SYMP 15-3 - Inclusive Engagement Between Biological Societies and Indigenous Scholars

Underrepresentation of North American Indigenous groups is prevalent in STEM, depriving these fields of the potential for innovation and transformative solutions created by a diverse workforce. Therefore, it is imperative for professional scientific societies to recruit, support, and retain diverse and underrepresented voices in their fields. LEAPS: Culture Change for the Inclusion of Indigenous Voices in Biology”, referred to as “Indigenous Voices”, is a collaborative project led by The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) with partner support from the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the Botanical Society of America, and the Entomological Society of America. The Indigenous Voices project aims to test approaches to achieving culture change within biological science through Indigenous representation in professional societies.

A survey was jointly developed and implemented in early February 2023 to assess the current state of inclusion of Indigenous scholars, research with tribal communities, Indigenous methodologies, and overall tribal engagement. Though the survey was implemented across three societies, this presentation will focus solely on ESA’s results.

Preliminary analysis of the survey identified:
1) While non-Indigenous respondents agree that “Indigenous community, knowledge, and experiences are recognized and valued within ESA” (mean score was 2.6 on a scale of 1-4 (Strongly disagree to strongly agree))—many crediting the work of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Section’s activities (webinars, talks, mixers, etc.)—Indigenous respondents disagree (mean score 2.1) that their cultures are recognized and valued within ESA.
2) Indigenous members disagree that ESA “supports dissemination of Indigenous knowledge” through our journals (mean of 2.0) and 40% of non-Indigenous members are unaware of any Indigenous publication efforts at ESA.
3) 48% of respondents are unaware of Indigenous knowledge practitioners or Indigenous scholars receiving award recognition from ESA. The other percentage strongly disagree that they “see Indigenous scholars receive awards” (mean of 0.95).
4) Finally, the respondents cite the lack of Indigenous scholars in leadership positions within ESA and the need to develop more leadership opportunities since participants strongly disagree that current leadership address “topics relevant to Indigenous communities” (mean of 1.0).

To increase and maintain the number of indigenous scholars in STEM, particularly ecology, culture change is pertinent and though recruitment is a critical step to achieving culture change, acceptance and promotion of Indigenous individuals, knowledge, culture, values, and community is also vital.