Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Microbial Sciences—the Texas Perspective

The way that diversity, equity, and inclusion impact scientific careers varies for everyone, but it is evident that institutions providing an environment where being different or having differences creates a sense of being welcomed, supported, and valued are beneficial to the scientific community at large. In this commentary, three short stories from Texas-based microbiologists are used to depict (i) the importance of bringing the guiding principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within their professional roles, (ii) the need to apply and translate those principles to support and enable successful scientific careers among peers and trainees, and (iii) the impact of effective science communication to increase the understanding of microbial environments among the community at large.

THE SOCIAL ORIGINS AND SCHOOLING OF A SCIENTIFIC ELITE: FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY BORN FROM 1900

We present an analysis of the social composition of the UK scientific elite, as represented by Fellows of the Royal Society, in terms of Fellows’ social class origins and type of secondary education. From various sources, we have assembled data for 1691 Fellows, representing 80% of our target population of all Fellows born from 1900 onwards whose scientific careers were spent predominantly in the UK. We find that while these elite scientists come largely from more advantaged class backgrounds, it is professional rather than business or managerial families that are the main source of their recruitment – and, increasingly, such families where a parent is in a STEM occupation. Recruitment from working-class families has declined and for most recent birth cohorts almost ceased. The scientific elite is thus now more homogenous as regards the social origins of its members than it was in the second half of the twentieth century. At the same time, little change is evident in the secondary schooling of Fellows. In all birth cohorts, between two-fifths and a half of all – and over two-thirds of those from more advantaged class backgrounds – were privately educated, although the proportion attending Clarendon schools would seem low compared with that in other elites. A further finding is that both class origins and type of schooling are associated the relative probabilities of Fellows working in different research fields.

Understanding the onset of hot streaks across artistic, cultural, and scientific careers

Across a range of creative domains, individual careers are characterized by hot streaks, which are bursts of high-impact works clustered together in close succession. Yet it remains unclear if there are any regularities underlying the beginning of hot streaks. Here, we analyze career histories of artists, film directors, and scientists, and develop deep learning and network science methods to build high-dimensional representations of their creative outputs. We find that across all three domains, individuals tend to explore diverse styles or topics before their hot streak, but become notably more focused after the hot streak begins. Crucially, hot streaks appear to be associated with neither exploration nor exploitation behavior in isolation, but a particular sequence of exploration followed by exploitation, where the transition from exploration to exploitation closely traces the onset of a hot streak. Overall, these results may have implications for identifying and nurturing talents across a wide range of creative domains.

Metaphor in Science Communication: With Special Reference to Jade Rabbit of the Moon Rover

The metaphor can serve as an effective tool in science communication. This article studies the posts and comments of the Weibo account of Jade Rabbit of the Moon Rover, which construes the rover metaphorically as an anthropomorphized rabbit. This study explores the motivation and effect of this metaphor. Conceptual motivation can be found in the similarities between the rover and the anthropomorphized rabbit. Communicative motivation lies in its enhanced effectiveness in promoting science. The metaphor has been readily accepted by Weibo users who have displayed emotional reactions to its metaphorical construal, acquired astronomical knowledge, and determined to embark on scientific careers.

In memoriam of Alan H. Adams, DC, MS, MSEd:

In this paper we pay homage to Dr Alan H. Adams, who was born on November 3, 1945, and passed away on December 26, 2020. An early adopter of problem-based learning and evidence-based medicine, he contributed substantially to improving chiropractic education, research, and developing an evidence-based practice mindset for chiropractic practice. People who knew Al best recall that he was a fluent instigator of collaborative relationships, and he inspired and advanced many people in their academic and scientific careers. His curiosity, expertise, and mentorship were appreciated by many people and developed numerous interprofessional collaborations.

Women must be equal partners in science: gender-balance lessons from biology

Access to scientific careers for women has never been easy, but as biases and barriers slowly begin to diminish, women are becoming more and more involved in science, especially Biological Sciences. Some of the reasons why women do not have the same opportunities to achieve career pathways equal to those of men are discussed. We conclude that there is an ongoing need to design and apply new policies to effect a gender balance throughout the career path. This is seen not simply as an equitable outcome – it is a moral imperative.