Frontiers in Education (Dec 2021)
Chronicling the Journey of the Society for the Advancement in Biology Education Research (SABER) in its Effort to Become Antiracist: From Acknowledgement to Action
- Miriam Segura-Totten,
- Bryan Dewsbury,
- Stanley M. Lo,
- Elizabeth Gibbons Bailey,
- Laura Beaster-Jones,
- Robert J. Bills,
- Sara E. Brownell,
- Natalia Caporale,
- Ryan Dunk,
- Sarah L. Eddy,
- Marcos E. García-Ojeda,
- Stephanie M. Gardner,
- Linda E. Green,
- Laurel Hartley,
- Colin Harrison,
- Mays Imad,
- Alexis M. Janosik,
- Sophia Jeong,
- Tanya Josek,
- Pavan Kadandale,
- Jenny Knight,
- Melissa E. Ko,
- Sayali Kukday,
- Paula Lemons,
- Megan Litster,
- Barbara Lom,
- Patrice Ludwig,
- Kelly K. McDonald,
- Anne C. S. McIntosh,
- Sunshine Menezes,
- Erika M. Nadile,
- Shannon L. Newman,
- Stacy D. Ochoa,
- Oyenike Olabisi,
- Melinda T. Owens,
- Rebecca M. Price,
- Joshua W. Reid,
- Nancy Ruggeri,
- Christelle Sabatier,
- Jaime L. Sabel,
- Brian K. Sato,
- Beverly L. Smith-Keiling,
- Sumitra D. Tatapudy,
- Elli J. Theobald,
- Brie Tripp,
- Madhura Pradhan,
- Madhvi J. Venkatesh,
- Mike Wilton,
- Abdi M. Warfa,
- Brittney N. Wyatt,
- Samiksha A. Raut
Affiliations
- Miriam Segura-Totten
- Department of Biology, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, United States
- Bryan Dewsbury
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
- Stanley M. Lo
- Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Sciences and Program in Mathematics and Science Education, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Elizabeth Gibbons Bailey
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
- Laura Beaster-Jones
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, United States
- Robert J. Bills
- Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, United States
- Sara E. Brownell
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Natalia Caporale
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Ryan Dunk
- University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, United States
- Sarah L. Eddy
- 0Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
- Marcos E. García-Ojeda
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, United States
- Stephanie M. Gardner
- 1Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Linda E. Green
- 2School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Laurel Hartley
- 3Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, United States
- Colin Harrison
- 4School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Mays Imad
- 5Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ, United States
- Alexis M. Janosik
- 6Department of Biology, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, United States
- Sophia Jeong
- 7Department of Teaching and Learning, The College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Tanya Josek
- 8School of Biological Science, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United States
- Pavan Kadandale
- 9Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
- Jenny Knight
- 0University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
- Melissa E. Ko
- 1Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
- Sayali Kukday
- 2Department of Genetics Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States
- Paula Lemons
- 3Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Megan Litster
- 4Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, United States
- Barbara Lom
- 5Biology and Neuroscience, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, United States
- Patrice Ludwig
- 6Department of Biology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, United States
- Kelly K. McDonald
- 7Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, CA, United States
- Anne C. S. McIntosh
- 8Department of Science, Augustana Campus, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Sunshine Menezes
- 9Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, United States
- Erika M. Nadile
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Shannon L. Newman
- 0Department of Biology, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, United States
- Stacy D. Ochoa
- 1College of Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
- Oyenike Olabisi
- 2Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
- Melinda T. Owens
- 3Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- Rebecca M. Price
- 4School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, United States
- Joshua W. Reid
- 5Section of Neurobiology, Division of Biological Sciences and Program in Mathematics and Science Education, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States
- Nancy Ruggeri
- 6Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States
- Christelle Sabatier
- 7Biology Department and Neuroscience Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, United States
- Jaime L. Sabel
- 0University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
- Brian K. Sato
- 8Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Beverly L. Smith-Keiling
- 9Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota Medical School and College of Biological Sciences, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Sumitra D. Tatapudy
- 0Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Elli J. Theobald
- 1Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- Brie Tripp
- 2Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Madhura Pradhan
- 3Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
- Madhvi J. Venkatesh
- 4Biomedical Research Education and Training Office and Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Mike Wilton
- 5Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
- Abdi M. Warfa
- 6Department of Biology Teaching and Learning, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Brittney N. Wyatt
- 7Department of Biology, Utah Valley University, Orem, UT, United States
- Samiksha A. Raut
- 8Department of Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.780401
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 6
Abstract
The tragic murder of Mr. George Floyd brought to the head long-standing issues of racial justice and equity in the United States and beyond. This prompted many institutions of higher education, including professional organizations and societies, to engage in long-overdue conversations about the role of scientific institutions in perpetuating racism. Similar to many professional societies and organizations, the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), a leading international professional organization for discipline-based biology education researchers, has long struggled with a lack of representation of People of Color (POC) at all levels within the organization. The events surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death prompted the members of SABER to engage in conversations to promote self-reflection and discussion on how the society could become more antiracist and inclusive. These, in turn, resulted in several initiatives that led to concrete actions to support POC, increase their representation, and amplify their voices within SABER. These initiatives included: a self-study of SABER to determine challenges and identify ways to address them, a year-long seminar series focused on issues of social justice and inclusion, a special interest group to provide networking opportunities for POC and to center their voices, and an increase in the diversity of keynote speakers and seminar topics at SABER conferences. In this article, we chronicle the journey of SABER in its efforts to become more inclusive and antiracist. We are interested in increasing POC representation within our community and seek to bring our resources and scholarship to reimagine professional societies as catalyst agents towards an equitable antiracist experience. Specifically, we describe the 12 concrete actions that SABER enacted over a period of a year and the results from these actions so far. In addition, we discuss remaining challenges and future steps to continue to build a more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable space for all biology education researchers, especially our POC members. Ultimately, we hope that the steps undertaken by SABER will enable many more professional societies to embark on their reflection journeys to further broaden scientific communities.
Keywords
