The need for intersectionality in EDI
Intersectionality is a multifaceted framework for understanding the impact of the cumulative occurrence of privileges or barriers on individual success (Hearn & Louvrier 2015). It is one way to decipher the ‘real’ drivers of academic opportunities and success among researchers worldwide by looking at major intrinsic and extrinsic factors that affect individual ability to survive and reach leadership positions in the global scientific scene. We propose a simplified formula of intersectionality that explains academic success (S) as a function of four components: training (T), language (L), Networking (N), and discrimination (D) [S =f (T,L,N,D)] (Fig. 1a), where each component is determined by an array of factors.
Training is a metric that depends on educational institutions, the economy of the country, and one’s mentors. Universities play a crucial role in providing the resources (infrastructure), expertise (hiring the best scientists), funding and other opportunities that affect the quality of education of students, their willingness to pursue a science career, and the scientific productivity of researchers. The economy of a country is also a large determinant of the quality of training because rich countries can invest more money into education and research, providing a superior pedagogical and academic environment (Das et al.2013). Also, the choice of an academic supervisor shapes the quality of training of students, the originality and impact of the research questions they ask, the size of the academic networks they build, and the reputation of the journals in which they publish (Clement et al. 2020).
Language is the second major component of scientific success, particularly because English is the lingua franca in science and the ability of individuals to access the content of the literature depends on their knowledge of English (Ramírez-Castañeda 2020). There is a tradeoff in using a universal language. The advantage is unification and facilitation of science communication, but the disadvantage is that the singular use of the English language limits access to science to those who are proficient in English (Nuñezet al. 2021), which does not include those living in many less developed regions of the world. English proficiency intersects and interacts with the quality of training. For countries whose main language is not English, they need to have a good infrastructure and teach students English from an early age to have that quality of training (Amano et al. 2021).
Networking is a powerful component of academic success that facilitates not only collaborations but also the transfer of knowledge and the discovery of new research, techniques and tools. Even in this internet era, physical meetings are still the best way to interact with people and create real bonds. Researchers who often go to conferences overseas have more opportunities to meet international leading researchers in their field and create ties with them. However, there is a high difference in the ease of traveling overseas among nationalities where those from the Global South often need to apply for visa, pay fees, and go through heavy paper work to travel to conferences. Together with the lack of funding for conferences, the possibilities of international networking for Global South researchers are very limited.
Discrimination is another force that prevents people from succeeding and reaching leadership positions (Chaudhury & Colla 2021). Studies have recently highlighted institutional discrimination against black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), women, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities (e.g. Hofstraet al. 2020). These biases are often both visual and non-visual, that is, based on implicit biases such as inferring individual performance based on the name and affiliation of people (Pinholster 2016). Discrimination is thus a critical point of scientific success as, regardless of the level of training and language proficiency that individuals have, discrimination could drastically reduce one’s probability of success.
Depending on the place of birth, socioeconomic status, health, gender, and sexual orientation, researchers could be affected by a single to multiple barriers at once that not only reduce their likelihood of succeeding in academia but also exacerbate the amount of effort and time to spend to reach the expectations of leading scientists. Intersectionality shows that addressing EDI from a single dimension (T, L, N or D) is not effective to depict the cumulative barriers that individuals encounter, and a multivariate analysis is needed to address equity (Fig. 1b).