Chairwoman Johnson Requests National Academies Study on the Influence of Systemic Racism in Academia
The American Physiological Society (APS) is asking you to join them in signing onto a community letter to House Science Committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson supporting her call for a National Academies study on the influence of systemic racism in academia.
The events of the last few months have brought renewed attention to the persistent problem of racism in our society. The sciences are not immune from this systemic problem, and indeed, demographic analysis of the scientific workforce confirms a lack of racial and ethnic diversity at all levels.
In late July, Chairwoman Johnson sent a letter to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) asking for a study on the influence of systemic racism in academia. Her letter specifically calls for the study to examine “the extent to and ways in which systemic racism in research learning environments influences the recruitment, retention, and advancement of historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups pursuing scientific, engineering, technical, and medical careers.” She further calls for “identification and analysis of promising policies, strategies, and practices that have been the most successful in preventing and addressing systemic racism in these settings.”