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To dismantle structural racism in science, scientists need to learn how it works

Neuropsychopharmacology volume 48, pages 579–582 (2023)Cite this article

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Yet as we illustrate below, maintaining focus on both the structural and individual causes of inequity is an unstable equilibrium: scientists’ attention tends to gravitate toward the individual psychological causes of inequity, such as unconscious bias and imposter syndrome, and drift away from structural oppression—the maintenance of inequity through institutional policies and practices. Here we argue that scientific training should include education about the structures that contribute to inequity in science. Dismantling those structures will require deep understanding from scientists at all levels, and education can mobilize collective action for this important work.

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Fig. 1: Mechanisms of oppression.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Lisa Goodman, Julia Stoller, and David Brann for their edits and feedback, and to PiNBAC co-director Taralyn Tan for information about the program. Qiu Chang Wu, Galit Lahav, and Angela DePace collaborated on creating the Identity and Empowerment in Science curriculum and Abigail Plummer contributed to an early version. We also thank the Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology Ph.D. Program at Harvard Medical School, as well the Harvard Office of Diversity and Minority Affairs, for their financial and administrative support. CW is a fellow of The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research. DSS is supported by the National Institutes of Health training grant (T32AI132120).

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  1. Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Caleb Weinreb

  2. Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Daphne S. Sun

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  1. Caleb Weinreb
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  2. Daphne S. Sun
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CW and DSS co-created the Identity and Empowerment in Science training curriculum and conceived this Perspective. CW wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Caleb Weinreb.

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Weinreb, C., Sun, D.S. To dismantle structural racism in science, scientists need to learn how it works. Neuropsychopharmacol. 48, 579–582 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-023-01534-2

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