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By Hansook Oh and Melissa Simon
Who gets to be the face of science?
This simple question is what kickstarted the Diversity Program Consortium’s Enhance Science project, a visual media project showcasing the real-life impacts of initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusivity in STEM. Enhance Science expands the idea of what a scientist looks like by engaging the scientific community through original content and social media campaigns.
On May 4, the Enhance Science project engaged the NIH biomedical research training community for its second #FaceOfScience social media campaign. This campaign invites individuals from throughout the STEM research pathway to engage with the Enhance Science project.
Hundreds of individuals posted #FaceOfScience selfies and shared what they love about science on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn..
“I love working with a wonderful team to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the scientific workforce,” wrote Pamela Tamez, a program officer in the NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD) office.
In talking about why they love science, others said they like asking questions to solve problems, having endless opportunities to discover new things and expanding their knowledge about the world.
“What I love most about science is the joy in discovering some cool piece of information about how life works that no one else has found yet, big or small. I also love being able to advocate for disability rights in science and academia. Science belongs to EVERYONE,” wrote Stephen Klusza, an assistant professor of biology at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, who is Deaf.
“I love learning more about the world I live in and helping others do the same," said Sol Corral, a psychology undergraduate who participates in the BUILDing SCHOLARS program at the University of Texas, El Paso.
The Face of Science campaign resulted in a total of 774 posts from 211 unique authors using #FaceOfScience. Posts on social media using #FaceOfScience received 3,799 total engagements (likes, comments, shares) and were potentially seen by an audience of over 5.5 million people.
“It’s incredible to see the kind of impact that Face Of Science has had on the community,” said Hansook Oh, the Co-Director of the CEC’s Communication and Dissemination Core and one of the creators of the video series. “We are providing better representations of scientists in the media through our series and our social media campaigns, and people are responding enthusiastically to seeing themselves become the image of what a scientist looks like.”
To learn more about the Enhance Science project, visit enhancescience.org or email info@enhancescience.org
