Thread by @KaoLeeYang1

A letter to #AcademicTwitter: I am a Hmong American neuroscience PhD student who was recently nominated by my institution for the #HHMI Gilliam Fellowship. Today I was told by HHMI that I do not fit their eligibility criteria for "Racial/Ethnic Underrepresentation." 1/12

Background (pulled from the Fellowship website): "The goals of the Gilliam program are to ensure that students from groups historically excluded from and underrepresented in science are prepared to assume leadership roles in science and science education (...)" 2/12

This Fellowship requires two levels of nomination before you can even apply/compete. First your institution has to nominate you to HHMI, then HHMI has to determine you are, indeed, eligible. My institution nominated me. HHMI determined I was not underrepresented. 3/12

I am an example of the consequences resulting from the continued practice of grouping people with East /Southeast/South Asian heritages underneath the "Asian American" umbrella. 4/12

The model minority myth perpetuates notions that all Asian Americans are doing well in America, are well-represented in science, etc. But studies making those claims are looking at aggregated data and are treating Asian Americans as a monolithic group. 5/12

We are not a monolithic group. While some Asian Americans are academically successful, others like the Hmong, are underrepresented in STEM and academia in general. 6/12

Please, #HHMI or anyone else in the scientific community, name me just one Hmong American woman you know who is a neuroscientist. I would love to connect with her if she is out there. 7/12

When we talk about underrepresentation in science and base our practices on data that is erroneously aggregated we commit the act of erasing the experiences of someone like me. 8/12

Let me state this another way: A fellowship from #HHMI that exists to support and uplift students underrepresented in science committed the very act of excluding a student from a group underrepresented in science. 9/12

I am not saying I should receive this fellowship on the basis of my racial/ethnic group. I am appalled that I was not even allowed to compete for it because I was determined by #HHMI to not be underrepresented. 10/12

So I must earnestly ask, where is the Hmong representation in science? Academic twitter, please name all the Hmong scientists in any STEM field you know. Can you name more than 5? More than 10? 11/12

What can we do?
1. Disaggregate Asian American data in studies.
2. Fellowships like #HHMI and others can do better. Broaden your perspectives on what it means to be an ethnic/racial minority who is underrepresented in science and how to support underrepresented students. 12/12