A follow-up to my first Blogging While Brown…About Science is in order.
Thanks to the great comments made here and at Jack & Jill Politics, I realized that you all were absolutely right. I’ve got to push through the discomfort, create my own air for this issue. So here I am sounding off about scientific literacy and the African-American community.
Our community’s relationship with math and science is a rocky one. Many of us, both children and adults, are just averse to science and math. We avoid it. Too many of our students score poorly on state tests in these subjects and too few pursue science careers. Which leads me to wonder, how is science communicated to the African-American community, and what’s the best way to communicate science to this community?
The first thing I know is that the existing science communication vehicles have failed to effectively reach the entire general public. One setback is the declining state of science journalism in this nation. Newspapers, news radio, and television stations have drastically reduced or eliminated science news.
Second, popular science magazines tend to attract a readership that is primarily white, male, and middle-aged. Communities like African-Americans, immigrants, or economically disadvantaged groups are not being reached. In fact, these audiences are often described as “underservedâ€Â.
Why is that?
With successful media outlets that specifically target black audiences like Ebony Magazine, Black newspapers, Black America Web, BET, and nationally-syndicated radio programs, why hasn’t science news reporting been a regular feature? Why haven’t science communication professionals considered marketing science to specific audiences? Why is science so hard to sell to minority communities?
I think the internet may provide the best answers to these questions. As my science blogging friend Daniel, so eloquently states, science blogging is the future of science communication.
Blogs allow readers to interact directly with scientists and researchers. Blogs offer a rare look into the minds and labs of scientists and engineers at different career levels – student, post-doc, and professor. The immediacy of the internet allows quick dissemination of information about new discoveries and technologies that before were only shared among researchers.
As often as we use blogs to follow celebrities or politics or economic trends, we can also follow engineering breakthroughs, medical discoveries, and environmental issues. Blogging gives us the opportunity to initiate the conversation. Though Blacks comprise a smaller number of the PhDs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) there are more of us than you may think. There is a growing number of science bloggers of color, too. (See the list at the end of the post). Science-related topics can be discussed in different ways – such as discussing the science behind controversial issues, commenting on health statistics, expounding on green technologies or profiling role models.
I believe that science can be communicated effectively to people if it is presented in a relevant manner. It’s time for the conversation to begin.
List of science blogs written by persons of color
Asymptotia *
49 Percent
Reconciliation Biology
Scientist Mother
The Urban Birder *
SES: Science, Education & Society *
Not Exactly Rocket Science
Thesis With Children *
Physics for Girls
Life’s A Lab! Science Chicago *
TechTechBoom
But You’re A Girl.com *
Chick With PhizzleDizzle
Diary of a PhD Student *
Science To Life *
Urban Science Adventures! © *
* persons who might be considered African-American or Black
Also check out the Diversity in Science blog carnival. Inspired by workshops about STEM diversity at the ScienceOnline09 Conference, bloggers of every genre contribute articles about various topics about achieving more diversity in science, engineering and math. It’s been a great outreach tool to communicate science to larger audiences. Check out our two editions so far, 1 and 2.
