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Attracting and retaining diverse students in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), especially those from Black, Indigenous and Latinx backgrounds,��.

Although there’s a history of research on under-representation in STEM, the needle has not moved much. .

With recent equity-oriented research shifting to examining and transforming institutions, Canadian higher education is positioned to leverage what we already know about why Black and Indigenous people are underrepresented in the sciences. Examining these issues in the Canadian context can help us transform STEM teaching, learning and practice spaces to be more welcoming of diverse students and perspectives.

This is important to research and development in Canada because, as the National Sciences and Research Council of Canada proclaimed:

“Canada’s greatest potential can only be realized when all people are welcomed into the laboratory, the classroom, and the field. We all benefit from the wide range of perspectives and talent that make our research and our society better. In a competitive global economy,��.”

Issues hidden in plain sight

For many years, I worked as an educator in a natural history museum where I was involved in designing after-school science enrichment programs for middle and high school students. These programs placed students with museum scientists and . Upon graduating from the program and high school, many of these students went on to STEM majors but, once in university,��.

In the United States, studies have long documented .

In Canada however, the issue of diversity and STEM has remained hidden because there has not been a .

The Canadian context

Studies of diverse faculty have revealed that Black, Indigenous and racially diverse professors are not only underrepresented, but also have . Racialized professors also felt that their work was devalued, their qualifications were questioned and that they were viewed as “illegitimate academics” in Canadian universities. This is reflected in tenure and promotion statistics — racialized professors .

Education scholars Merli Tamik and Melissa Guenter note: .”

These studies speak to the systemic barriers and biases that Black and Indigenous students aspiring to be academic scientists might face. It also points to the lack of Black, Indigenous and racially diverse mentors available for STEM students — having professors and mentors who “” is a demonstrated factor in inspiring underrepresented students to pursue STEM majors and careers.

Early initiatives to diversify STEM in Canada focused on women. For example,��. However,��, an indication that initiatives are perhaps not as effective at attracting women to STEM to begin with.

One possibility is that research and related policy initiatives lack an  — that is, an understanding that one person may hold multiple social identities that could . For example, women of colour experience a  when negotiating barriers and challenges in STEM pursuits.

Diversity leads to innovation

One of the measures of scientific creativity are citations, and research has shown that diversity produces  and more . With creativity being important to new scientific discoveries and problem-solving, a study of .

Arctic researchers concluded that diversity produced the highest quality of science, citing their field as an example: “.” This approach could be extended to other pressing issues as they become increasingly politicized and require multiple perspectives to strengthen research and communication.

For example, research,��.

Sadly, although scholars from underrepresented groups produce higher rates of scientific novelty,��. There is a critical need to value and advance the work of underrepresented scientists and scholars.

Advancing diversity in Canada

First, it’s necessary to collect both quantitative and qualitative data on educational attainment and race along the STEM pathway, starting with secondary school students. Young people tend to solidify their goals in secondary school, meaning race and education data will be critical to understanding who enters STEM pathways and where and why they leave. We also need to understand the experiences of those who stayed and what contributed to their persistence.

Second, we have to understand the systemic barriers that students experience in their pursuit of STEM in Canada. In the U.S., research has described barriers such as ,��,��,�������Ի���.

However,��we need to understand these barriers in Canada, and explore how Canadian patterns of settler colonialism and immigration affect diverse students’ experiences in STEM and .

Third, we have to support and make visible the contributions of Black and Indigenous scientists. For example, the  is working to make sure that Black scientists are front and centre in Canadian creativity, innovation and discovery.

Finally, once we identify systemic barriers specific to Canada, we have to work to dismantle them. This requires placing the emphasis on transforming STEM cultures to welcome, retain and celebrate diverse students.