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Why scientific conferences must mitigate structural barriers

Nature Human Behaviour volume 6, pages 1032–1033 (2022)Cite this article

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Marginalized scholars are often excluded from key scientific conferences owing to visa and travel restrictions, which increases inequity among academics.

I recently experienced this with a conference located in a country that requires a visa. The conference acceptance letter — notably a document needed by many scientists to obtain a visa — was sent three months before the convention’s start date. The earliest available visa appointment was six months after the conference would have taken place; an overall wait of nine months for an initial embassy interview, after which a range of other procedures would ensue, each with their respective timeline. This experience took place in Europe for an individual with European citizenship based on birthplace. Such barriers are greater for minority scholars who still reside in their ethnic country of origin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Omid V. Ebrahimi

  2. Modum Bad Psychiatric Hospital and Research Center, Vikersund, Norway

    Omid V. Ebrahimi

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  1. Omid V. Ebrahimi
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Correspondence to Omid V. Ebrahimi.

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Ebrahimi, O.V. Why scientific conferences must mitigate structural barriers. Nat Hum Behav 6, 1032–1033 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01417-4

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