Triskelion #5
Obstacles faced by historically excluded scientists, meaningful work, changes coming in '22.
This is the fifth post in a series called Triskelion. The triskelion is an ancient symbol consisting of a triple spiral (or legs) exhibiting rotational symmetry. The triskelion has different meanings across cultures, but all meanings revolve around a rule of 3’s. In this series, I’ll share three things — a paper, a quote, and a thought. I'll post these whenever I can fill up the three branches of the triskelion. I hope you enjoy.
A Paper
Berhe, et al., describe the problems with the “leaky pipeline” metaphor of explaining attrition in STEM fields. The pipeline metaphor implies that fixing the leaks solves the problem without acknowledging the hostile cultural and structural “obstacle course” individuals from historically excluded backgrounds experience. Read the article here.
Full reference: Berhe, A.A., Barnes, R.T., Hastings, M.G. et al. Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course. Nat. Geosci. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00868-0
A Quote
“The way to work without regrets is to pursue projects that'll have been worth your time even if they don't pan out. Projects that'll tickle your curiosity, flex your competency, and teach you something new regardless of where they ultimately end up. Projects that leave you better off, as a person, despite not being a commercial or critical success. If you work on projects like this, it's impossible to waste your time.
My personal nightmare is investing years of my life into something that ends up going nowhere, and then feeling like it was all for nothing. That's how life slips through your fingers. That's how you cross over from your 20s to your 30s and curse what you missed along the way because the bet didn't pay out.
When you look for projects that'll be worth it even if they don't work, you know you'll engage the fires of intrinsic motivation. Tap into the magic of flow. Look with satisfaction at a good day's work, well before you're done.
That's a work of meaning.” —David Heinemeier Hansson
A Thought
2022 will bring changes for Un-Cultured, CariniLab.com, and my online presence.
Un-Cultured has been fun to write and we’ll continue to post newsletters. We’ll add different formats for the newsletter in 2022, including videos and, longer term, podcasts. Our posts are free and will remain free.
Changes will be coming to CariniLab.com and a clearer distinction between Un-Cultured and my teaching and research activities at the University of Arizona.
I’ll be further reducing my time interacting with twitter in 2022. It’s a complex decision—maybe I’ll write a newsletter about it in the future.
The best ways to stay in touch are to subscribe to our newsletter or contact me directly by email (paulcarini@arizona.edu). And, when in-person conferences are back in full swing someday, we’ll be there.