Racial discrimination in science

You might expect that science, particularly American science, would be colour-blind. Once someone from the country’s ethnic minorities has got bench space in a laboratory, he might reasonably expect to be treated on merit (功绩) and nothing else.

Unfortunately, a study published in Science by Donna Ginther of the University of Kansas suggests that is not true. Dr Ginther, who was working on behalf of America’s National Institutes of Health (NIH), looked at the pattern of research grants awarded by the NIH and found that race matters a lot. Moreover, it is not just a question of white supremacy. Asian and Hispanic scientists do just as well as white ones. Black scientists, however, do badly.

One possible explanation is that review panels are inferring applicants’ ethnic origins from their names, or the institutions they attended as students. Consciously or not, the reviewers may then be awarding less merit to those from people with “black-sounding” names, or who were educated at universities whose students are predominantly black.

Another possible explanation is social networking: it is in the nature of groups of experts(such as review panels)to know both each other and each other’s most promising assistants and followers. Applicants outside this charmed circle might have less chance of favourable consideration. If the charmed circle itself were racially unrepresentative, those excluded from the network because their racial group was under-represented in the first place would find it harder to break in.

Though Dr Ginther’s results are troubling, it is to the NIH’s credit that it has published her findings. The agency is also starting a programme intended to alter the composition of the review panels to see whether removing potential racial cues from applications changes outcomes. Other agencies, and not just in America, should pay strict attention to all this, and ask themselves if they, too, are failing people of particular races. Such discrimination is a sheer waste of talent!

Colleges are attaching too much importance to tests. Students who receive higher scores on the SAT and the ACT are considered to be more intelligent and as a result they are usually admitted to better schools.

However, these tests don’t necessarily ensure one’s future success in life. To become better test-takers than others, some students would like to make more preparations. Several SAT and ACT classes are offered by various companies and individual tutors, giving rich students a better chance to improve their scores. Some students even take medicine before tests. Although it is not proved that taking these drugs will increase a student’s score, the nature of the drug is to increase alertness, concentration, and mental processing speed.

In addition, these tests can’t show the skills and characters that are a key part to success. According to Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, creativity, perseverance and self-discipline(自律) are a few basic qualities that are useful in the world that aren’t measured by these tests. A high test score tells you nothing about how a student will handle the future life or how well they will adapt to their surroundings.

What colleges can do is to weigh the students’ academic track, such as what classes they took and how difficult they were, or what extra curricular activities the students were involved in. These things don’t necessarily predict what the students will do in college, but if the admissions would pay more attention to four years of hard work, they might get a more successful and well-rounded group of graduates.

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In Chinese tradition, family reunion always plays a very important part in communication.

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Li Hua