Although Hispanics comprise
16% of the total population in the United States, they remain largely
underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
degrees and careers.
This underrepresentation of Hispanics
in science is problematic on several levels. The attrition of Hispanics among
the ranks of scientists limits our ability as a society to benefit from the
full range of talent and minds. The scientific enterprise is enriched by the
variety of thoughts, experiences and ideas contributed by diversity. A lack of diversity among the research
workforce is detrimental
for innovation and can also have the effect of decreasing the diversity of
research topics, particularly those that pertain to Hispanics.
Many barriers have been found
to contribute to the disproportionately low numbers of Hispanics in science,
including insufficient guidance and mentoring, lack of
culturally-relevant science information and lack of access to education and
professional resources. Today, social
networking platforms have emerged as powerful tools to help knock down some of
these barriers.
Social networking websites
can help democratize access to knowledge and provide new opportunities for
fellowship and mentorship by linking groups from resource-limited geographical
regions with others in resource-rich centers.
Science is a global activity and, with the Latino scientific community
dispersed over a wide geographic area, a virtual space that brings individuals
of that scientific diaspora together represents a powerful and innovative way
to address the challenges faced by Hispanics in science and technology.
This is precisely the type of
space the non-profit grassroots organization Ciencia Puerto Rico has
established. Our volunteer-run networking platform, CienciaPR.org, brings together the
geographically dispersed Puerto Rican scientific community under a virtual
collaborative space, and uses their collective knowledge-wealth and expertise
to engage the public in science; to serve as role models and mentors for the
next generations of scientists; and to promote the development of science
endeavors in the Puerto Rican archipelago.
In just
six years the
website’s membership has
increased
to over 6,100 members underscoring the
strong interest
and need for such
an endeavor.
By encouraging user participation and the
exchange of knowledge and ideas, social networks foster a sense of community
and facilitate the creation of user-driven initiatives. For instance, CienciaPR.org provides people with common
interests – science, research and Puerto Rico – with the tools, information and
resources to help them forge collaborations and mentoring relationships. The ideas and shared interests of the members
of Ciencia Puerto Rico’s online community have fueled our organization’s most
successful initiatives.
Over the years, by engaging its membership
and leveraging its breadth and
reach,
CienciaPR has
been
able to implement a number of
formal
and informal science education
initiatives that have contributed to the teaching and learning of science in
Puerto Rico and the support of
scientists at various stages
of their
training and career.
Some of these efforts include increasing
content about Puerto
Rican
scientists or research performed
in Puerto Rico in local print, radio, and online news
media; publishing a book of
essays relating
scientific stories contextualized and culturally-relevant manner;
offering workshops
to K-12 teachers
to complement their classes with contextualized activities;
and piloting a program
to increase students’ interest in and
awareness of science and scientific careers.
In addition to these initiatives, CienciaPR uses social media networking platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to disseminate original science articles and podcasts, as well as other relevant news and science-related information.
The lack of mentors that can
advice Latino students about the pathways towards STEM degrees and careers is a
key contributing
factor to their attrition
in the scientific training pipeline. A
good mentor and role model is an invaluable source
of experience and insights, someone to identify with, who knows how it is
and what it takes to develop into and perform successfully as a scientist or
engineer. Often,
Latino youth have limited access to role models in their communities to
engage, mentor and empower them to go into science.
To showcase role models in the Puerto
Rican scientific community, roughly each month,
Ciencia Puerto Rico features a story profiling the life and work of
Puerto Rican scientists: their trajectory in
science, the relevance of their work and their personal journey through
science. In addition to showcasing their
work, these stories speak of the challenges faced by these Puerto Rican
scientists, their drive to succeed and their will to give back to their
communities and be an example for future generations.
Online networking platforms like CienciaPR.org are uniquely poised to help
overcome the lack of mentors among Latino students,
because they enable the far-reaching personalized mentoring relationships
needed to succeed in the scientific enterprise.
Our recently revamped platform provides a number of social
networking tools such as a private and secure messaging system; a message board where members can
"meet" and communicate with each other; maps of users; personal blogs; and links
to members with similar interests. Besides encouraging the establishment of
mentoring and collaborative relationships through our social networking tools,
Ciencia Puerto Rico organizes social events at national scientific
conferences. These social events give
attendees the opportunity to share information about their research and careers
in Puerto Rico or abroad, and get to know fellow Puerto Rican scientists.
Although our initiatives have focused
primarily on Puerto Rico, we believe that the principles of community
participation and collaboration that guide CienciaPR can fuel the creation of
initiatives that can benefit all Hispanics.
We hope our platform can serve as a model to
help establish creative strategies that effectively tackle the issues of
scientific literacy, cultural relevance and access to mentors and resources for
minority populations.
The topics discussed here were the subject of a professional development workshop organized by Ciencia Puerto Rico and presented on Oct. 11, 2012 at the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) National Conference. The panel included Dr. Yaihara Fortis-Santiago, AAAS Science & Technology Fellow and member of the CienciaPR team; Dr. Frances Colón-Hastings, Deputy Science and Technology Advisor for the Secretary of State Hilary Clinton; Dr. Wilson González-Espada, Associate Professor of Physics and Science Education at Morehead State University and part of the CienciaPR team; and Mónica Feliú-Mójer, Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and vice-director of CienciaPR.
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