Science and Diversity
For this module’s discussion, research a recent science news event that’s occurred in the last six months. The event should come from a well-known news source, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, NPR, PBS, BBC, National Geographic, The New York Times, and so on. Post a link to the news story, and in your initial post, identify the following:
Summarize your news story and its contributions to the science or STEM fields.
If your news event is overtly related to diversity, how does this event contribute to diversity studies? If your news event does not directly relate to diversity, how could the science behind your event be applied to diversity studies?
In response to your peers, provide feedback about their news story and describe the value of the scientific lens for understanding diversity.
REQUIRED RESOURCES
Review the module resources.
Curating Inequality: The Link Between Cultural Reproduction and Race in the Visual Arts
Race, Gender, Hollywood: Representation in Cultural Production and Digital Media’s Potential for Change
Adolescents and Media: Teenagers Talk About Television and Negative Representation
The articles in this module’s readings represent a small sample of the broader conversations around representation, diversity, and the arts and media. As you read these articles, consider:
What is the impact of a lack of representation of diverse groups? How can these issues be addressed?
Take a look at your own preferred media. In what ways do you see similar or different trends from those described in the readings?
Video: Miss Representation (1:30:30)
This video examines how women are represented in American mainstream media and the cultural norms that influence women’s behaviors and feelings of self-worth.
Peer post 1
An article from Nat Geo’s website discusses a great example of diversity in the field of astrophysics. Munazza Alam is the daughter of Indian/Pakistani parents and is a Muslim American (Zuckerman, 2019). She is studying under a National Geographic grant at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Munazza specifically states in the article that she wishes to inspire other women to also join the field. While she states that gender equality is statistically more equal than in other physical sciences there are fewer than 50% of her program classmates that are women. She stresses that there are no role models that share her cultural background and that she wishes to serve as one for “other girls who have a similar cultural background” (Zuckerman, 2019). Link to story is here www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/meet-th…
This is a great example of intersectionality. Munazza is an example of a female with ethnic and religious diversity who is beginning to excel in astrophysics at an early age.
It is easy to find that diversity is not inherent in the mainstream of STEM students or STEM careers. Funk and Parker discuss statistical and attitude trends in STEM employment among ethnic minorities (2018). The article points out that Blacks and Hispanics are underrepresented in STEM occupations in direct proportion to the overall U.S. STEM workforce. This underrepresentation places social and psychological stresses on the workers involved.
The medical profession is still underrepresented in “certain ethnic population”(Halbu, Halbur & Rossi, 2013). The authors of the chapter on medicine and ethnic diversity also state that historically minorities have not always been treated fairly in the medical field. The need for cultural awareness/competence, regardless of ethnicity, is stressed by the authors as vital to the effective practice of medicine to all patients. Healthy disparities among minorities are acknowledged by the authors. Undergraduate programs that prepare ‘underserved’ populations are being implemented to address gaps in minority representation and success in medical school (Halbu, Halbur & Rossi, 2013).
Funk, Cary & Parker, Kim (2018, January 9). Blacks in Stem jobs are especially concerned about diversity and discrimination in the workplace. Retrieved from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/01/09/blacks-…
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., . . . Wang, X. (2016). Inequality. In How the World Changed Social Media (pp. 128-141). London: UCL Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/j.ctt…
Halbu, K. V., Halbur, D. A. & Rossi, A. (2013). Medicine and ethnic diversity. In C. E. Cortés (Ed.), Multicultural America: A multimedia encyclopedia (Vol. 1, pp. 1431-1434). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781452276274.n561
Zuckerman, Katherine (2019, March 6). Meet the woman searching for planet Earth’s twin. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/meet-the-woman- searching-for-planet-earth-s-twin/
Peer post 2
On fox news there is a short story on how a mutation gene is going into affect to cure blindness. The system is called CRISPR. It is an RNA-guided tool to edit the gene that children or adults have that cause blindness. This system is able to knock out genes, and insert or delete DNA. researchers will use an injection that will send the mutation through light-sensitive cells. They are going to have a total of 18 participates from ages three and older. The most interesting thing is once the DNA is edited it will not be passed down to future generations, so potentially the condition can come back to future generations.
My choice of science on the news relates to diversity because we are differentiating someone with blindness and other that are not. A lot of people that are blind get picked on or separated from jobs because of their condition. People are blind for many different reasons and every deals with it in a different way. It is very important if blindness was diagnosis when young because you have your whole life to learn and adjust than someone just got diagnosed yesterday and has to start all over. According to the article, “9 inequalities,” people often see inequality as the most disadvantages people living like scums, with no possibility of work and without hope for a bright future (Miller, et al., 2016, p. 128). there are people out there that think about this with the blind. No one lives in their shoes to judge and it is sad but we live in a world like this.
Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., . . . Wang, X. (2016). Inequality. In How the World Changed Social Media (pp. 128-141). London: UCL Press. Retrieved fromhttp://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/j.ctt1g69z35.16
https://www.foxnews.com/science/crispr-gene-editing-will-be-used-inside-humans-for-the-first-time-in-treatment-for-blindness
https://www.origene.com/products/gene-expression/crispr-cas9?&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CRISPR&msclkid=ea655554cab71d0b70d308149fb7ac9f
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Science and Diversity
Writing for the BBC, James Gallagher (2019) presents his case on research related to the spread of superbugs in society. Of particular interest is the development of Klebsiella pneumonia to the extent that the existing antibiotics can no longer appropriately treat it. The article highlights the prevalence of the superbug in different hospitals across Europe,
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