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'It Hurts to Do Work Like That': The Nature and Frequency of Culturally Based Ethical Barriers for Indigenous People in STEMM

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Title: 'It Hurts to Do Work Like That': The Nature and Frequency of Culturally Based Ethical Barriers for Indigenous People in STEMM
Language: English
Authors: Castagno, Angelina E. (ORCID 0000-0001-9193-0542), Camplain, Ricky, Ingram, Jani C., Blackhorse, Davona
Source: Science Education. Jul 2023 107(4):837-852.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2023
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Indigenous Populations, STEM Education, Medical Education, Cultural Influences, Ethics, Professional Personnel, Student Characteristics, Barriers, Conflict, Culturally Relevant Education
DOI: 10.1002/sce.21792
ISSN: 0036-8326
1098-237X
Abstract: This article presents data from a survey of over 400 Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) fields to answer the questions: What are the perceived ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face? Is there an association between the cultural characteristics of Indigenous students and professionals and the ethical, cultural, and spiritual conflicts they face? Our findings indicate that many standard practices in STEMM fields do indeed conflict with taboos in various Indigenous communities and that these conflicts are more prevalent for people with higher cultural characteristics scores and for those in specific STEMM disciplines. Our research provides an empirical complement to the rich and growing body of literature on Indigenous science, epistemologies, and traditional ecological knowledge.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2023
Accession Number: EJ1379873
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0164095123;sed01jul.23;2023Jun06.07:40;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0164095123-1">"It hurts to do work like that": The nature and frequency of culturally based ethical barriers for Indigenous people in STEMM </title> <p>This article presents data from a survey of over 400 Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) fields to answer the questions: What are the perceived ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face? Is there an association between the cultural characteristics of Indigenous students and professionals and the ethical, cultural, and spiritual conflicts they face? Our findings indicate that many standard practices in STEMM fields do indeed conflict with taboos in various Indigenous communities and that these conflicts are more prevalent for people with higher cultural characteristics scores and for those in specific STEMM disciplines. Our research provides an empirical complement to the rich and growing body of literature on Indigenous science, epistemologies, and traditional ecological knowledge.</p> <p>Keywords: ethical conflicts; inclusion; Indigenous; STEM</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-2">INTRODUCTION</hd> <p>This paper's title comes from an Indigenous[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>] student who shared an example of when she experienced a conflict between certain expectations in her STEMM[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>] pathway and her cultural identity. The student elaborated: "I have had to kill macroinvertebrates in order to study them. I do not think this is ethical, and it hurts to do work like that. This ultimately made me stop doing the water quality work I was engaged in." We open with this quote to highlight the central premise we will unpack in this paper: Indigenous people experience uniquely significant ethical tensions between standard practices, norms, and expectations in STEMM fields and their own cultural, spiritual, and epistemological commitments. Although there is a growing body of research on factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of Indigenous people in STEMM, there exists limited research focused on the potential impact of culturally, spiritually, and/or epistemologically informed ethical conflicts on Indigenous students' and professionals' decisions to pursue and remain in STEMM careers. We also know very little about the nature and frequency of these types of conflicts that emerge in practice for Indigenous people in STEMM. A recent notable exception can be found in the work of Williams and Shipley ([<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref3">39</reflink>]), who interviewed 96 students from 42 different tribes at Haskell Indian Nations University. These researchers found that over half of the students generally observe tribal taboos, and over a third of the students would not pursue STEMM majors if they suspected that doing so would require them to violate taboos. Importantly, over two‐thirds of the students responded that they would be more likely to take STEMM classes if the curriculum was more respectful of tribal taboos. Building on this work, our research explored the types and frequency of culturally, spiritually, and/or epistemologically informed conflicts experienced by Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM fields across the western United States.</p> <p>According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref4">25</reflink>]), the overall percentage of baccalaureate degrees obtained by American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) undergraduates has decreased from 0.8% of the entire US population in 2012 to 0.6% in 2015. There has been a similar decrease in STEMM degrees awarded to Indigenous students since 2008. Indigenous people are the <emph>most</emph> underrepresented ethnic group in biomedical and health sciences (Diverse Issues in Higher Education, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref5">14</reflink>]). Only 0.3% of all biology/biomedical degrees were conferred to AI/AN in 2015. This is compared to 1.6% of the entire US population of AI/AN in 2015. Similarly, in 2015, the numbers of AI/AN people receiving medical professional degrees (including MD, DDS, OD, PharmD, DO, DP, DVM, DC) in the United States were only 0.5% (United States Census Bureau, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref6">36</reflink>]). The underrepresentation of Indigenous people among those earning STEMM degrees reflects both extremely low participation rates and generally poor retention rates for Indigenous college students (B. M. J. Brayboy et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref7">5</reflink>]; Tippeconnic Fox Comanche et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref8">35</reflink>]). A number of obstacles contribute to the low retention and graduation rates for Indigenous students, among them: cultural differences; insufficient financial aid; discrepancies between high school, community/tribal college, and university environments; racism and prejudice; inadequate academic preparation; and social isolation.</p> <p>Overall, the body of work investigating challenges for Indigenous students in STEMM disciplines has mainly focused on differences in the way Indigenous people interact with each other and their surroundings, as well as the lack of culturally responsive educational practices in schools serving Indigenous youth (Castagno & Brayboy, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref9">10</reflink>]; Hadfield‐Menell et al., [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref10">15</reflink>]; Ingram, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref11">16</reflink>]; Nelson‐Barber & Estrin, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref12">26</reflink>]; J. L. Smith et al., [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref13">31</reflink>]). But none of this research investigates culturally significant ethical and spiritual issues and how these may present conflicts with standard STEMM training. In fact, as our research below indicates, a number of standard practices in STEMM are actually considered by some Indigenous people as spiritually taboo (Williams & Shipley, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref14">39</reflink>]). The perceived nonacceptance of religion and spirituality within the scientific community further accentuates the cultural differences between Indigenous people and STEMM educators and professionals (Weldon, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref15">37</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-3">WHY FOCUS ON ETHICAL CONFLICTS?</hd> <p>There is a robust body of conceptual literature on the distinct knowledge systems, epistemologies, and sciences engaged by Indigenous peoples across the globe (e.g., Cajete, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref16">7</reflink>]; A. Kawagley, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref17">18</reflink>]; Snively & Corsiglia, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref18">33</reflink>]), and our research is intended to complement this work by providing empirical evidence about the implications of these ideas in practice for Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM. This research is motivated by our lived experiences, professional commitments, and community responsibilities. Ingram and Castagno came together around a shared interest in understanding the role ethical conflicts may play in Indigenous people's STEMM career pathways. Ingram is an Indigenous woman and chemist whose expertise centers on environmental health issues on tribal lands caused by legacy hard rock mining and pesticide use. In her labs and student training programmes, Ingram has experienced, firsthand, concerns involving ethical issues in science and her Indigenous students' perspectives. Castagno is a White woman whose expertise is in Indigenous education, racism, and educational equity, and qualitative research methodologies, and she has spent the past two decades working with Indigenous teachers and leaders to address systemic inequities impacting their communities. After securing funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for this project, Camplain, an Indigenous biostatistician, joined the team as a Research Specialist because of her expertise in quantitative research methods and statistics. As Indigenous women in STEMM fields, Ingram and Camplain also brought important lived experience and insight to the research team.</p> <p>With an understanding of the common reasons offered for Indigenous underrepresentation in STEMM, combined with our lived experiences that indicated something additional may be going on, our research team set out to better understand what the STEMM community generally calls "ethical issues." The Office of Research Integrity of the US government has supported research focused on responsible conduct of research (RCR) as it is critical in conducting research in a reliable manner (Shamoo & Resnik, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref19">30</reflink>]). It is now required for the NSF, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other federally funded projects to provide training and oversight in RCR for all students (undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows). This training includes aspects of ethics, mentoring, collaboration, authorship, protection of animal and human subjects, and biological techniques (such as cloning, genetics, and stem cell research) (Shamoo & Resnik, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref20">30</reflink>]). More recently, there has been a focus on scientific rigor, which is the strict application of the scientific method to ensure robust and unbiased experimental design, methodology, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results (NIH, 2015). It is clear from this list that the breadth of RCR is substantial, making comprehensive training in any one of the subject matters associated with RCR challenging. Additionally, the various aspects of RCR are to some extent subjective, meaning they are not strictly defined but rather subject to interpretation. This is further complicated by the fact that what is considered "ethical," "good," or "right" is determined by many factors. In other words, "ethics" are culturally mediated and informed by the histories and knowledge practices within particular communities.</p> <p>If ethics are informed by culture, history, and context, what are the implications on STEMM pathways among those who are already significantly underrepresented? We agree with Bang and Medin ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref21">1</reflink>]) that dichotomizing Western and Indigenous sciences only serves to oversimplify both and, often, reinscribe harmful binaries. It is also important to understand that with almost 600 federally recognized Native American nations in the United States, Indigenous knowledges are multiple and diverse. Still, as B. M. J. Brayboy and Castagno ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref22">4</reflink>], p. 741) have argued, "mainstream science presents a number of differences and conflicts for some Indigenous students and tribal communities because of the assumptions, values, and hegemony it continues to perpetuate." The research reported in this paper explores exactly what those conflicts are in practice, how frequent they are, and the degree to which they are correlated to particular demographic and cultural characteristics among Indigenous people in STEMM fields. Improving the recruitment, support, and retention of Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM requires us to better understand these phenomena.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-4">RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS</hd> <p>This paper reports on our survey data, which were part of a broader, mixed methods study Corbin and Strauss (2007). Here we address the following research questions: What are the perceived ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face? Is there an association between the cultural characteristics of Indigenous students and professionals and the ethical, cultural, and spiritual conflicts they face? To investigate these questions, we drew conceptually on Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies, which developed out of a long tradition of Indigenous scholars and communities who have argued that research with Indigenous peoples must adhere to a set of guiding principles (L. T. Smith, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref23">32</reflink>]). These principles include fore‐fronting the inherent sovereignty and self‐determination of tribal nations, honoring and building on relationships within and between researchers and community members, and pursuing research questions that will advance community needs and interests (B. Brayboy et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref24">3</reflink>]). This project was developed explicitly out of the authors' relationships, experiences, and expertise in Indigenous education, STEMM pathway concerns, and Native American nations' desires for highly educated STEMM professionals who can serve their communities. Similar to the overall project, survey questions were developed from the literature, informal conversations, and personal experiences. Castagno and Ingram drafted the initial survey, received feedback on the initial draft from six colleagues who identified as Indigenous and in STEM fields, and then revised the draft for clarity and inclusiveness according to the feedback received.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-5">Study population</hd> <p>The online survey was sent to Indigenous postsecondary (undergraduate and graduate) students and Indigenous professionals in the western US region. The western US region included all states inclusive and west of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Using purposive sampling, Indigenous students and professionals were recruited through student and professional listservs including the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics, and Native Americans in Science, Native Research Network, professional connections, and snowball sampling. Participants were included if they (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref25">1</reflink>) identified as Indigenous, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref26">2</reflink>) were an undergraduate student, graduate student, or professional in a STEMM field at the time of the study, and (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref27">3</reflink>) resided in the western United States at the time of the study. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained before the collection of any data and participants gave informed consent.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-6">Demographics</hd> <p>Participants self‐reported their STEMM discipline (life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer sciences, or health sciences), age (18–22, 23–29, 30–40, 41–50, and >50 years), gender (male, female, other), education level (some college, no degree completed yet, associate, bachelor's, master's, or professional degree), where they grew up, and where they currently live (urban, suburban, rural, or reservation).</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-7">Cultural characteristics</hd> <p>Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with 10 statements regarding personal cultural characteristics. A 1–5 scale was used with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree. Participants were asked:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> I value the cultural practices of my tribe and/or Native community.</item> <p></p> <item> I participate in cultural events within my tribal community when possible.</item> <p></p> <item> I know some of my tribe's history.</item> <p></p> <item> I can identify important leaders for my tribe.</item> <p></p> <item> I can identify important social, health, political, or economic issues for my tribe.</item> <p></p> <item> I believe it is important to maintain and/or revitalize our indigenous language(s).</item> <p></p> <item> I believe it is important to share information about my tribe with children who are tribal members.</item> <p></p> <item> My cultural identity is important to me.</item> <p></p> <item> I learn from Native community elders.</item> <p></p> <item> I consider myself a traditional tribal member.</item> </ulist> <p>A cultural characteristics scale was developed by summing Likert scale responses for the aforementioned ten cultural characteristics questions. The scale scores ranged from 10 to 50, where a score from 10 to 29 indicated generally low/disagreement, 30 to 39 indicated medium/neither agree nor disagree, and ≥40 indicated high/agreement. Importantly, this cultural characteristics scale is not meant to suggest an evaluative judgment or ranking of one's cultural identity, nor is it meant to suggest there are better or worse ways to be Indigenous. Instead, the cultural characteristics scale is intended as a way to capture a particular set of factors that may or may not collectively describe how one characterizes their Indigenous identity.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-8">STEMM activities</hd> <p>We asked participants about involvement with activities or tasks in their STEMM field that may be of concern to Indigenous people. We derived the list of activities from our personal experience, anecdotes from Indigenous students and colleagues, and the literature. If an individual indicated that an activity was generally part of their STEMM field, the survey used skip logic to probe the extent to which the individual had participated in the activity themselves and the extent to which they found the activity culturally, ethically, or spiritually concerning (not at all concerning, somewhat concerning, or very concerning). The activities on the survey included:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Archeological fieldwork of suspected Indigenous burial ground.</item> <p></p> <item> Visiting Indigenous ruins.</item> <p></p> <item> Designing infrastructure on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Testing infrastructure on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Assessing the monetary worth of natural resources on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Commercial or economic development efforts on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Commercial or economic development efforts on Indigenous sacred sites.</item> <p></p> <item> Research on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Research on Indigenous sacred sites.</item> <p></p> <item> Investigating environmental hazards on tribal lands.</item> <p></p> <item> Investigating environmental hazards on Indigenous sacred sites.</item> <p></p> <item> Hearing or discussing sacred or ceremonial knowledge outside of traditionally approved contexts.</item> <p></p> <item> Dissection of animals.</item> <p></p> <item> Observing animals in clinical or experimental settings.</item> <p></p> <item> Observing animals in natural settings.</item> <p></p> <item> Observing medical procedures on animals.</item> <p></p> <item> Examining human cadavers.</item> <p></p> <item> Being near human remains.</item> <p></p> <item> Research with human tissue samples.</item> <p></p> <item> Genetics research.</item> <p></p> <item> Medical procedures.</item> <p></p> <item> Investigating weather events.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0164095123-9">Indigenous conflicts and pathway decisions</hd> <p>Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement to the following questions regarding if their cultural identity or tribal affiliation impacted their choice of college majors or career decisions, and their perspectives on cultural, spiritual, and/or ethical conflicts Indigenous people may face in STEMM fields. A 1–5 scale was used with 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> I think AI/AN people in STEMM fields have unique cultural, spiritual, and/or ethical issues to consider.</item> <p></p> <item> I know at least one Indigenous person (besides myself) whose cultural identity had some impact on their choice of STEMM majors/careers.</item> <p></p> <item> Indigenous people interested in STEMM majors/careers have different influences on their professional decisions than nonindigenous people.</item> <p></p> <item> Indigenous people in STEMM majors/careers have to set aside some of their cultural, ethical, and/or spiritual beliefs to succeed in their careers.</item> <p></p> <item> Indigenous people in STEMM majors/careers can't always do what is expected in their classes/professions because of cultural, ethical, and/or spiritual beliefs.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0164095123-10">Statistical analysis</hd> <p>Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, relative frequencies, means, and standard deviations (SD) were used to summarize descriptive characteristics, cultural characteristics agreement, and level of concern regarding STEMM activities among STEMM students and professionals, separately. Ordinal logistic regression was used to estimate the associations of cultural characteristic scores with the level of concern about particular STEMM activities and perspectives on Indigenous conflicts. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated. Potential confounders were identified using a priori research and Directed Acyclic Graphs (Tennant et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref28">34</reflink>]). If a potential confounder did not change the point estimate (OR) by 10% or more, it was not included in the model. Confounding by group (student, professional) was addressed by stratifying results. All other potential confounders did not further change the point estimates by more than 10% and were not included in the final models.</p> <p>All analyses were conducted using SAS V9.4 (SAS Inc.).</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-11">RESULTS</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0164095123-12">Demographics</hd> <p>Of the 203 students who participated in the survey, Table 1 shows that 27% were affiliated with health sciences, with lower proportions of participants in life sciences (22%), engineering (16%), mathematics (15%), physical sciences (11%), and computer sciences (6%,). Almost 90% of student participants were younger than 30 years, while most were female (57%), had completed some college (50%), grew up in a rural area (35%), and currently live in an urban area (20%).</p> <p>1 Table Demographic characteristics among STEM students and professionals, 2019.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th /><th align="left">Students (<italic>n</italic> = 203)</th><th align="left">Professionals (<italic>n</italic> = 206)</th></tr><tr valign="bottom"><th /><th align="left"><italic>N</italic></th><th align="left">%</th><th align="left"><italic>N</italic></th><th align="left">%</th></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="left">STEM discipline/field</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Life sciences</td><td align="char" char=".">45</td><td align="char" char=".">22.2</td><td align="char" char=".">47</td><td align="char" char=".">22.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Physical sciences</td><td align="char" char=".">22</td><td align="char" char=".">10.8</td><td align="char" char=".">24</td><td align="char" char=".">11.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Engineering</td><td align="char" char=".">33</td><td align="char" char=".">16.3</td><td align="char" char=".">45</td><td align="char" char=".">21.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Mathematics</td><td align="char" char=".">31</td><td align="char" char=".">15.3</td><td align="char" char=".">21</td><td align="char" char=".">10.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Computer sciences</td><td align="char" char=".">12</td><td align="char" char=".">5.9</td><td align="char" char=".">21</td><td align="char" char=".">10.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Health sciences</td><td align="char" char=".">55</td><td align="char" char=".">27.1</td><td align="char" char=".">36</td><td align="char" char=".">17.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Other</td><td align="char" char=".">5</td><td align="char" char=".">2.5</td><td align="char" char=".">12</td><td align="char" char=".">5.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Age (years)</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">18–22</td><td align="char" char=".">97</td><td align="char" char=".">47.8</td><td align="char" char=".">7</td><td align="char" char=".">3.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">23–29</td><td align="char" char=".">82</td><td align="char" char=".">40.4</td><td align="char" char=".">44</td><td align="char" char=".">21.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">30–40</td><td align="char" char=".">22</td><td align="char" char=".">10.8</td><td align="char" char=".">103</td><td align="char" char=".">50.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left">41–50</td><td align="char" char=".">2</td><td align="char" char=".">1.0</td><td align="char" char=".">41</td><td align="char" char=".">19.9</td></tr><tr><td align="left">>50</td><td align="char" char=".">0</td><td /><td align="char" char=".">11</td><td align="char" char=".">5.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Gender</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Male</td><td align="char" char=".">82</td><td align="char" char=".">40.4</td><td align="char" char=".">116</td><td align="char" char=".">56.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Female</td><td align="char" char=".">116</td><td align="char" char=".">57.1</td><td align="char" char=".">90</td><td align="char" char=".">43.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Other</td><td align="char" char=".">5</td><td align="char" char=".">2.5</td><td align="char" char=".">0</td><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Education level</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Some colleges, no degree completed yet</td><td align="char" char=".">102</td><td align="char" char=".">50.3</td><td align="char" char=".">11</td><td align="char" char=".">5.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Associate degree</td><td align="char" char=".">20</td><td align="char" char=".">9.8</td><td align="char" char=".">18</td><td align="char" char=".">8.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Bachelor's degree</td><td align="char" char=".">55</td><td align="char" char=".">27.1</td><td align="char" char=".">112</td><td align="char" char=".">54.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Master's degree</td><td align="char" char=".">22</td><td align="char" char=".">10.8</td><td align="char" char=".">53</td><td align="char" char=".">25.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Professional or terminal degree</td><td align="char" char=".">4</td><td align="char" char=".">2.0</td><td align="char" char=".">11</td><td align="char" char=".">5.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Other</td><td align="char" char=".">0</td><td /><td align="char" char=".">1</td><td align="char" char=".">0.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Where participants grew up</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Urban</td><td align="char" char=".">39</td><td align="char" char=".">19.2</td><td align="char" char=".">47</td><td align="char" char=".">22.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Suburban</td><td align="char" char=".">44</td><td align="char" char=".">21.7</td><td align="char" char=".">34</td><td align="char" char=".">16.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rural</td><td align="char" char=".">70</td><td align="char" char=".">34.5</td><td align="char" char=".">67</td><td align="char" char=".">32.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Reservation</td><td align="char" char=".">49</td><td align="char" char=".">24.1</td><td align="char" char=".">57</td><td align="char" char=".">27.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Missing</td><td align="char" char=".">1</td><td align="char" char=".">0.5</td><td align="char" char=".">1</td><td align="char" char=".">0.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Where participants currently live</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Urban</td><td align="char" char=".">102</td><td align="char" char=".">50.3</td><td align="char" char=".">110</td><td align="char" char=".">53.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Suburban</td><td align="char" char=".">53</td><td align="char" char=".">26.1</td><td align="char" char=".">63</td><td align="char" char=".">30.6</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Rural</td><td align="char" char=".">25</td><td align="char" char=".">12.3</td><td align="char" char=".">13</td><td align="char" char=".">6.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Reservation</td><td align="char" char=".">22</td><td align="char" char=".">10.8</td><td align="char" char=".">18</td><td align="char" char=".">8.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Missing</td><td align="char" char=".">1</td><td align="char" char=".">0.5</td><td align="char" char=".">2</td><td align="char" char=".">1.0</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 Abbreviations: STEM, science, technology, engineering, mathematics.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-13">Cultural characteristics scale</hd> <p>Table 2 illustrates the components of the cultural characteristics scale, as well as how the survey respondents reported alignment with the components. Over 60% of student respondents scored high (mostly agreed or strongly agreed) on the cultural characteristics scale. As compared to students, fewer professionals scored high on the cultural characteristics scale (37%), with the majority (43%) scoring in the medium range.</p> <p>2 Table Cultural characteristics scale among STEM students and professionals, 2019.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th /><th align="left">Students (<italic>n</italic> = 203)</th><th align="left">Professionals (<italic>n</italic> = 206)</th></tr><tr><th /><th align="left"><italic>N</italic></th><th align="left">%</th><th align="left"><italic>N</italic></th><th align="left">%</th></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="left">Cultural Characteristics Scale</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">Low (disagree; 10–29)</td><td align="char" char=".">26</td><td align="char" char=".">12.8</td><td align="char" char=".">41</td><td align="char" char=".">19.9</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Medium (neither agree nor disagree; 30–39)</td><td align="char" char=".">48</td><td align="char" char=".">23.7</td><td align="char" char=".">88</td><td align="char" char=".">42.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">High (agree; ≥40)</td><td align="char" char=".">129</td><td align="char" char=".">63.5</td><td align="char" char=".">77</td><td align="char" char=".">37.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Cultural Characteristics Scale components (proportion agree or strongly agree)</td><td /><td /><td /><td /></tr><tr><td align="left">I value the cultural practices of my tribe and/or Native community</td><td align="char" char=".">167</td><td align="char" char=".">82.7</td><td align="char" char=".">141</td><td align="char" char=".">68.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I participate in cultural events within my tribal community when possible.</td><td align="char" char=".">154</td><td align="char" char=".">76.2</td><td align="char" char=".">130</td><td align="char" char=".">63.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I know some of my tribe's history.</td><td align="char" char=".">171</td><td align="char" char=".">84.7</td><td align="char" char=".">156</td><td align="char" char=".">76.1</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I can identify important leaders for my tribe.</td><td align="char" char=".">147</td><td align="char" char=".">72.8</td><td align="char" char=".">128</td><td align="char" char=".">62.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I can identify important social, health, political, or economic issues for my tribe.</td><td align="char" char=".">151</td><td align="char" char=".">74.8</td><td align="char" char=".">135</td><td align="char" char=".">65.9</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I believe it is important to maintain and/or revitalize our indigenous language(s).</td><td align="char" char=".">163</td><td align="char" char=".">80.7</td><td align="char" char=".">128</td><td align="char" char=".">62.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I believe it is important to share information about my tribe with the children who are tribal members.</td><td align="char" char=".">168</td><td align="char" char=".">83.2</td><td align="char" char=".">127</td><td align="char" char=".">62.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left">My cultural identity is important to me.</td><td align="char" char=".">161</td><td align="char" char=".">79.7</td><td align="char" char=".">127</td><td align="char" char=".">62.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I learn from Native community elders.</td><td align="char" char=".">151</td><td align="char" char=".">74.8</td><td align="char" char=".">111</td><td align="char" char=".">54.1</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I consider myself a traditional tribal member.</td><td align="char" char=".">111</td><td align="char" char=".">55.0</td><td align="char" char=".">88</td><td align="char" char=".">42.9</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0164095123-14">STEMM activities</hd> <p>Among STEMM students, the top STEMM activities that were reported as very concerning included investigating environmental hazards on tribal lands, assessing monetary worth of natural resources on tribal lands, examining human cadavers, commercial or economic development efforts on sacred sites, and research with human tissue samples (Figure 1).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/SED/01jul23/sce21792-fig-0001.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNHX8kSepq84v%2bvlOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="sce21792-fig-0001.jpg" title="1 Percent of STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) students who find select STEMM activities very concerning." /> </p> <p></p> <p>Overall, STEMM students generally indicated high concern for activities that included human tissue and work on tribal lands and sacred sites.</p> <p>Among STEMM professionals, the top STEMM activities that were reported as very concerning included examining human cadavers, followed by investigating environmental hazards on sacred sites, investigating environmental hazards on tribal lands, research on Indigenous sacred sites, and commercial or economic development efforts on sacred sites (Figure 2).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/SED/01jul23/sce21792-fig-0002.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNHX8kSepq84v%2bvlOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="sce21792-fig-0002.jpg" title="2 Percent of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) professionals who find select STEM tasks "very concerning."" /> </p> <p></p> <p>When assessing the association between the cultural characteristics scale and perspectives on ethical concern for STEMM activities among students and professionals, a higher score on the cultural characteristics scale was associated with higher odds of concern regarding performing a STEMM activity for all activities, with the exception of investigating weather events, although not all associations were statistically significant (Table 3). For example, the odds of finding visiting Indigenous ruins very concerning were 7.8 times (95% CI: 1.9, 31.6) among students with higher cultural characteristics scores compared to students with lower scores. Similarly, the odds of finding research with human tissue samples very concerning were 5.7 times (95% CI: 1.8, 17.7) among professionals with higher cultural characteristics scores compared to professionals with lower scores.</p> <p>3 Table Association between cultural characteristics and perspectives on ethical concern for STEM activities among STEM students and professionals, 2019.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th align="left">STEM activity</th><th align="left">Students</th><th align="left">STEM activity</th><th align="left">Professionals</th></tr><tr valign="bottom"><th align="left">OR</th><th align="left">95% CI</th><th align="left">OR</th><th align="left">95% CI</th></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="left">Archeological fieldwork of suspected Indigenous burial ground (n = 23)</td><td align="char" char=".">6.6</td><td align="left">1.2, 36.2</td><td align="left">Archeological fieldwork of suspected Indigenous burial ground (n = 43)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.0</td><td align="left">0.8, 4.9</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Visiting Indigenous ruins (n = 32)</td><td align="char" char=".">7.8</td><td align="left">1.9, 31.6</td><td align="left">Visiting Indigenous ruins (n = 52)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.4</td><td align="left">1.6, 7.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Designing infrastructure on tribal lands (n = 34)</td><td align="char" char=".">4.1</td><td align="left">1.5, 11.3</td><td align="left">Designing infrastructure on tribal lands (n = 60)</td><td align="char" char=".">5.0</td><td align="left">2.4, 10.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Testing infrastructure on tribal lands (n = 60)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.8</td><td align="left">0.9, 3.5</td><td align="left">Testing infrastructure on tribal lands (n = 68)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.7</td><td align="left">1.9, 7.1</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Assessing the monetary worth of natural resources on tribal lands (n = 26)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.8</td><td align="left">0.7, 4.6</td><td align="left">Assessing the monetary worth of natural resources on tribal lands (n = 40)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.3</td><td align="left">1.3, 8.1</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Commercial or economic development efforts on tribal lands (n = 27)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.3</td><td align="left">1.0, 10.8</td><td align="left">Commercial or economic development efforts on tribal lands (n = 51)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.5</td><td align="left">1.2, 5.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Commercial or economic development efforts on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 27)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.6</td><td align="left">1.0, 6.8</td><td align="left">Commercial or economic development efforts on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 45)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.2</td><td align="left">1.0, 4.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Research on tribal lands (n = 51)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.6</td><td align="left">0.8, 3.3</td><td align="left">Research on tribal lands (n = 60)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.1</td><td align="left">1.1, 4.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Research on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 17)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.1</td><td align="left">0.6, 17.7</td><td align="left">Research on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 34)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.8</td><td align="left">0.7, 4.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Investigating environmental hazards on tribal lands (n = 30)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.8</td><td align="left">1.2, 6.8</td><td align="left">Investigating environmental hazards on tribal lands (n = 40)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.0</td><td align="left">0.9, 4.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Investigating environmental hazards on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 26)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.5</td><td align="left">0.6, 4.2</td><td align="left">Investigating environmental hazards on Indigenous sacred sites (n = 36)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.0</td><td align="left">1.2, 7.9</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Hearing or discussing sacred or ceremonial knowledge outside of traditionally approved contexts (n = 30)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.1</td><td align="left">0.9, 10.5</td><td align="left">Hearing or discussing sacred or ceremonial knowledge outside of traditionally approved contexts (n = 40)</td><td align="char" char=".">3.8</td><td align="left">1.3, 11.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Dissection of animals (n = 74)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.4</td><td align="left">1.2, 4.7</td><td align="left">Dissection of animals (n = 46)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.9</td><td align="left">0.8, 4.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Observing animals in clinical or experimental settings (n = 64)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.2</td><td align="left">1.1, 4.5</td><td align="left">Observing animals in clinical or experimental settings (n = 54)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.6</td><td align="left">0.7, 3.6</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Observing animals in natural settings (n = 64)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.3</td><td align="left">0.7, 2.6</td><td align="left">Observing animals in natural settings (n = 70)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.9</td><td align="left">1.0, 3.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Observing medical procedures on animals (n = 48)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.9</td><td align="left">1.3, 6.5</td><td align="left">Observing medical procedures on animals (n = 28)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.3</td><td align="left">0.9, 5.6</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Examining human cadavers (n = 44)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.3</td><td align="left">0.7, 2.7</td><td align="left">Examining human cadavers (n = 27)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.1</td><td align="left">0.5, 2.6</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Being near human remains (n = 45)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.6</td><td align="left">0.7, 3.4</td><td align="left">Being near human remains (n = 24)</td><td align="char" char=".">5.2</td><td align="left">1.1, 24.1</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Research with human tissue samples (n = 53)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.7</td><td align="left">0.9, 3.5</td><td align="left">Research with human tissue samples (n = 48)</td><td align="char" char=".">5.7</td><td align="left">1.8, 17.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Genetics research (n = 53)</td><td align="char" char=".">4.0</td><td align="left">1.8, 8.9</td><td align="left">Genetics research (n = 51)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.7</td><td align="left">1.3, 5.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Medical procedures (n = 64)</td><td align="char" char=".">1.3</td><td align="left">0.6, 3.0</td><td align="left">Medical procedures (n = 59)</td><td align="char" char=".">2.2</td><td align="left">1.1, 4.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Investigating weather events (n = 32)</td><td align="char" char=".">0.3</td><td align="left">0.12, 0.9</td><td align="left">Investigating weather events (n = 42)</td><td align="char" char=".">0.6</td><td align="left">0.3, 1.4</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <ulist> <item>2 <emph>Note</emph> : Bold font includes statistical significance at an <emph>α</emph> ‐level of 0.05.</item> <item>3 Abbreviations: CI, 95% confidence interval; OR, odds ratio.</item> </ulist> <p>Finally, when assessing the association between the cultural characteristics scale and perspectives on Indigenous conflicts among STEMM students and professionals, a higher score on the cultural characteristics scale was associated with higher odds of (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref29">1</reflink>) agreeing that Indigenous people in STEMM fields have unique cultural, spiritual, and/or ethical issues; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref30">2</reflink>) knowing at least one Indigenous person whose cultural identity had some impact on their choice of STEMM majors/careers; (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref31">3</reflink>) agreeing that Indigenous people interested in STEMM careers have different influences on professional decisions than nonindigenous people; and (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref32">4</reflink>) agreeing that Indigenous people in STEMM majors/careers cannot always do what is expected in their profession because of cultural, ethical, and/or spiritual beliefs (Table 4). Results disaggregated by the STEMM field were similar (data not shown).</p> <p>4 Table Association between cultural characteristics and perspectives on AI/AN conflicts.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><th align="left">Cultural characteristics</th><th align="left">Students (<italic>n</italic> = 203)</th><th align="left">Professionals</th></tr><tr valign="bottom"><th align="left">OR</th><th align="left">95% CI</th><th align="left">OR</th><th align="left">95% CI</th></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td align="left">I think American Indian/Alaska Native people in STEM fields have unique cultural, spiritual, and/or ethical issues to consider</td><td align="char" char=".">2.5</td><td align="left">1.8, 3.5</td><td align="char" char=".">2.6</td><td align="left">1.9, 3.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">I know at least one Indigenous person (besides myself) whose cultural identity had some impact on their choice of STEM majors/careers</td><td align="char" char=".">1.7</td><td align="left">1.3, 2.2</td><td align="char" char=".">2.4</td><td align="left">1.8, 3.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Indigenous people interested in STEM majors/careers have different influences on their professional decisions than non‐Indigenous people</td><td align="char" char=".">2.6</td><td align="left">1.8, 3.7</td><td align="char" char=".">2.4</td><td align="left">1.8, 3.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Indigenous people in STEM majors/careers have to set aside some of their cultural, ethical, and/or spiritual beliefs to succeed in their career</td><td align="char" char=".">1.2</td><td align="left">0.9, 1.6</td><td align="char" char=".">1.1</td><td align="left">0.9, 1.4</td></tr><tr><td align="left">Indigenous people in STEM majors/careers can't always do what is expected in their classes/profession because of cultural, ethical, and/or spiritual beliefs</td><td align="char" char=".">1.5</td><td align="left">1.1, 1.9</td><td align="char" char=".">1.1</td><td align="left">0.9, 1.4</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <ulist> <item>4 <emph>Note</emph> : Bold font includes statistical significance at an <emph>α</emph> ‐level of 0.05.</item> <item>5 Abbreviations: AI/AN, American Indian/Alaska Native; OR, odds ratio; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0164095123-17">DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS</hd> <p>In this paper, we addressed two research questions: What are the perceived ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face? Is there an association between cultural characteristics of Indigenous students and professionals and the ethical, cultural, and spiritual conflicts they face? Overall, the results of our study suggest that both Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts, particularly with respect to interactions with humans and tribal lands/sacred sites. These results, particularly those associated with human and animal activities, were similar to the findings by the Williams and Shipley ([<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref33">39</reflink>]) study at Haskell Indian Nations University. Generally, both student and professional participants were very concerned with activities involving human remains. Interestingly, both students and professionals were less concerned with activities involving observations of human medical procedures. These results suggest that although activities involving human remains are a concern, medically related activities are more acceptable. Overall, student participants had stronger concerns about activities involving tribal lands and sacred sites compared to the professional participants.</p> <p>Our results addressing the question of an association between cultural characteristics and ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts indicate a strong influence of cultural identity for both student and professional participants and their perceived concerns in STEMM. Our study compared student and professional participants with high and low cultural characteristics scores to their responses regarding various STEMM activities. This comparison was statistically evaluated as an OR to determine if there were statistical differences between students or professionals with high cultural characteristic scores to those with low scores. For many activities, statistical differences were observed for both students and professionals. These results are discussed in more detail below, but overall, our study shows that Indigenous people's cultural identity impacts their level of concern for activities associated with STEMM training or job duties more so than their discipline, age, or gender. A somewhat similar finding was reported by Chakraverty ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref34">11</reflink>]) in a phenomenological study of seven Native American PhD students and postdoctoral scholars who experienced the imposter phenomenon. One finding from this study was that differences between cultural beliefs pertaining to communal goals among Native American students and individual goals held by the majority population are an important factor for the Native American participants in the study to feel that they were imposters in the STEM field.</p> <p>Although we had 400 respondents, we note that certain disciplines were disproportionately represented in our data, including life sciences, engineering, and health science. While this is certainly not meant to be a representative sample of Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM fields, it does shed light on the demographic backgrounds of many individuals in this group. Participants included more computer science professionals and health care students than other disciplines. Also of note are the differences in the cultural characteristics scale. This scale was not a feature of the research that we initially anticipated exploring, but after conducting multiple interviews and some exploratory analyses of the survey, it evolved into a potentially important part of the data set. As noted above, this scale is not intended to indicate any judgment about how individuals engage their cultural identities. Instead, the data indicate that universities and employers should better understand this set of cultural characteristics and their relationship to perceived conflicts in STEMM practices. Since many more students scored high on the cultural characteristics scale (63.5 vs. 37.4 professionals scoring high), it may be that employers will see more applicants and employees in the coming years who report higher levels of affiliation to their Indigeneity. Furthermore, since a higher score on this scale correlates to higher odds of experiencing culturally informed ethical conflicts in STEMM, we hope that the pathways to advanced degrees and desirable careers will evolve to be more culturally responsive with fewer conflicts for Indigenous people.</p> <p>Our findings indicate that among all survey respondents (both students and professionals), all specific STEMM activities within a respondents' field, except one, were reported to be very concerning at levels of 18% and greater (see Figures 1 and 2). These are not insignificant numbers, even those at the lower end of the range. Given the extensive writing on Indigenous epistemologies, traditional knowledge, and Native sciences (Bohensky & Maru, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref35">2</reflink>]; Bruchac, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref36">6</reflink>]; Hoppers, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref37">27</reflink>]; Knopf, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref38">20</reflink>]), we should not be surprised by these numbers. What this illuminates, we hope, is that what some (nonindigenous) individuals may consider to be purely conceptual or ideological differences actually have very practical, concrete implications. If scholars, leaders, educators, and employers in STEMM are genuine in their calls for broader participation from diverse people, these culturally informed ethical conflicts must be considered. The increasingly popular calls for more role models and mentors (Jin, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref39">17</reflink>]), affinity groups (Canevez et al., [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref40">8</reflink>]), and curriculum (Miller et al., [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref41">24</reflink>]) that is relevant to Indigenous communities' needs are all important, but they will not change the concern many Indigenous people have about participating in certain activities considered to be standard practice in STEMM fields. Instead, we ought to be considering how to eliminate these activities, and we ought to be seeking guidance from Indigenous people about culturally appropriate alternatives. These alternatives are not just beneficial for the Indigenous people who we know experience harm by participating in the standard activities; the alternatives would also open up new opportunities to learn and innovate for everyone in STEMM. In a study by De Mars et al. ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref42">22</reflink>]), 40 educators from rural Indigenous‐serving schools were interviewed to investigate factors impacting STEM achievement (De Mars et al., [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref43">22</reflink>]). The findings revealed six major themes including holistic education and inclusion of local culture in STEM education. The researchers noted that typically rural Indigenous‐serving schools have student populations with one tribal affiliation, which would make it straightforward to develop a curriculum appropriate for the needs of those students.</p> <p>The imperative to consider these changes is even stronger in light of the data presented in Tables 3 and 4. Both of these tables indicate that Indigenous respondents with higher cultural characteristics scores have a higher likelihood of reporting various concerns within their STEMM pathways. Although the odds vary quite a bit depending on the specific activity and whether the respondent is a student or a professional, there is a clear pattern in Table 3 that many STEMM tasks present an increasing likelihood of concern for those who more strongly identify with the cultural characteristics scale. This pattern carries into Table 4, where we see a number of higher odds for Indigenous students and professionals reporting perceived conflicts between STEMM and cultural taboos among individuals who scored high on the cultural characteristics scale.</p> <p>These correlations between the cultural characteristics scale and the reported concerns in STEMM pathways are particularly important given the need to open up science, scientific inquiry, and science innovation to additional and alternative ways of thinking and being in the world. Cultural impact assessment for Indigenous populations has been used in public policy for developing interventions on economy, ecology, and society (Partal & Dunphy, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref44">29</reflink>]); however, the cultural impact has been less utilized for interventions in education. The findings of this study suggest understanding the cultural impact of Indigenous peoples on practices within STEMM would be advantageous for developing alternate approaches for STEMM training. In order for STEMM to leverage the knowledge and expertise of Indigenous people, the pathways need to evolve so that people do not have to engage in activities that conflict with who they are and the epistemologies, axiologies, and ontologies that have sustained their communities for generations (Cajete, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref45">7</reflink>]; A. O. Kawagley et al., [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref46">19</reflink>]; Wildcat, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref47">38</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-18">A PATH FORWARD</hd> <p>Although there has historically been limited research investigating Indigenous people's specific experiences in STEMM, the community of scholars in this area is growing and, importantly, it is including and centering more Indigenous researchers. Chow‐Garcia et al. ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref48">12</reflink>]) rightly note the importance and implications of this trend:</p> <p>Faced with a science culture steeped in meritocracy and characterized by white, masculine values and behavioral norms, women and students of color have had more difficulty thriving in undergraduate science than white men (Carlone & Johnson, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref49">9</reflink>]). Prior literature on women and students of color in STEM has clarified that gender and culture matter (McGee & Bentley, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref50">23</reflink>]); however, only the most recent literature on Natives in STEM, and more often those with Indigenous authors (e.g., Page‐Reeves et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref51">28</reflink>]), approach their research from an inherently affirming, Indigenous perspective, and one which explicitly explores the interconnected nature of science and Indigenous identity. (np)</p> <p>Our research builds on this work by investigating the relationships between Indigenous identity and the presence of culturally, spiritually, and/or epistemologically informed ethical conflicts in STEMM fields among both students and professionals. Our findings offer a clear call to action for STEMM educators, leaders, policy‐makers, and employers to alter some of the standard practices that present frequent ethical conflicts for many Indigenous people. Our data confirm what many Indigenous people in STEMM have known for a long time: that the field, as a whole, is steeped with standard practices that require individuals to engage in taboo activities and/or tasks that fundamentally conflict with how they have been taught by their communities to be in and with the world.</p> <p>While much of the current published research focuses on how students and professionals have adapted, way‐finded, and otherwise accommodated STEMM (e.g., Carlone & Johnson, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref52">9</reflink>]; Page‐Reeves et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref53">28</reflink>]), our research suggests instead a need for STEMM to adapt. We echo Marker's ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref54">21</reflink>]) suggestion that STEMM "become Indigenous" and this happens when increasing numbers of Indigenous people participate fully and authentically in the disciplines, fields, and work of STEMM. By fully and authentically, we mean in ways that do not require them to experience the kinds of ethical conflicts identified in our research. This brings us full circle to the opening quote from a student in our study. As STEMM leaders, educators, practitioners, and policy‐makers, we cannot allow our field to cause harm. Inclusion too often has meant that Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM have had to conform to the standard practices, tasks, and expectations within the subdisciplines. Instead, we need to reimagine and require change for the full, authentic, and meaningful participation of all.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-19">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</hd> <p>This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1835109.</p> <hd id="AN0164095123-20">DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT</hd> <p>The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article. Additional inquiries should be addressed to the authors.</p> <ref id="AN0164095123-21"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> We use "Indigenous," "Native American," and "AI/AN" interchangeably to refer to the original people in what is now the United States. We recognize that these terms have distinct meanings and carry important differences depending on context. We prefer the term Indigenous as it recognizes land‐based identities and is inclusive of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Peoples. We use this term in most cases, but we follow the lead of other authors when referring to their work and/or data sets.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Although our original study was conceptualized with the STEM acronym, we now use STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) because a number of participants were in the health and medical fields.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0164095123-22"> <title> REFERENCES </title> <blist> <bibtext> Bang, M., & Medin, D. (2010). Cultural processes in science education: Supporting the navigation of multiple epistemologies. Science Education, 94 (6), 1008 – 1026.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Bohensky, E. L., & Maru, Y. (2011). Indigenous knowledge, science, and resilience: What have we learned from a decade of international literature on "integration"? 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  Data: 'It Hurts to Do Work Like That': The Nature and Frequency of Culturally Based Ethical Barriers for Indigenous People in STEMM
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Castagno%2C+Angelina+E%2E%22">Castagno, Angelina E.</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9193-0542">0000-0001-9193-0542</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Camplain%2C+Ricky%22">Camplain, Ricky</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ingram%2C+Jani+C%2E%22">Ingram, Jani C.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Blackhorse%2C+Davona%22">Blackhorse, Davona</searchLink>
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  Data: This article presents data from a survey of over 400 Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) fields to answer the questions: What are the perceived ethical/cultural/spiritual conflicts Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM face? Is there an association between the cultural characteristics of Indigenous students and professionals and the ethical, cultural, and spiritual conflicts they face? Our findings indicate that many standard practices in STEMM fields do indeed conflict with taboos in various Indigenous communities and that these conflicts are more prevalent for people with higher cultural characteristics scores and for those in specific STEMM disciplines. Our research provides an empirical complement to the rich and growing body of literature on Indigenous science, epistemologies, and traditional ecological knowledge.
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