Why Inclusion Matters

Neurological and neurodegenerative conditions are on the rise and are increasingly recognized as significant contributions to mortality and disability worldwide. These conditions are impartial to gender, race, socioeconomic status, or geographic location; they can, and do, impact everyone. Yet science is not without its flaws.

Why WiN Matters

The neuroscience fields have a significant shortage of inclusive representation among practitioners, researchers, and leaders. This imbalance arises from various barriers that often limit or prevent under-resourced and underserved individuals from joining the scientific community. Inclusion plays a crucial role in tackling unique health challenges encountered by different populations, ultimately resulting in better health outcomes for everyone. WiN is addressing challenges by creating an inclusive environment that provides opportunities for educational initiatives, networking, and mentorship, enabling interns to thrive rather than merely survive.

Women make up at least 50% of neuroscience students at the predoctoral and doctoral levels, but they leave the field at a greater rate than men; thereby creating a “leaky pipeline”.

What’s the Impact?

Less earning potential. Doctorate and Master’s degrees yield higher annual salaries than a Bachelor’s degree
Less likely to assume faculty and teaching positions
Absence or limited presence in leadership roles
Face more challenges to conducting research
Research on health issues specific to women remains limited
Difficulty in funding including securing and allocation
Less likely to be a Primary Investigator (PI), and having own lab
Even less public recognition of contributions
May or may not hold titles that are considered deserving of recognition
Receive fewer primary citations
Have their work questioned more
Do not always receive credit for their work
Comprehensive understanding of the brain will remain constrained by inherent biases

Underrepresentation in Neuroscience

Despite roughly equal levels of interest in STEM, students from underrepresented groups are about half as likely to complete a STEM degree in college, as compared to White and Asian students.

Data on neuroscientist by race reveals underrepresentation (Zippia.com)

American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.2%

Unknown: 3.5%

Black or African American: 4.6%

Hispanic or Latino: 7.4%

Asian: 27.9%

White: 56.4%

This results in a limited pool of talent from which the field can recruit and hampers the ability to highlight the research and work of people from underrepresented backgrounds.

Benefits of Inclusion

Research shows that inclusive representation of practitioners, researchers and leaders has real and lasting impact by:

Transforming the scientific paradigm of how science operates
Accelerating breakthroughs for improving health outcomes
Reducing barriers experienced by under-resourced and underserved communities
Improving research and health outcomes across all populations
Making sure brains are healthier which leads to healthier lives

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

Marie Curie
Pioneer Female Scientist, Noble Prize Winner in Physics & Chemistry

Studies show that heterogenous groups, which encompass women and individuals from underserved communities, generate more creative ideas and improved scientific outcomes than homogenous groups.

Machlovi, S., Pero, A., Ng, S., Zhong, M., & Cai, D. (2020). Women in Neuroscience: Where are we in 2019? Journal of Neuroscience Research, 99(1), 9–12.

Other benefits of inclusive representation include:

Increased trust from underrepresented groups who have historically and intentionally been excluded and even mistreated by medical research, leading to better recruitment from these populations to conduct studies on the issues they face
Increased focus on healthcare imparities and gaps, as underrepresented scientists often have a greater drive to reduce such imparities and gaps as well as a better understanding of how they arise
A wider range of patients see medical professionals who look like them, and patients who identify with their physician may better adhere to treatment and have better outcomes
When given a choice, racial and ethnic minority patients are more likely to select physicians who share their racial/ethnic backgrounds and report greater satisfaction and receiving higher quality care
Discovering the next major breakthroughs that will significantly contribute to understanding of brain health