Organizations focused on developing and maintaining a culture of innovation need culturally diverse STEM employees, as proven by the achievements of these diverse men and women worldwide. - BY DEBORAH JENKINS

Diverse innovators have produced STEM innovations for many decades. These include the Americans George Washington Carver and Katherine Johnson, English mathematician Ada Lovelace, and Poland’s Marie Curie. STEM was not an acronym used for their field of endeavors, but today, they are considered early STEM innovators.

Their common characteristic is cultural diversity, which produces different perspectives that see opportunities where others do not. Cultural diversity in STEM has fostered innovation and creativity. Now, broad recognition of the importance of cultural diversity to innovation is leading to educational programs for diverse youth that encourage them to embrace an interest in STEM subjects and organizations that are re-evaluating their talent management strategies.

Collaboration Has Led to the World’s Greatest Innovations

Cultural diversity sparks innovation and creativity because when individuals from different cultural backgrounds come together, they bring unique perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking to the table. Furthermore, collaboration between scientists and researchers from diverse cultural backgrounds is a frequent source of breakthroughs in research and technology. For example, the Gemini Observatory telescopes were developed and are now managed by an international partnership of researchers from the United States, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Korea. They work in government agencies that include the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (ANID), the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Institute (KASI). There are many examples of international scientific collaborations of culturally diverse scientists producing breakthroughs, like the Human Genome Project and CERN. CERN researches fundamental physics to discover how the universe works and trains engineers, physicists, and technicians. CERN members are European and non-European states, bringing together diverse perspectives.

Diverse perspectives in STEM also contribute to developing products and technologies that are more inclusive and accessible to people from different cultural backgrounds and with varying abilities. For example, in the field of human-computer interaction, diverse teams consider a wide range of user experiences and preferences, leading to the design of more user-friendly and accessible interfaces. Accessible technology adds features to computer systems and mobile technologies that remove barriers, not just for people with disabilities.

STEM Breakthroughs Through Diversity

Cultural diversity in STEM has produced remarkable breakthroughs. The success of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing project is attributed to Nobel Prize winners Dr. Emmananuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna. The revolutionary technology for gene editing cuts DNA and then uses natural DNA repair processes to modify the gene. The process is being applied to target specific genes involved in genetic diseases and cell therapies for various diseases.

Astronaut Victor J. Glover Jr., a Black engineer, will pilot NASA’s next moon mission, the Artemis program. The NASA program goal is to establish a base on the moon that will be used one day for a future mission to Mars. The planned launch time is September 2025. Glover has been involved in 24 combat missions, been a test pilot, and made more than 400 carrier-arrested landings. After astronaut training, he was assigned to a spaceflight mission. Glover is an undeniable role model for diverse youth who wonder if STEM occupations can hold any excitement.

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, currently the Director of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, India and professor in the Machine Intelligence Unit, has been recognized for her research in computational biology. Her efforts in algorithmic optimization for biological data analysis led to discoveries of a genetic market for breast cancer, the role of white matter in Alzheimer’s disease, and the determination of co-occurrence of HIV and cancers. She is currently researching artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, machine learning and other advanced technologies for new applications.

Katalin Kariko, a Hungarian-American biochemist, won the European Inventor Award in 2022 for Lifetime Achievement. Her research in modifying messenger ribonucleic acid so it could be safely used in the human body paved the way for its use in COVID-19 and additional vaccines. It is also used in prospective therapies for heart disease and cancer.

Astrid Linder is a Professor of Traffic Safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute, VTI, an Adjunct Injury Prevention Professor at Chalmers University, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University Accident Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She coordinated the VIRTUAL project, funded by the European Union, which developed the first physical dummy model of an average female for crash testing called the Seat Evaluation Tool (SET 50F). The differences in the physical characteristics of men's and women’s bodies are significant. Women are more likely to get injured and are twice as prone to experiencing whiplash due to having smaller size and weaker neck muscles. It is somewhat remarkable that SET 50F was not developed until 2022.

Britain’s Dr. Claire Novorol is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of ADA Health, an AI-powered healthcare app that helps users understand their symptoms and steps to take based on suggestions of a condition. She also founded Doctorpreneurs, a global non-profit community for health innovation. Her interest in utilizing technology is based on an event where she diagnosed a rare disease using a database. She believes unconscious biases in the male leaders of Venture Capitalists are limiting investments in health tech startups led by women. Novorol also points to the lack of ethnic diversity in the field. Fundamental changes are needed to correct the imbalance in funding for healthtech, says Novorol.

Opportunities are Waiting for the Culturally Diverse

This is just a sample of the women and minorities in STEM worldwide who are innovators and embrace creative problem-solving when they see an opportunity. They work on teams and alone, advance STEM in every area, and start businesses. They are the first to apply technology to various problems, perceive gaps that others do not, and then develop solutions. It is therefore important for corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and school systems to do their part in driving diversity and equity in STEM education, hiring, and venture capital funding.