Examining diversity and inclusion in fisheries and aquatic sciences
| Authors: | Natasha Vizcarra, Brooke Penaluna |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Type: | Science Findings |
| Station: | Pacific Northwest Research Station |
| Source: | Science Findings 261. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 6p. |
Abstract
The fisheries and aquatic sciences confront complex challenges in the overexploitation and degradation of aquatic-riparian ecosystems worldwide. Although the field comprises diverse natural resources available to diverse groups, changing the human face of its workforce so that it closely reflects everyone who depends on those resources has been slow.
Brooke Penaluna, a research fisheries biologist from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and her collaborators analyzed data on the status of diversity and inclusion and investigated strategies to enhance these values in the workforce.
The researchers learned that in 2010, women and people of color remained a small portion of tenure-track faculty and federal government professionals. And although authorship by women and people of color had increased over time, White men still led more than 70 percent of published articles.
The researchers proposed nine action areas to enhance diversity and inclusion in 2016. In a later study, they found that the mentoring of and coauthorship with women and people of color can play important and positive roles in their career development and job satisfaction. Finally, the researchers encourage natural resource communities to expand the diversity discourse by engaging with themes in interdisciplinary diversity literature, such as equity, social justice, and intersectionality.