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Research Project: Increasing the Value of Cottonseed

Location: Commodity Utilization Research

Title: Diversity in science: An overview

Author
item NELSON, DONNA - University Of Oklahoma
item Cheng, Huai

Submitted to: ACS Symposium Series
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/6/2017
Publication Date: 11/3/2017
Citation: Nelson, D.J., Cheng, H.N. 2017. Diversity in science: An overview. In: Nelson, D.J., Cheng, H.N., editors. Diversity in the Scientific Community Volume 1: Quantifying Diversity and Formulating Success. ACS Symposium Series 1255. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. p. 1-12.

Interpretive Summary: This article serves as the introductory chapter to a book called “Diversity in the Scientific Community” edited by Donna Nelson and H. N. Cheng and published by ACS. Because diversity is a major workplace issue in the scientific enterprise, the American Chemical Society (ACS) organized three symposia in 2016, where many ACS leaders, scholars, and diversity program directors presented statistical data relating to diversity, provided personal perspectives, and outlined successful ongoing diversity programs. All the speakers were invited to contribute chapters to the book and most of them did. This article aims to summarize the benefits of diversity, the challenges, the opportunities, and many examples of successful programs. It is hoped that this article may be useful as an introduction to this important workplace issue and help to bring about a greater diversity and global awareness.

Technical Abstract: In the last decade or so, many chemical organizations have recognized the importance of diversity as a means to enhance recruitment or retention of talent, improve marketing of products or services, and broaden the scope and the perspectives for new ideas. Despite this increasing recognition, there is still a lot of work to be done in order to achieve a fair and equitable workplace, where workers can each fulfill their full potential. In particular, there is noticeable disparity in academia in career advancement, compensation, and attitude for workers with different gender, race, and ethnicity. An overview is given in this article, highlighting some of the key findings. More details can be found in the individual chapters given in this book.