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Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course

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Inclusive and equitable geoscience requires identification and removal of structural barriers to participation. Replacing the leaky pipeline metaphor with that of a hostile obstacle course demands that those with power take the lead.

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Fig. 1: The hostile obstacle course that women and BIPOC researchers have to endure in STEMM.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA

    Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

  2. Environmental Studies Program, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Rebecca T. Barnes

  3. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Meredith G. Hastings

  4. Applied and Advanced Studies in Education, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Allison Mattheis

  5. Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Blair Schneider

  6. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, USA

    Billy M. Williams

  7. Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Erika Marín-Spiotta

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  1. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
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  2. Rebecca T. Barnes
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Correspondence to Asmeret Asefaw Berhe.

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Berhe, A.A., Barnes, R.T., Hastings, M.G. et al. Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course. Nat. Geosci. 15, 2–4 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00868-0

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