Uncovered faces: A Resource to Support Decolonization of the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum
Decolonizing the undergraduate chemistry curricula is increasing recognized as an important step towards developing a more inclusive higher education environment for students from minoritized ethnic backgrounds. Here, we provide the first openly accessible resource that can be used to decolonize an undergraduate chemistry course. In particular, the resource can be used provide examples of diverse histories of chemistry and science, and role model scientists from different cultures. The resource developed is not intended to be exhaustive, but provides a significant body of examples for Chemistry lecturers to use as they begin working towards decolonizing their curricula.
Introduction<!>Theoretical Framework<!>Description of Project<!>Project Outcomes<!>Conclusions
<p>Minority ethnic individuals are significantly under-represented across chemistry education and employment, [1][2][3][4] providing an urgent issue for us to address as a chemistry community.</p><p>Significant proportions of these minoritized individuals report that they are not having a good experience in higher education. 5,6 For example, there is a significant and widespread attainment gap between the number of high-quality degrees awarded to white UK-domiciled students compared to UK-domiciled students from ethnic minority groups. 5 A high proportion of black UK students say that the curriculum does not reflect issues of diversity, equality and discrimination, 6 therefore they do not feel a "sense of belonging."</p><p>The semi-structured interview work done by Helen Egan et al. in 2021 on the experiences of Students from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background that dropped out of university education categorically illustrates that social integration is one of the major problems that needs to be addressed in universities. 7 In particular, the issue of social integration in a classroom environment can never be over emphasized. The recent article from Troy Deeney the captain of Birmingham FC in the Guardian newspaper highlighted how history shapes the society and the identity of an individual. In this article, he says 'it is history that shapes our society today, and for children from ethnic minorities, it also shapes our identity'; which is a personal experience that he shared emphasising on how his classroom curriculum would have helped him to develop the areas of his strength better, if only it was made more inclusive. This strong claim is captured in his words 'I enjoyed maths, and was good at it, but it never occurred to me that I could do something with it because I didn't learn about scientists or mathematicians who looked like me'. 8 The effect of lack of inclusion in our curriculum can simply be summarised with this quote. "If some teachers had pointed out some role models of people like me contributing to science it would have helped my confidence" by Dr Tippu Sheriff of Queen Mary University London in his work on 'include the contributions of BAME scientists in your chemistry classroom'. 9</p><p>Universities UK published a report in 2018 on closing the attainment gap for higher education undergraduate degrees which recommended that increased efforts be made to support minority ethnic individuals, including decolonizing the curriculum. 10 This provides an impetus for academic departments to decolonize their curricula, as a part of work they should conduct to address racial inequalities in the university attainment. Here, we provide a compendium of material we have developed to provide an openly accessible resource to help University Chemistry Departments decolonize their undergraduate chemistry curricula. It should also be of use to secondary level providers of Chemistry education. The resource provides a wide range of examples that can be incorporated into Chemistry teaching, that are catalogued in a number of ways for ease of usability. We fully acknowledge that the examples we provide are not exhaustive, but represent the work we have conducted at the University of York so far in establishing an internal resource. The examples we provide here are largely selected from Africa, Ancient China, India, the Arab world, along with a selection of work from prominent black scientists in the west in the early 20th Century.</p><!><p>Decolonization has simply been defined as identifying colonial systems, structures and relationships, and working to challenge them. 11 For Chemistry, this can mean that we should question our understanding of science as something that grew solely from the discoveries of a series of famous, western individuals, and instead work to develop a more complete scientific picture that includes much more widespread and diverse global voices. 11 Although colonialization could be seen as a historic problem, it is still believed to impact strongly on the experiences of students and scientists today. Following from this premise it therefore becomes imperative that we work on how scientists are educated so that they develop a proper appreciation of global science, that is built on their understanding the historical perspective and inequalities that have long defined the development of science.</p><!><p>The goal of this project will be to develop an openly accessible resource to help Chemistry Departments decolonize their undergraduate chemistry curricula. This work involved working to search out materials, categorizing, refining and editing the range of materials that was 4 gathered over the last two years in York Chemistry as part of the work to decolonize their Chemistry Curriculum. The type of material we have acquired for this work to date is summarised in Table 1:</p><!><p>The project outcome is the resource we have compiled that is included in the Supplementary Materials. Our intention is that this material can be used to supplement current teaching activities, and can thus have significant impact without significant time investment from individuals who are working to decolonise their curricula. In particular, the material in the resource can be used to address the activity categories of Diverse Histories of Chemistry and Science and Role Model Scientists from Different Backgrounds and Cultures identified in Ref   11, where a strategic approach to decolonizing is presented. To provide some examples from how the resource integrates into teaching activities currently being delivered in our Department, we give two examples. In the first, the work of George Washington Carver, who became the most prominent black scientist of the early 20 th Century but was originally born into slavery, is discussed in a course in Green Chemistry given by Prof. Avtar Matharu. 10,[12][13][14] The second involves the example of the codification of papyrus produced by the ancient Egyptians, which is included in a course on colloid chemistry given by Prof. David Smith. 10,15</p><!><p>Identifying colonial systems, structures, and relationships, and working to challenge them is a solid step towards a more global perspective of chemistry, which should provide a more universally inclusive environment. The resource provided here, while limited, provides a significant first step as the first openly available resource for Chemistry lecturers to use as they begin working towards decolonizing their curricula.</p>