Diversity in STEM Review: draft recommendations

The draft has practical and effective recommendations that is likely to generate change, like applying anti bullying and harassment policies. I believe this if the right way to achieve changes.

I believe that the metrics to assess academics and researchers at the university and research institutions should become more diverse as well to be able to attract a more diverse cohort of STEM professionals. While institutions maintain their traditional metrics (assessing professionals by the number of publications and overvaluation of high impact factor journals that tend to require connection with previledge white male who are well connected) to employ STEM professionals, they will maintain bias towards hiring white previledge people. Even if there are quota for diverse people (e.g. women), traditional metrics will still be benefiting white privileged women or women well connected with previledge people. It is necessary to value diverse metrics when attracting STEM professionals, such as research impact, community work, contribution to the general public, services to the government, etc. This would also decrease the number of difficult people who uses of bullying and other unhealthy attitudes as they usually are the highly competitive people that fit with the traditional metrics (while having a limited sense of collegiality, contribution to communities and good human traits to perform a healthy interaction and supervision of students).

I believe that media and marketing are weak points in the draft of recommendations as it triggers an industry of "I pretend to care about diversity". Several institutions already use it as a tool for self promotion when in fact they have a minimum care factor for diversity is limited. What media portraits is usually what society wants to see. It does not require any change from institutions, and can promote a false diversity care factor. Media generates an industry that uses disadvantage cohorts as a way to attract funding to support disadvantaged people, when nothing is being done in practice to help them.

Furthermore, media appearance tend to attract (and promote) people with excessive high opinion and extremists. It does not benefit the humble and discrete person who is the type of person that needs support the most.