1/ A thread about my research! Many know my undergrad & grad degrees are in biology, & I've worked as a corporate scientist in drug discovery, etc. In my Ph.D., I switched gears & did a novel study of how representations of scientists in media impact adult STEM interest.

2/ My research stems (no pun intended) from a music video I put out last year that is my creative expression of my liberation as a Black woman in STEM. That video is called "Big Ole Geeks". It went viral. I'm linking it in the thread but you can also Google it!
3/ I made the video because I was TIRED of people telling me that I was a "token Black" and I "didn't look like a scientist" after years of conforming to all of the eurocentric standards & customs that most Black women have to force themselves in to get by. So I liberated myself.
4/ I describe these experiences in the TEDx talk that I gave earlier this year. I highly recommend that you watch it. Here is the link https://t.co/Z5YSNp7uof
5/ When I put the video out, it honestly was scary but I knew people were going to mistreat me regardless of how I lived, so I was going to live my life unapologetically & stop trying to please people who oppress me. What happened after caused me to focus my research on the video
6/ There was an outpouring of responses from a huge diversity of people across gender, race, age, etc. The overall response to the video was incredibly intriguing. I wanted to know more; and I focused a study on Black women's responses to later expand to a general audience
7/ I interviewed 18 people about their perceptions of what they believe is the most represented image of a scientist in America, if they identify with that, and how they experienced my novel representation of scientists. Also, if they can be themselves at work. What did I find?
8/ The findings revealed shared experiences consistent between 18 Black women as a general population, across STEM and non-STEM professionals. These women collectively had a shared narrative that reinforced the following main themes listed below. Not all are listed fyi👇🏿👇🏿
9A/ Overrepresentation of **👨🏻‍🔬** scientists in the media; non-identification with images of **👨🏻‍🔬** scientists in the media; unprecedented images of Black women scientists; experiences of code-switching and identity negotiation in the workplace; AND...
9B/ twerking to celebrate Black womanhood and release trauma; non-STEM professionals’ identities with science; and, science-based hip-hop as a classroom tool for learning. There was SO MUCH that was learned in the study that will fill a HUGE gap.
10/ The study I will present this week presents the co-constructed narrative of 19 women (18+me) and their incredibly powerful responses to my "Big Ole Geeks" science-based music video.
11/ My research results have implications for ensuring that students experience relatable images of Black women scientists early in their K-16 experience and that being a Black scientist should not require sacrificing your cultural identity.
12/ My study is among the first to focus on the perceptions of both Black STEM & non-STEM Black women in the general population in a study on STEM identity, the first to examine the impact of science-based music videos on adults and.....
13/ The first study investigating the impact of Black women scientists' alternative media representation.
14/ Here is the music video that is at the centerpiece of the study https://t.co/2bzICYIgES
/15 Doing this work has been rewarding, fulfilling, and the best decision I could have made. I’m glad that I’m a strong enough woman to do it, whether the world was ready for it or not. Training my brain to think as a social scientist has been the greatest exercise of my life.

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"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."


We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.

Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)

It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.

Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".