Focal Point Written by Mark Peters on 1/16/14 • Categorized as Diversity
Today we celebrate the life of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose actions shaped the future of this country and whose voice continues to reverberate nearly half a century after his death.
As we honor Dr. King’s legacy today, we renew our commitment to the cause for which he fought. Dr. King’s dream of equality is not fully realized and we have a role—both personally and as a national laboratory—in continuing to build the equal society he envisioned.
Most scientists that I know spend their working lives vigorously guarding against bias. Bias confounds the results of experiments, thus obscuring the truth. Preempting bias is difficult but worthy work. We should extend the same vigilance to the community we cultivate here at Argonne.
Just as we do in our research, we must constantly question the conclusions we draw in our interactions with others—why we nominated someone for an award or presentation, why we hired this person rather than that one, why we picked one speaker for a panel instead of another. We must apply the same level of scrutiny to our business practices as we do to the results of our experiments. Just as in science, this is a constant, ever-evolving process.
Argonne is a gateway to the future—not only in terms of the results we produce, but also the scientific talent we develop and nurture. More than 300 postdocs and 100 new employees join the laboratory every year, and the laboratory’s educational programs and community outreach influence the lives of many others.
As this gateway, the laboratory maintains both a privilege and a responsibility. We are privileged in the fact that we have the ability to attract talent and points of view from a diverse range of countries, classes, and backgrounds. It is our responsibility to ensure that these voices are heard as loudly as Dr. King had dreamed.
One of Dr. King’s persistent themes in his writing and oratory is the importance of actors at every level; he worked with thousands of citizens from every class and circumstance to create a more equal, just, and inclusive society. Similarly, equality and inclusion are cultivated by small actions every day across our campus, which means that every single person at the lab is empowered to make it a better place.
This Checklist [PDF] has excellent reminders for both supervisors and employees on ways to make our day-to-day work lives more inclusive. These are not grand gestures, but rather everyday practices of awareness, civility, and thoughtfulness as we go about interacting with colleagues, collaborating on papers and patents, discussing results, and searching for and hiring new talent.
I hope you will join me in celebrating Dr. King’s accomplishments by continuing to work towards his ideals in our lives not just today, but every day.
