boss-centric atmosphere where the role of the boss is to decide alone and be revered by the rest
5) Avoid discussing the physical appearance or capabilities of other people even if they are not present 6) In both work related discussions and when telling jokes, stories and anecdotes in social situations, keep in mind you position with respect to people present when choosing the content or style 7) Don’t use gender specific words etc as a compliment: ‘real man’, ‘has got balls’, ‘strong for a woman’ 8) Remember to consider the language barrier(s) when a multinational set of people is present
We recommend that the list is discussed, for example, in a departmental seminar: our approach was to have three members of the equality and work well being group perform some of the examples in the list as a dialogue, after which the audience discussed whether they have encountered something similar and how that has affected them. Afterwards, the complete list was distributed to the staff on the unit. We received encouraging feedback on the session with requests to organize similar events in the meetings of the individual INAR research groups. We want to remind that non-one is perfect, and our vision is not to construct strict foolproof rules to avoid all situations leading to feelings of discomfort. However, a little change goes a long way in making the working environment better for everyone. Opening the eyes to how other people might experience common encounters can be aided by using an externally constructed list of examples as a starting point.
How to cite: Vehkamäki, H., Beck, L., Demakova, A., Lauri, K. A., Li, X., Lintunen, A., Mazon, S. B., Neitola, K., Rajewicz, P., Karppinen, L., Nieminen, T., Schiestl-Aalto, P., and Vesala, T.: Everyday tips for making the workplace culture welcoming for diverse staff, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3915, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3915, 2022.
The C4U Project, funded by the European Union H2020 programme, advances carbon capture for steel industries integrated in Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) clusters. Besides working on the scientific and technological challenges, the project members are committed to integrate social aspects not only as part of their work but also by promoting an inclusive work ethics within the consortium itself. In this respect, actions have been taken on all levels and roles of the project as well as during all its steps to mitigate the imbalance in representation without negatively impacting aptitude or expertise. In addition to raising awareness and furthering discussions among the C4U members, providing options for hiring processes, or adjusting speaker lists and the distribution of board roles, a novel approach was conceptualised in the form of an international workshop, as an initiative from within the CCUS community for the community, and hopefully beyond.
This first C4U workshop on gender dimension called "Woman in CCUS – Inspire and be inspired" was open to all associated with the field of CCUS and was held in fall 2021. As the free event took place virtually on two half days due to COVID restrictions, scientists, including students and managers, originating from or with affiliation of all continents, registered. Talks and breakout room sessions covered topics such as raise awareness of gender imbalance and ethical concerns, identify reasons behind the still existing inequality, search for countermeasures, the importance and consequence of confidence, as well as private and professional life experience, all with numerous opportunities for discussions. By expressively embracing all genders, career phases, ethnical or scientific backgrounds, we were able to achieve participation with a large diversity also in regard to work environment, e.g. academia, governmental agencies, and industry. Bringing people together using a virtual format and in numerous time zones naturally has its own challenges, especially when communicating on sensitive and personal topics. However, the overwhelming engagement of the participants during, but also already prior to the workshop, revealed that there is a significant need in the CCUS community for an open, personal exchange on gender related topics, by all genders. On this basis, the C4U initiative aims to be a seed for an inclusive platform, for a diverse network to get to know role models and at the same time be one oneself, to inspire and be inspired.
How to cite: Rebscher, D., Catalanotti, E., and Mahgerefteh, H.: Promoting and supporting gender dimension in the CCUS community – A novel approach by the C4U Project, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6774, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6774, 2022.
Workplace aggression, including workplace bullying and mobbing, can have tremendous impacts on both the professional and the personal well-being of the target. The experience is an immense source of distress and can lead to physical health issues such as high blood pressure and increased risk for strokes, and to mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies. The negative effects of workplace aggression go beyond those on the target. For instance potential bystanders and the overall work performance of teams and collaborations may suffer, leading to failed projects, loss of research funding and prematurely terminated careers. The latter also adds to the continued loss of a diverse workforce in the Geosciences, since historically marginalised groups are more affected by workplace discrimination than the current majority of geoscientists in senior positions. Creating healthy and safe working environments should therefore be the top priority of academic institutions, and thus also the Geosciences community.
To raise awareness and provide clarity around some terminology and dynamics, we previously shared the blog post "Mind your Head - An introduction to workplace bullying in academia" (1). It includes references to other resources, such as a 10-step practical guideline (2) which scientists can follow to counteract the detrimental effects of abusive academic work environments. The blog post also served as a stimulus for "Great Debate 5" (GDB5) during vEGU21, which allowed early career scientists in the Geosciences to engage in a discussion on "Bullying in Academia – towards creating healthy and safe working environments" (3). During GDB5, 86% of the participants confirmed to have witnessed a bullying or harassment situation at work and ~65% of the session attendees estimated that the academic community is unaware of or uninformed about bullying and harassment. GDB5 participants stated that, amongst others, they a) would like to learn how to become better allies/bystanders, b) would like to know what to do as an ally/bystander, c) want to find systematic and structural solutions on an institutional level for safe working environments, d) would like to learn how to deal with bullying and harassment on a personal level and e) would like to create more awareness about bullying and harassment. The Great Debate helped people to feel supported and trusted, become aware of the problems at an institutional level, and to connect and talk about appropriate and not-appropriate behaviour.
Following the GDB5, we created a list of bottom up, lateral and top down actions to foster safe and healthy work environments within the Geosciences, which serves as a basis for our current work to tackle workplace bullying and mobbing in the Geosciences. This includes, for instance, an in-depth survey around this topic to obtain more quantitative information and data. By creating visibility for our efforts during EGU22, we hope to broaden our initiative and receive new input from the scientific community.
References:
(1) Pieber, van Rijsingen, Gürer, Beniest (2021) https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/ts/2021/03/24/mind-your-head-an-introduction-to-workplace-bullying-in-academia/
(2) Popp, Hall, Yılmaz (2020) https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO151914.
(3) Beniest, Gürer, Pieber, van Rijsingen (2021) https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/39992
How to cite: Pieber, S. M., Beniest, A., Di Chiara, A., Guerer, D., Li, M., Popp, A. L., and van Rijsingen, E.: How to combat workplace bullying in academia: insights from previous initiatives and ideas to move forward, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9309, 2022.
In EU project (being H2020 or ERC), we are asked to do a “Gender Equality Plan” and to take care about gender issues. I think that this is very important. We definitely need to take care about gender at recruitment level and to take care about gender balance. However, to care about gender inequality does not only refer to gender balance in the teams in charge of carrying out the projects but also to plan research and innovation activities with the goal of inspiring a new generation of women in space. Gender dimension brings a vision that goes beyond the line of sight. It is not only about statistics on the number of male and female researchers in a specific field or gender balance in the Consortium but here are some paths to follow: (1) becoming gender-sensitive, (2) integrating an in-depth understanding of both genders’ needs, behaviours, and attitudes, (3) promoting our sector to young girls at the level of schools or universities, and (4) being aware about unconscious gender biases. Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another gender. Several studies found that both men and women prefer male job candidates. So much so that, in general, I have found on the web that a man is 1.5 times more likely to be hired than a woman when both are equal-performing candidates. Bias is a systemic prejudice for, or against something or someone, based on for instance stereotypes. When preparing newsletters for my EU project about that, I came through several examples about ways in which women and men are often held to different standards in the workplace. I think that this is interesting to know. This is what I propose to share with you.
How to cite: Dehant, V.: Gender in EU project., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-7535, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-7535, 2022.
In recent years, the traditional scientific publication system which operates with subscriptions for readers, and sometimes charges for authors, has been challenged. Open access journals have been funded, and subscription journals offer options for open access publications. Open access is an essential approach for lowering barriers in science, for supporting equal access to information, and for encouraging scientifically-based decisions by providing the newest findings and data to a large and diverse audience.
However, common open access options come with Article Processing Charges (APCs), which can vary from a few hundred to several thousand euros, to publish a paper. In contrast to the idea of inclusivity that is initiated by the open access process, these charges create exclusivity in terms of publishing possibilities - limiting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Several funding bodies and universities in Northern and Western Europe encourage the open access process by dedicating funds to cover publication costs for research staff. In contrast, many researchers from institutions in developing countries, small universities or private research organisations must include these costs in sometimes limited research budgets. Moreover, researchers on temporary contracts with limited access to research funds due to the nature of their employment also face barriers to publishing in open access outlets. As a result, inclusivity toward readers often comes at the cost of exclusivity toward authors.
In the last three years, an initiative has grown in the geoscientific community to create diamond open access journals, which are free to access, free to read, and free to publish, for all. This started with Volcanica, and now, Seismica, Tektonika and Sedimentologika have launched their own community-led, field-specific journals. One key component of these initiatives is their inherent relation to the concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion, which underlay and guide their every aspect.
Here, we discuss ideas on how to build a future geomorphology diamond open access journal - Geomorphic(k)a - around EDI values. Our effort is grounded in EDI principles from the start, not as an afterthought; EDI guides our actions.
We welcome input from all sectors of the geoscientific community to help us continually improve the initiative. We will share our plans to integrate EDI in the journal development. We would welcome feedback, comments, ideas and a stimulating discussion.
How to cite: Lefebvre, A., Stammler, M., Goodwin, G., Bosch, R., Fernández, R., and Grieve, S. W. D.: The initiative for a diamond open access journal in the field of geomorphology: an effort grounded on and guided by EDI concepts, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-3910, 2022.
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) faculties in Denmark suffer from a dearth of women in tenured positions. This is particularly the case for the geosciences in spite of a seemingly equal distribution of men and women graduating in geoscience.
In this presentation, we highlight the disparities and processes that hinder women from progressing in an academic career in the geosciences in Denmark. We have collected data from Geocenter Denmark that comprises three institutions, Institute for Geoscience, University of Aarhus, Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources, University of Copenhagen and the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. The data include information on all publications from 2018-2020 including number of publications per researcher, number of (female) authors per publication, impact factor etc. A detailed study has been performed tracking the publication records of all PhD students employed at Geocenter Denmark from
2010-2017. Our data also detail the uptake and graduation of undergraduate, masters and PhD students.
Our results show that for the last 15 years, an equal number of men and women have graduated with a geoscience degree in Denmark. Similarly, on average an equal number of men and women have been awarded a geoscientific PhD degree.
Analysis of publications from PhD students reveals disparities between genders. Regardless of gender, PhD students publish on average the same number of first author publications during the early years of their career* but male PhD students have more co-authorships. This suggests that female PhD students are not provided with the same opportunities for networking and co-authorship as their male colleagues.
This disparity continues on all levels, where more than 1/3 of all publications from Geocenter Denmark have no women on the author list. If the first author is male, the number of publications without any female co-authors further increases. Statistically, the chances of obtaining such a high number of publications without female co-authors by random is practically nil. We argue that mechanisms are in place that exclude women from contributing to and co-authoring studies.
Number of publications is a key factor in academic hireability and can determine success with career progression, funding applications etc. Our data highlight a structural problem in placing a high emphasis on the number of publications.
Disclaimer: Due to lack of data, we consider only binary gender and thus we cannot represent the true
non-binary gender diversity.
*here defined as up to and including 3 years after PhD graduation.
How to cite: Skytt-Larsen, C. B., Karlsson, N. B., Andresen, K. J., Breck, A., Sørensen, T. K., and Wedel, M. T.: Mapping the gender inequality of publishing in the Danish geosciences, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-1429, 2022.
The persistent lack in diversity and gender equality amongst the recipients of academic awards and recognitions such as scientific prizes and medals is widely recognised. It is not only still very rare for women to receive the highest research awards (representing for instance only 3% of the Nobel laureates, including only one woman of colour) but female scientists are also severely underrepresented as recipients of the awards of many of our scientific societies. The increasing efforts for award distributions to be more representative of the diversity of our scientific community, start with stimulating inclusivity and broad recognition of talent diversity from the nomination stage. Given the continued lack in female award recipients, the question arises what role the current titles and names of existing awards, and the history of their previous recipients may play for the identification of potential nominations and whether they qualify to inspire more diverse nominations and prize awards.
We therefore examine the origins of the names given to ~300 academic awards of major scientific societies (including in the Earth and Environmental sciences and European Geoscience Union) and compare award names to the history of their recipients. The results of our analysis reveal an astonishing dominance of awards that are named after male scientists. Less than 10% of all awards were named after women, with almost all awards named after female scientist only being established in the last two years. It therefore must be questioned if such lack of recognition qualifies to inspire nominations for awards that reflect the diversity of achievements (and achievers) in our scientific communities. In fact, women were persistently under-represented as recipients of the analysed awards, with ~15% of awards held by female scientists, including awards that have been running for 40 years without a single female recipient. Not different to other scientific fields, women were slightly better represented in some of the service awards and early career awards. An analysis of the more recent history of awards made since 2000 reveals a diverse picture with differences in the progress towards more equality and diversity between research areas. Some promising developments include the establishment of awards named after outstanding female researchers by several EGU subdivisions that will hopefully provide broader recognition of the diverse talent base in the future.
This leaves the question how to deal with such legacy of gender bias and unequal representation of talent in the naming of awards as well as their recipients. We recognise that there are no simple quick fixes and, that the gender inequality highlighted in this analysis represents only one aspect of the lack of diversity in our recognition of scientific excellence, with also other groups of scientists being underrepresented. We discuss potential explanations for the observed underrepresentation, including unconscious bias (of the proposer), importance of role models, ability to identify with awards, gender differences in defining a successful career and present some initial suggestions aiming to stimulate a discussion for how we can improve inclusivity and thus, equality and diversity in academic awards.
How to cite: Krause, S. and Gehmlich, K.: Does the persistent lack of female recipients of academic awards have to surprise us if few scientific prizes and medals are named after women?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2562, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2562, 2022.
EGU, the European Geosciences Union, is Europe’s premier geosciences union, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences for the benefit of humanity, worldwide. Every year, the EGU awards and medals programme recognises eminent scientists for their outstanding research contribution in the Earth, planetary and space sciences. In addition, it identifies the awardees as role models for the next generation of early career scientists to foster geoscience research.
Nominations for all the medals and awards are submitted every year online by 15 June by the members of the EGU scientific community. Any person can be nominated except the EGU president, vice-president council members (not including ex- officio members) and chairs of the EGU committees. The EGU Council, the medal and award committees’ members and the Union and division officers are committed to soliciting nominations of deserving individuals by avoiding conflicts of interest. Each EGU medal or award is selected through a rigorous assessment of the candidates and their merits through the respective committee. The procedures for nomination, selection of candidates and the time schedule are described in detail on EGU websites.
It is a strict necessity when recognizing scientific excellence by any scientific association providing equal opportunities and ensuring balance. The processes and procedures that lead to the recognition of excellence has to be transparent and free of gender biases. However, establishment of clear and transparent evaluation criteria and performance metrics in order to provide equal opportunities to researchers across gender, continents and ethnic groups can be challenging since the definition of scientific excellence is often elusive.
This presentation aims to present the experience and the efforts of the European Geosciences Union to ensure equal opportunities. Data and statistics will be presented in the attempt to provide constructive indications to get to the target of giving equal opportunities to researchers across gender, continents and ethnic groups.
How to cite: Blunier, T.: Equality of opportunities in geosciences: The EGU Awards Committee experience, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-1087, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-1087, 2022.
The first step for institutions committed to equality, diversity and inclusion is to know their demographics. This presentation includes descriptive statistics for 7 consecutive years (2015–2021) based on presentations and convenorship at the EGU General Assemblies.
In the years 2015-2019, when the meeting was a physical meeting in Vienna, around 90% of the participants gave presentations. In 2020 the meeting was held online at short notice and the registration for participation was free of charge. In 2021 the entire meeting was planned online already at the time of submission of abstracts and the participant fee was lower than for the previous physical meetings. We cannot completely compare the participant data from the online meetings with the previous years, therefore this presentation will focus on the gender, career stage, and geographical distribution among presenters and convenors.
The total number of presenters has increased over the time period 2015-2021, and this increase was observed throughout all career stages. The proportion of women presenters have increased from 32% in 2015 to 39% in 2021, with a leap from 36 to 39% between 2020 and 2021. A similar trend was observed for the convenors, an increase in total numbers over the years and a higher proportion (39%) of women in 2021 than in 2015 (26%). This trend of increasing numbers of conveners was observed independent of career stage until 2018. Since then, the number of senior scientist conveners increased, whereas the number of Early Career Scientist conveners has dropped to a number lower than 2015. The gender difference between “presenters per convenors”-ratio has been shrinking since 2015 and was similar for women and men in 2021.
Since EGU General Assembly is the largest geosciences conference in Europe and still growing, understanding the demographic evolution and their participation to EGU activities, including the GA, of various groups is an important tool for EGU governing body to draw targeted actions to ensure that the current procedures are fair and that all in the community are being and feeling included. We therefore aim to analyse the changes in demographics with regards to gender, career stage as well as to geographical distribution of the presenters and convenors also in coming years to better understand the potential impacts of meetings organized online or physically, or as a combination of both these modes.
How to cite: Stadmark, J., Beniest, A., and Alves de Jesus-Rydin, C.: Who presented and convened at EGU General Assemblies 2015-2021?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5125, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5125, 2022.
The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is Europe’s leading community-lead organization for Earth, planetary and space science research. The EGU organizes its General Assembly (GA), the largest, most prominent geosciences event in Europe, annually. Until 2019, the event was only organized in-person, but in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event became completely virtual in 2020 and 2021. The in-person meeting attracted over 16,000 scientists from all over the world, whereas over 17,500 people participated in the virtual events. This rise in the number of participating scientists implies that online meetings are more accessible than in-person meetings.
Early Career Scientist (ECS) account for about half of the total EGU membership. An ‘Early Career Scientist’ is defined by EGU as ‘a student, a PhD candidate or a practicing scientist who received their highest degree (e.g. BSc, MSc or PhD) within the past seven years’, with some exceptions to this time-frame that account for research career breaks. ECS are often in a particular stage of their career where networking and showcasing scientific output are essential for success. We have analyzed self-declared data provided by ECS participants during the registration phase of the annual general assembly to investigate the impact of virtual meetings on the participation of Early Career Scientists to the GA between 2015 and 2021. We analyzed if there were any shifts in the diversity of ECS with respect to gender and geographical location and to what extend ECS were involved in convening scientific sessions.
We observed a general increase (5-30%) in ECS participation from 2015 until 2021 irrespective of gender. In 2019, the total increase of all participants stalled, but 2020 saw a 10% increase of participants. In 2021, ECS attendance fell, equaling the numbers of 2019. The large majority of ECS that participate in the GA are from the western parts of the EU (including the UK and Norway, 60-65%) and the eastern parts of Europe (6-7%) followed by China (6-10%). During the free virtual meeting in 2020, ECS from Central Asia, India and Central America saw the largest increase compared to 2019 (> 65%). During the paid virtual meeting in 2021, the participation of ECS from northern (72%) and western Africa (42%) increased the most. ECS from India, Oceania and the Pacific regions, North America and from countries in eastern Europe also showed an increase in numbers between 15-20% compared to 2020. About 10-12% of ECS participate in convening scientific sessions, this number remained stable during the physical events, but during the virtual events, participation dropped significantly, with only 8% of ECS participating in the organization of scientific sessions in 2019 and 6% in 2021.
Our results show that the participation of ECS from EU countries remains stable, regardless if the meeting is in-person or virtual. ECS participation from ECS from eastern parts of Europe and countries outside of the EU, decreases during virtual meetings. ECS participation from ECS outside of Europe, especially northern and western Africa, India and Oceania and the Pacific region increases when a virtual component is provided.
How to cite: Beniest, A., Stadmark, J., and Jesus-Rydin, C.: Early Career Scientist (ECS) attendance and participation at the annual EGU General Assembly: are online meetings more accessible than in-person meetings for ECS?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9117, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9117, 2022.
Geoscientists identifying as LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual, plus) are currently likely to face several more obstacles throughout their career compared to their cisgender/heterosexual colleagues. Additionally, they could experience the cumulative effect of an intersection of sexism, racism, and colonialism, if coming from one or more under-represented communities. With the aim to gather an EGU-based LGBTQIA+ group to coordinate and encourage a positive change within EGU and the broader geoscience community, a first social event was organized during the General Assembly (GA) in 2019, followed by a similar event during the GA in 2020 and 2021. Last year, the working group (WG) created a Discord forum to meet more frequently online and have a place for mutual support. The series of bottom-up initiatives - all community-driven - aimed at raising awareness or promoting initiatives for changes. These have included thus far: gathering feedback, promoting initiatives toward the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ scientists in the EGU community, and doing research in general (i.e., conducting fieldwork as LGBTQIA+ individuals in locations where it can be considered more dangerous, due to the illegality of belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community). An additional task the WG has undertaken is to engage with the wider community via webinars and represent the WG in meetings with other stakeholders. The WG also works closely with the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee of EGU for improving the representation and inclusion of their members at EGU and across the scientific organizations. In this presentation, we summarise our work since the last General Assembly and highlight areas where we hope to attract further support for institutional and cultural changes that will foster an inclusive culture for LGBTQIA+ geoscientists.
How to cite: Bellomo, K., Di Chiara, A., Rutter, W. A. J., Davies, H. S., Prior-Jones, M., Piispa, E. J., Muchow, M., and Beard, D. B.: Insights from the LGBTQIA+ working group at EGU 2022, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-9149, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-9149, 2022.
Geochemistry is applied across Earth, environmental and planetary geoscience research. Yet, the first specific workforce diversity data for geochemistry is only now being collected (e.g. EAG-GS led 2022 Global Geochemistry Community Survey). Additionally, national effort is underway to scrutinise detailed and intersectional diversity data (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconmic background, career path) for UK geochemists via ‘Evaluating Diversity and Inclusion within the (geochemistry) Academic Ladder (E-DIAL)’, a project funded by the UK’s Natural Environmental Research Council. This project will also collect data to evidence workplace structures and policies specific to the UK’s geochemists.
We will present key findings linked to the geochemistry workforce, including laboratory support staff, from among our survey results to provide a snapshot of the demographics and intersectional representation among the UK geochemistry community within Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). An important facet of this work is our focus on how the allocation, accessibility, and support of geochemistry laboratories are distributed and experienced by all members of the UK community. Furthermore, the study will report on salient aspects of COVID-19 generated impacts and inequities within the geochemistry community. We also present specific findings for experiences that capture evidence of some persisting barriers to individuals and/or geochemistry groups. These exclusionary hurdles include cultural and other obstacles for which we suggest remedies that will advance the representation and further the success of people of minoritised identities within and across the academic ladder.
We aim to use our project findings to develop recommendations for policy and structural reforms among UK HEIs. These actions will ensure sustained progress for accessibility in geochemistry, improved career experiences and representation among geochemists, and shall help people of all identities to realise equitable career progression in the short and long-term. These policy developments and reforms are critical to improving diversity and inclusion not only within UK geosciences, but in wider STEM.
How to cite: Anand, P., Appiah, F., Lawrence, A., Bots, P., Gagnon, J., Bhagwat, S., Riches, A., Little, S., Maters, E., ChiFru, E., and Ngwenya, B.: Assessing diversity and inclusion within the UK’s geochemistry academic workforce, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8410, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8410, 2022.
Evaluating Diversity and Inclusion within the (geochemistry) Academic Ladder (E-DIAL), funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council, provides a snapshot of diversity and identifies barriers resulting in underrepresentation among intersectional identity groups across the UK geochemistry community. The project emphasis is on the academic ladder within UK higher education institutions (HEIs). As a multi-faceted discipline, geochemistry is central to Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, yet the first specific geochemistry workforce data is only now being collected (e.g., through the 2022 Global Geochemistry Community Survey launched by the European Association of Geochemistry and Geochemical Society). In complement to this timely society-led effort serving the international geochemistry community, our project collects original data and evidence through a UK-wide survey that captures coupled diversity and academic progression and retention data. These data are vital to catalyse policies that actively improve geochemistry career prospects for diverse talents, given that a community’s scientific potential can only be reached by including everyone. Specifically, the UK-wide survey data examines information on past and recent rates of appointment, progression and retention of both majority and under-represented groups across all levels of seniority, including research students, within UK HEIs.
In profiling geochemists’ career pathways and evidencing lived experiences (e.g., among postdocs), exclusionary obstacles are identified with resultant understanding driving revision of prevailing policies, attitudes and practices while assessing implementation effectiveness at HEIs with, for example, differing diversity certifications (e.g., Athena Swan or Race Equality Charters). Findings will test the hypothesis that “there is an erosion of diversity within geochemistry careers.” To accelerate widespread change, E-DIAL will engage in diplomacy and action at institutional, funding agency and parliamentary levels. Our approach optimises study effectiveness by ensuring that project findings and recommendations for reform within UK HEIs reach communities and decision makers at all levels, with the intention of influencing UK system change to improve diversity and inclusion while establishing practice for continued monitoring. As a national-level project linked to society efforts on the global stage, E-DIAL provides a starting model for similar studies to be carried out among other nations. We therefore urge wider funding agencies to engage in and sustain financial support of such collaborative cross-disciplinary research because this work and its impact on STEM governance is critical to advancing justice, diversity, inclusion, equity and excellence in and beyond academia.
How to cite: Maters, E., Appiah, F., Lawrence, A., Bots, P., Gagnon, J., Riches, A., Bhagwat, S., Chi Fru, E., Little, S., Ngwenya, B., and Anand, P.: Are diverse geochemists retained and thriving on the UK academic ladder?, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-5926, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-5926, 2022.
The EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) and ECS (Early Career Scientist) logos has been introduced since the EGU General Assembly 2021 held in19th-39th April 2021. Following to this initiative, JpGU decided to introduce EDI logos on a trial basis starting with the Japan Geosicence UNion Meeting 2021 (JpGU 2021) held in 30th May to 6th June 2021to promote diversity in the session organization and to recognize the degree of diversity. The Geological Society of Japan (JGS), which is one of the oldest geoscience academic societies in Japan established in1893, also tried to introduce both EDI and ECS logos at the 128th Annual Meeting of the society (128th JGS) held in 4th ‒ 6th September 2021. Although there was some negative reaction from male JGS members about this pilot introduction, we got about 10% sessions awarded the EDI logos in the both meetings. The JpGU 2021 also awarded the EDI logo to about 10% sessions. The JpGU have already decided to introduce EDI logo officially in the next 2022 meeting, and 20 per 230 sessions got EDI logos at present for the next annual meeting.
There are problems on female ratios of award or prize among Japanese geoscience societies, such as, 1) the ratio of female awardees or prize holders to whole awardees is predominantly lower in average than female ratios (ex. JpGU:15-27%, JGS:10%) to whole members, 2) female ratio of JpGU fellows is 0-15%, 3) there are no female honorary members in the long history of the JGS until 2020.
Awareness and diversified readership are essential and effective to improve the status of EDI among geoscience academic societies in Japan. For example, after the first female vice-president of JpGU elected at 2020, JpGU fellows increased from 0-15% to 25% and the Nishida Prize, which honor internationally recognized Mid-career researchers under the age of 45, named after Prof. Atsuhiro Nishida (JpGU fellow), winners increased to 40% in 2021. This change in diversity is just beginning and ongoing.
The improvements in EDI issues among geoscience societies in Japan are also the result of strong networking or collaboration between EGU, AGU, GSA, JpGU and other societies related to geoscience. It is essential for further progress to share good practice and to keep pointing out and improve problems through global collaboration.
How to cite: Hori, S., R. and Oguchi, T, C. and the Kazuyo Sakanoi (Chair): The EDI and ECS logos and female ratios of awards in geoscience academic societies of Japan, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-6612, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-6612, 2022.
AGU LANDInG (Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences) is a multi-faceted project that aims to foster a more inclusive geosciences’ culture by cultivating and elevating DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) champions within the discipline. Since initiation of NSF funding in late 2020, a DEI Community of Practice (CoP) Network was launched, and the inaugural LANDInG Academy was held. Participation, participant outcomes, and program impact are externally and professionally evaluated.
The LANDInG CoP is an open access, virtual platform providing opportunities for current and aspiring DEI champions to engage in conversation, share resources, build networks, and participate in professional development. A cohort of expert CoP Ambassadors moderates affinity groups created by CoP members and facilitates the CoP’s growth and evolution. The LANDInG CoP is rooted in research indicating that DEI champions and leaders in the geosciences can benefit from a central community for networking and professional development that supports broadening the impact of their efforts.
AGU LANDInG’s DEI Leader Academy commenced at AGU’s Fall Meeting 2021 with a three-day workshop. Workshop programming focused on evidence-based understanding of barriers and solutions to inclusion in geosciences derived from theory, research, and practice. Fellows’ selection and participation in LANDInG Academy was highlighted and promoted at Fall Meeting 2021 to raise their visibility and recognition.
The first year of AGU LANDInG is also marked by the initiation of LANDInG-PRFP, a new LANDInG program for postdoctoral research fellows. LANDInG-PRFP will capitalize on LANDInG’s CoP resources and provide an intentional and impactful DEI professional development experience for cohorts of post-doctoral scholars.
How to cite: Fraiser, M., Williams, B., Goodwin, S., Asher, P., and Hanson, B.: AGU LANDInG (Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity & Inclusion in Geosciences): Reviewing the First Year of AGU’s NSF-Funded Initiative to Promote and Support Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Geosciences, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12915, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12915, 2022.
