Diversify STEM Conferences

Diversify STEM Conferences (DSC) was created to address the wider issue of representation in STEM by focusing specifically on the diversity of speakers invited to give talks at conferences and on panels. There have been extensive efforts to improve the number of underrepresented minority (URM) scientists and billions spent over the years to address the lack of diversity in STEM. However, progress has been slow and, in some fields, has stagnated. We believe that targeting conferences is a crucial step to increasing diversity. Conferences are critical times of collaboration, networking, visibility, and career advancement, however the representation amongst speakers invited to give talks at STEM conferences is even poorer than in STEM fields generally. We hope that by targeting representation at conferences, we can help make STEM fields more inclusive and diverse!

We have taken several steps towards improving diversity and inclusion at STEM conferences. The main project that we are working on is building up our Speakers List ( https://dscnatl.org/speakers-list/) which has been widely distributed and has received great feedback! We are hoping that with more help we will be able to grow our organization even further!