My answers to @SheerPriya 's question in a thread

1/ Hi Priya, this is a big question & an important one to think about. On one hand, yes we should have quantitative statistics bc that shows what many groups already know. Though that is not going to solve the problem entirely. https://twitter.com/SheerPriya/status/1299429150239920137

2 / I do not want to look at another plot of ‘well we are matching the xx statistics, so we are doing great” 20% is not okay, 2% is terrible. We truly need to do better.

We need to shift the consciousness and normalize the conversation around equity & inclusion.

3 / We should not bottle it up into a 1 hr talk during some conferences. It should become our practice as scientists. This should be on everyone’s mind about who we are inviting, who we are citing, etc.

4/ Here’s some radical ideas
* Ask every invited speaker to share a tip about equitable and inclusive practices
* Each speaker do a diversity audit of their slides - who are we citing, who’s pictures are we using, etc.

5/ As conference organizers, come up with clear, direct INCLUSIVE language guidelines for speakers and participants i.e. a how to guide of what is acceptable language to come out of our mouths while talking about science. Yep, that means not making racists/sexist/-ist/‘ jokes

6/ We don’t carry all of our diverse identities on our sleeves or skin. The goal needs to be to remove barriers that would even bring this into question. The only way we know how to do that is to listen to different groups. Learn what are hurdles then remove them.

7/ Be incredibly intentional about who we are even asking to attend. Where is this being advertised i.e. what listserve, universities, departments, e.t.c

8/ Do not rely solely on PIs to be the bottleneck of who gets to speak. Go to the affinity group spaces that are open & listen. You will hear their science bc it can be the only places they have a voice.

9 /I do not understand why there is not more participation from the physics & astronomy community to REGULARLY attend the YEARLY conferences of
@sacnas.

It is not an "outreach event". It is a SCIENCE conference that also addresses the entire experience of the scientists.

10 /Physicists & Astronomers should learn what it looks like to create an inclusive conference AND put in the hard work to build relationships rather than take what you think looks nice from another conference. There is a big difference between appropriation and collaboration

11/ All of these above points are the change the culture. But there also needs to be careful and deliberate attention to who we are inviting to speak.

When I am invited to speak, my first thought is that I was invited as a token.

12/ I think that because I am not sure anyone knows the exact science I do i.e. Cosmology, Dark Energy, Gravitational Waves Detectors, Seismic Noise, Newtonian Noise, Metamaterials.

The invitation needs to clearly state that you even know who I am and what I think about.

13/ Or you can be very clear that you are creating a platform, know what I do and I can speak about anything.
@ximenaccid1 is an expert in this, which is why I say yes to what she creates. Many other asks have tried to shove me in a box, which signals to me tokening.

14/ Yes, do a self-audit of demographics and collaborate with experts to ensure that we are covering a broad spectrum. Whatever is created needs to be inclusive beyond gender and race. It also needs to be prepared to have INTERSECTIONAL answers i.e. across other axes of identity

We can do this