BioLogos Voices speaker Se Kim and Advisor Elaine Howard Ecklund will be speaking at the AAAS 2021 Annual Meeting.

Elaine Howard Ecklund will present “Religion as a Missing Dimension in Gender and Race Diversity in Science” on Monday, February 8, 2021 at 2:00 PM. “We know from past research that women and minorities, particularly Black and Hispanic communities, are vastly underrepresented in science and overrepresented in religious communities. We also know that there is a commonly perceived conflict between religion and science. This anticipated hostility towards religion has the potential to isolate and discourage religious individuals from entering science. This presentation will explore the role religion can play in increasing diversity in science.”

Se Kim will participate in the “How Thinking About Religion Can Increase Racial and Gender Diversity in Science panel” on Monday February 8, 2021 at 2:00 PM. “There is a national, even international, effort to diversify the scientific workforce. Women and minorities, especially Black and Hispanic Americans, are significantly underrepresented in scientific disciplines and careers. They are also much more likely than other groups to be religious. Many Americans assume that scientists are hostile toward religion, in part because highly vocal atheist scientists in the public sphere perpetuate this view, which hurts access to science for Black and Hispanic Americans in particular. Drawing on the largest international study of scientists’ attitudes towards religion, gender, and ethics ever undertaken, including a survey of 20,000 scientists and in depth interviews with over 600 of them, this session will examine religion as an essential, but overlooked, dimension of diversity in science, with particular attention to the views of scientists in the UK and in the US. The session will consider the religiosity of scientists worldwide and their views of the relationship between science and religion, as well as the connections from these views to those of religion, gender, and racism writ large.”

This event is hosted by AAAS.