People with more than one marginalized identity face multiple biases and discrimination. Understanding intersectionality in STEM disciplines is crucial to engendering all people’s success. -BY Debra Jenkins

Individuals who belong to multiple minority groups in STEM face unique challenges due to the intersectionality of their identities. Intersectionality refers to how various social identities — such as race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and disability — overlap and interact. Recognizing intersectionality offers a way to understand how overlapping identities compound experiences of discrimination or marginalization. It is an overlapping social categorization that can multiply people's barriers in society and the workplace, including in STEM fields.

In STEM, the person’s qualifications, technical skills, and contributions may be overshadowed by the bias, discrimination, and harassment experienced in education and work life. STEM fields depend on innovation and discovery, requiring an open-minded, diverse workforce. When intersectional STEM individuals experience barriers to STEM engagement, people and STEM fields never reach their full potential.

Layered Discrimination

Individuals from multiple minority groups often face a combination of biases that can differ significantly from the experiences of people in a single minority group. Minority groups in Europe are usually defined as including LGBTQ+, racial and ethnic entities, Roma, people with disabilities, and women. It is common for intersectional people to experience layered discrimination. For example, a woman who is Black experiences stereotyping as a woman and discrimination as a Black, or a Hispanic man and a member of the LGBTQ+ community experiences condescending remarks about his English proficiency and discrimination for being a member of a minority group. Intersectionality gives biased people more opportunities to express their biases. Intersectional individuals may experience more frequent microaggressions about their qualifications or capabilities. For example, a Latina woman in STEM might face condescending remarks about her English proficiency and technical skills, even when highly qualified. What the person cannot tell is whether the microaggressions are because she is a Latina or because she is a woman. Microaggressions are an indication of systemic discrimination and an expression of power. As a result, women and others with intersecting minority identities experience heightened pressure to disprove stereotypes associated with their race, gender, or other characteristics, leading to additional workplace stress.

Additionally, being what academics call "tokenized" can lead to additional responsibilities. For example, “token” workers may be expected to serve on diversity committees without adequate support, which detracts from their professional development and places additional workload requirements on them. They may also feel undue pressure to be a role model along with feelings of isolation and pressure to be “perfect.” The culture in STEM fields often reflects the norms and values of dominant groups, such as white, heterosexual men. This can alienate those with multiple minority identities, who may feel their contributions, perspectives, or needs are undervalued or ignored.

Complexity of Bias and Discrimination

In Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations: Beyond Broadening Participation, the authors discuss research that found that socialization leads to individuals creating social categories, with some people in and some out, and assigning personal meaning based on race and ethnicity. The result is that minoritized individuals in STEMM (sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) experience negative cognitive, emotional, and physiological stress resulting from stereotyping, working in systems that have predominately White contexts, social identity threats, stigma and coping expectations, imposter phenomenon, physical health impacts and more. The authors discuss three primary responses to bias in STEMM environments, namely leaving STEMM, implementing strategies to fit in, and joining together to change the environment. One recommendation is for STEMM professionals to redesign work environments to support minoritized people by fostering connections, emphasizing communal values, increasing a sense of belonging, and demonstrating kindness.

Intersectionality is important in the STEM industry because varying life experiences and perspectives bring cognitive diversity, a critical source of innovation. A review of over 2.5 million scientific papers found that the papers written by diverse groups received more citations and had higher impact factors than those authored by a single ethnic group. But how many papers were never accepted for review because the reviewers knew the authors were minorities? How many papers were never published because biases crept into the peer review process? Past research has found systemic discrimination in the journal submission and peer review process. This underscores the urgent need for more research to understand and address the specific challenges of intersectional identities in STEM.

Recognizing that complex intersectional barriers exist at every stage of STEM is the first step toward fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment. Discrimination has more opportunities for expression because intersectional individuals have more than one minority status. This is why a one-size-fits-all approach to diversity is inadequate to overcome intersectional-based discrimination. Institutions should develop programs and policies that acknowledge the unique experiences of individuals at the intersection of different identities. Training educators, supervisors, and colleagues on intersectionality and implicit bias can foster a more supportive and inclusive environment for underrepresented individuals in STEM. STEM initiatives must prioritize intersectional diversity by ensuring representation across leadership, mentoring, and professional development opportunities for individuals with multiple minority identities. Offering targeted financial support to intersectional students can develop more role models. More research is also needed to understand the specific challenges of intersectional identities in STEM, and policies should advocate for systemic changes to reduce discrimination and improve retention and success rates among underrepresented groups. This advocacy for systemic changes should instill a sense of hope and optimism among intersectional individuals.

Becoming Visible

The European Union has been tackling gender inequality. In 2022, it provided extra funding to universities, research institutes and private Research and Innovation (R&I) organizations with a formal Gender Equality Plan. Despite the progress, a leaky pipeline still exists for women. Though 59% of graduate students are women, they are 48% of PhD students, with 22% in STEM. In response, the European Commission created INSPIRE (Europe’s Centre of Excellence on Inclusive Gender Equality in Research and Innovation (R&I) to develop a better approach for recognizing intersectionality. One of the essential aspects of intersectionality is that it is not only about gender and race. It includes but is not limited to “gender, ethnicity and race, social and economic status, sexuality, disability and age.” Therefore, eliminating intersectionality barriers requires a broad-based approach when developing diversity, equality, and inclusion policies rather than addressing discrimination based on one demographic.

INSPIRE is conducting research to identify how power relations in majority groups lead to privileges and discrimination and identify the discriminatory experiences of those who remain invisible. Sometimes, it is necessary to go back to basics to move forward.