1 of 20

Signaling Inclusivity Through Deliberate Framing of Specific STEM Course Content

Karen Hales, Biology Department

October 7, 2019

FIRST STEM Education Hour

2 of 20

Inclusive pedagogy

Broadly applicable approaches regardless of topic:

Eliminating migroaggressions, enhancing microaffirmations
Highlighting research by people of diverse identities
Emphasizing growth mindset
Etc.

Content-related approaches:

When topics directly relate to people’s identities
Careful and deliberate frameworks and language choices necessary

3 of 20

How information in DNA underlies similarities and differences between individuals, and how traits are inherited

Central to cell and molecular biology

Often human-focused

Genetics

Gender identity

Disability

Race/ethnicity

(re pseudoscientific racism)

4 of 20

Pedigree charts conflate female with egg producer & male with sperm producer

(and emphasize gender binary)

Sadava et al.

5 of 20

Hartwell et al.

Brooker

Hartl and

Cochrane

From three widely-used

genetics textbooks

6 of 20

Bennett et al., 2008. J Genet Couns. 17: 424-33

Also in text: use diamond for

--gender unspecified

--”disorders” of sex development

--transgender individuals

Various reproductive scenarios

(still cisgender- & hetero- normative)

7 of 20

NHGRI Family History Tool Meeting presentation, 2016

Robin Bennett, MS, CGC

Suggested but not codified: depictions inclusive of same sex couples as well as diverse gender identities

8 of 20

FTM

MTF

FTNB

MTNB

FTM

MTNB

How to represent sperm/egg info and gender identity?

Additional language shifts to consider…

9 of 20

Commonly used term or phrase	Suggested alternative
Male anatomy/organs	Sperm-producing and -conducting organs (or use specific body part names)
Female anatomy/organs	Egg-conducting and gestational organs (or use specific body part names)
Biologically female/male	Assigned female/male
Mother or biological mother	Egg parent
Father or biological father	Sperm parent

Terminology to “decouple anatomy from identity”*

*Alex Kapitan, Radical Copyeditor’s Style Guide for Writing About Transgender People

10 of 20

Consider both the literal and the metaphorical.

Would you propose any shifts?

How do gender-related assumptions manifest within your specific field?

11 of 20

Some genetic conditions underlie disability; some disabilities are genetic

(both visible and invisible)

Medical model vs. Social model of disability

Imperative

to “fix” or cure

(STEM classes often assume this model)

Need for societal change to accommodate everyone

12 of 20

Using language that validates disability identities

Person-first vs. Identity-first language

Person with a disability

Person with autism

etc.

Disabled person

Autistic person

etc.

Choice depends on context….

13 of 20

Choosing non-stigmatizing language for genetic conditions related to disability

abnormal/normal

diseased/healthy

disorder

defect

deficit

deformity

mutant

Avoid terms that suggest pity, suffering, and over-inspirationalizing (e.g. victim, afflicted, suffer)

affected/unaffected

atypical/typical

trait

variation

condition

variant

vs.

but of course

it’s complicated…

14 of 20

Which language choices and assumptions are relevant to your field?

Medical vs. social model of disability

Person-first vs identity-first language

Identifying non-stigmatizing terms

What shifts would you propose?

15 of 20

Ideas from pseudoscientific racism 🡪 stereotype threat re intelligence

Reality: races are socio-cultural constructs

Pseudoscience: race is biological

16 of 20

overlooks that most traits are complex

Proposal: earlier focus on population/quantitative genetics

--populations, not races

--wide genetic diversity within populations

Classroom danger:

Focus on simple genetic traits + define prevalence by race

(e.g. sickle cell)

reinforces idea that

race is biological

many genes + environment

--more nuanced view of complex traits including intelligence

--historical perspective of eugenics, e.g. biased IQ tests as weapon

18 of 20

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing: confusing ancestry and identity

Call for diversity in clinical trial subjects:

need to disentangle from misconception that race=biology

Two further issues regarding race in the genetics classroom

19 of 20