Unconscious bias in academia: its effects in geoscience and space science research communities and call for actions

Diversity in the workplace has several benefits including enhancing creativity and collective intelligence – both crucial for problem-solving and unfettered discoveries in scientific collaboration. Geoscience and space science are STEM research fields that attract people from diverse backgrounds across the globe; these research fields have implications far beyond the tackling of climate change issues. Whereas diversity has several benefits, the academic communities, particularly in geoscience and space science, have been demographically skewed. Moreover, discriminations, sexual harassments, and bullying are not unheard of. Unconscious bias deals with stereotyping based on several apparent attributes or more-implicit convictions, such as gender, sexual orientation, race, age, religion, political views, etc. Prejudice against minorities in academia is evidenced in demographic representation at all career stages and gender pay gaps, for instance. By compiling recent studies, I will present the effects of unconscious bias on common academic metrics and practices (e.g., h-index, citation, authorship, and peer-review) and career progression (e.g., progress evaluation and hiring process). As a part of the solution, some action plans by various institutions and local initiatives will be presented. This talk aims to raise awareness of the impacts of unconscious bias in academia, especially in the geoscience and space science communities, and call for collective efforts from local to institutional levels.