Inclusivity

What was the goal of the survey?

The goal of this survey was simple: to examine how diverse and inclusive iGEM really is, and to then provide suggestions that might help make this organization more inclusive.The UAlberta iGEM team was interested in investigating the age, sex, gender, sexuality, and race demographics of North American teams to examine if there were any inclusion disparities within North American iGEM teams. We asked these questions with the expectation that iGEM would follow the stereotypical trends of STEM, that being that the majority of iGEM members will be white, straight, cisgender (those who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth) and male. We also took into consideration past work done within iGEM to explore similar issues. We are also basing our survey off the iGEM survey conducted last year by iGEMs Diversity Committee, and work done by Paris Bettencourt 2013.

Creating a more inclusive space, and improving diversity starts by being aware of the downfalls of the organization, and from there moving to address any issues that may prevent the organization from achieving diversity. This survey and our suggestions are in no way meant to make anyone feel bad or lesser, they are also not meant to call anyone out but rather to spark conversation between all members so that we can all make change.

Team UAlberta thinks that a survey of this nature, and suggestions that may allow iGEM to improve its inclusivity is important because like all things. iGEM is imperfect and there is always room to improve upon established systems. iGEM is also the perfect organization to spark change in, as iGEM is an organization that is driven by young people's idealism, providing the perfect atmosphere to drive progress within STEM both scientifically and socially.

Ultimately, we hope this survey and our findings can contribute to conversation within iGEM teams and the iGEM community as a whole, while identifying changes that must be made to ensure that iGEM is a safe and inclusive space that opens doors for women and minorities. This is our community, and by gaining a better understanding of our demographics and using suggestions to inform structural change we can foster positive development.

Team UAlberta also recognizes that there has been an increase in general presence of women and non-White university students in North America, even in STEM fields. However, the inquiry was premised on the sociologically observed disproportionality of access to academic activities much like iGEM.