Like the vast majority of people across the world, we were appalled and upset by the brutal killing of George Floyd in the United States. The Black Lives Matter protests that followed are rightly shining a light on racism in all corners of society.
All of us have a responsibility to act. That means calling out the racism and inequality ingrained in many of the research and academic structures in which we all operate.
As an open and inclusive global community for physiologists, The Physiological Society has a platform to bring scientists together to tackle the systemic racism that exists in STEM.
But we are not merely observers. Firstly, we must acknowledge where we have fallen short and recognise that we have not done enough to tackle the racism that Black scientists face.
While we have a strong inclusion and diversity ethos at The Society that is embedded across our organisation and governance structures, we must do more to support Black scientists to come through the ranks of The Society.
This includes collaborating with others to influence and deliver greater impact, for example, through our membership of EDIS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health).
As The Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Champions, we are committed to driving this change. We must continue to integrate diversity into our culture and put it at the heart of everything we do.
We are bringing our Diversity and Inclusion representatives from all our committees together to consider how the activities we undertake – our events, publishing, public engagement – need to change to ensure even greater inclusivity and diversity, especially with respect to ethnicity. That means working to ensure that there are Black people fully engaged at all levels of The Society, helping to shape our future.
Nothing short of demonstrable, meaningful change will be enough.
The Black Lives Matter protests have been an inspiring symbol of people using their voices to call for change.
All of us, whatever role we play, need to reflect on ourselves and our own biases and the impact this has on limiting diversity within STEM. We also have a duty now to educate ourselves, actively listen and act to eradicate racism.
Sue Deuchars and Raheela Khan
Diversity and Inclusion Champions