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I am beginning to think that one of the most damaging cultural ideals of science is to avoid being seen or construed as in any way "political" as a scientist. Let me explain:
Institutes of science in the US (and I would guess elsewhere, though I know less about the situation abroad) face the issue that many people experience serious misconduct that often is connected to sexism, racism, and other forms of discrimination.
To me, this is, in addition to being problematic in other ways, a serious ethical problem. People in science should not be ok with this, and should do everything they can to denounce it and stop it from happening.
But this problem is political. Like many problems. So the ideal that we as scientists should avoid being too political now exerts pressure not to rock the boat too hard, not to let yourself be seen "taking a side".
This is of course absurd. Everything is in some way a "political" issue. That doesn't end our ethical obligation to stop bad things from happening and protest them when they do happen. It doesn't remove the imperative to fix the system so it doesn't cause more harm.
But here's the rub; this ideal of not being too "political" becomes a weapon to be used to systematically avoid the discomfort of having to face issues like harassment and sexual assault, or racism.
Academia responds by allowing this discourse to take place in an abstract manner; we talk often of the problem of "diversity" and "representation". Abstract solutions are proposed. Some are good, some not so good. But often we don't ground these conversations in real experiences.
I think the real reason real experiences get discouraged is because they paint the issue as a moral one. It's much easier to live thinking that your work environment isn't "diverse" than thinking people are actively experiencing harmful harassment and abuse.
I don't want to discount diversity as a goal; it is certainly a good one. Representation is important. But framing these problems as revolving around lack of diversity alone ignores the ethical implications of working in a field that tolerates such abuse.
