Diversity and lnclusion - Walking the Talk

 The lack of a diversified and inclusive society has been a prevailing issue in society for generations, and we aim to play our part in tackling them effectively which requires thoughtfulness, conscious patient strength, sheer will and determination. Inspired by a generational consensus on reaching a diverse and inclusive society, we hope to implement changes and polices that are inclusive, durable, and impactful. Our goal is not to tunnel vision on a purely cosmetic project, this is one that should resonate with underrepresented minorities of color.

Recently we have acted in an informed way, based on evidence of qualitative and quantitative data, about conditions which southern African students face which prevent them for succeeding within the field of chemical sciences. We aim to further out attempts and act with intend in a brisk but unhurried fashion.

We applaud notable efforts made by various higher education institutions and corporate organizations in attempts to address the social and racial inequalities affecting underrepresented black minorities, however we have strong sentiments towards the fact that a lot more can be done.

In the awake of generations of debilitating policies that excluded people of color based on race, the black student has largely been left at the wayside. The world at large witnesses an extremely low diversity score at the top of academia and industrial institutions.

There is no one cause for blame for this issue, rather, a cocktail of challenges that range from lack of resources that support the black minority, lack of a system that that cement policies supporting diversity and the way the system is build, it's as if it meant for the black student to fail in comparison with other ethnicities.

The existence of the aforementioned challenges subsequently created a narrative of misinformation which dissuades black minorities to play their part in addressing poor diversity and inclusion in chemical sciences thus quite often majority gravitate towards tech and business orientated subjects like computer science, this is partly because the existence of such slant has brainwashed them to think the damage has already been done and naturally there isn’t much they can do to change the existing standings damaging perspective.

Ongoing, commendable efforts by the Royal Society of chemistry and other organizations has been laid in trying address the inclusion of underrepresented minorities, to which more can still be done. An applaud still goes to the RSC as their efforts are a bedrock for diversity and inclusion education, funding, and empowerment of the underrepresented black minorities, especially in Africa.

The need to spread and promote diversity and inclusion in chemical sciences still remains a daunting task, due to lack of funding for such specific activities, poor participation by the affected groups, ignorance of policy formulation, adoption and implantation to include minority groups by big academia and industrial organization, this has resulted in most underrepresented black minorities being prey to doctored unwillingness to participate in such sensitive issues surrounding them, such as educating one nether on the importance of density and inclusion, playing their part in trying to secure diverse and inclusive societies. Thus, our ongoing efforts mean to correct the misconceptions and consequently overcoming the low diversity score. The teaching of underrepresented minorities on them playing their part in the quest for a diverse and inclusive society is key in achieving a significant increase of the diversity score percentage.