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In biology textbooks, one in seven scientists highlighted is a woman.
And black women have not been represented once in any of the works analyzed.
At this rate, it will take centuries before the books used to teach biology in the United States match the diversity of their readers, researchers say.
“We haven’t seen, for example, black female scientists in any textbook,” said Dr. Cissy Ballen of Auburn University in Alabama, United States.
The study analyzed more than 1,000 names of scientists from seven modern biology textbooks, used to teach undergraduate students who orient themselves in science and medicine in the United States.
They were historical figures like Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel or contemporary scientists like Jane Goodall.
Overall, 13% of the scientists presented were women, while 6.7% were of black, Asian or ethnic minority origin.
Previous research has shown the importance of diverse and relevant scientific models, said Dr. Ballen.
“Not being able to see someone like them in the kind of basic textbooks they use, I think it would have a really negative effect,” she said.
Progress has been made in recent years, particularly with regard to women and men of Asian descent, the researchers said.
Despite this, the scientists presented are not representative of their target audience, especially among women of Asian and Hispanic descent, while black women were not represented at all.
Textbook publishers are “responsible for balancing an accurate representation of history while presenting contemporary science that reflects a diverse population of learners,” they said.
Dr. Rahma Elmahdi, Honorary Research Associate for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Imperial College London, said that it has been known for some time that the demographics represented in learning materials such as textbooks are largely white and male, not a reflection of the pupils in these classes, and this is also the case in the United Kingdom.
“We must start to act to reduce these disparities if we are not to exclude another generation of talented scientists,” she said.
Biology is relatively different from other scientific fields, such as physics. In the United States, about 60% of graduates in biology are women.
Previous research has shown that the number of women climbing the ranks as part of a scientific career is “disappointing”.
This research is published in the journal of the Royal Society, Proceedings B.
Bbc
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