You’ve probably seen the horrendous @angew_chem article stating that diversity is bad for science. This would be outrageous if it were an isolated incident. But sadly it’s not. It’s a sign of a toxic culture created by some in our field and a journal that perpetuates it. A thread
This is the culture of those with privilege who see academic positions as a prize to be doled out to the few. A culture that views students and postdocs as gears in a machine with a sole purpose of growing the fame of the faculty member.
When women and people of color manage to land in those prized positions, they are viewed as anomalies, not worthy of membership in the club. And, a central part of that membership is publishing one’s research in “top” journals.
For years, @angew_chem has protected this culture by promoting white and Asian men over everyone else. When presented with the data, they state that these criteria are necessary to maintain their standards.
I’ve been acutely aware throughout my career just how challenging it would be to publish in this journal as a woman. By who they have accepted and rejected, they have made and broken careers. Yet I still for some reason regularly reviewed for them.
A while back, I saw something during review that bothered me and I sent a collegial note to the editor to point out that this thing might at least “give the impression of bias” and that this is not good for a journal that already has a poor reputation among women.
In return, I received pages of response about why the journal is not biased. Thousands of words about why I was wrong. Never did they stop to ask me, “why is it that we have a poor reputation with women?”
So, while this example is spectacularly bad, it is not that alone that is prompting my response. The article systematically laments the erosion of the toxic culture I describe above. The editors allowed this because they agreed with it. Nobody noticed that this was a problem.
The fact that this made it through peer review and editorial review without drawing a single concern shows just how deeply entrenched this journal and its closest friends are in this toxic culture. That they are surprised by the response of the community today speaks volumes.
The good news is that much has been done already to dismantle the toxic culture in our field. This journal was one of the many remaining strongholds. It is time for change. We have a long way to go, but we can get there together.
Now is the time to work together as a team of students, postdocs, faculty, industry scientists, publishers, and professional societies to accelerate the change that so desperately needs to happen. May we use this to build a better and more inclusive future.
If you missed what happened, you can check it out here:
And you can find the full text here:
Thank you to @ChemEurope for this response and for being willing to take a hard look at the culture in our field and recognize your power to create change.
