Dear MARMAM community - We are glad that a long overdue discussion has been initiated about the prevalence and effect of unpaid positions in marine mammal science. Clearly, this is a complex and challenging issue that will require input from people from a variety of backgrounds and career stages to adequately address the broader impacts of our field’s reliance on unpaid positions.
We support the letter <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AG-H8nZG6lnkpStZEdarR4p_F_dHz373plmhTFQwSB0/edit> to the Society for Marine Mammalogy (SMM), drafted by Dr. Eiren Jacobson, Chloe Malinka, and Dr. Margaret Siple and now signed by almost 700 individuals, that seeks to end unpaid positions as the status quo in our field. By supporting this letter, we recognize that unpaid positions are only one factor of many that need consideration in order to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in our field. We also recognize that many of us have been able to advance our careers in marine mammal science as a result of unpaid positions. We conducted a survey on gender-specific experiences in marine mammal science and are actively working to analyze and publish the survey results. Of the 670 respondents (n=586 female), 549 (82%) indicated participating in at least one unpaid work experience opportunity (e.g., an internship or temporary position with a university, non-profit, government agency, or independent scientist). We will explore in our publication some important nuances of this participation and specific ways in which respondents highlighted unpaid work as a barrier to success in marine mammal science, but this percentage speaks to the high prevalence of unpaid work in our field. The aim of changing this as the status quo point of entry into our field is not to disparage or discount individuals who have benefitted from these opportunities, but rather to acknowledge, as Dr. Eric Archer eloquently stated in his response on this thread <https://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/marmam/2020-July/012000.html>, “The voices that we won't hear in this debate are those that didn't have those opportunities.” We cannot deny that expecting most people to work for free limits access to our field to those of a certain economic status, which in the U.S. and many other countries is inextricably tied to race. Even if we increase much-needed efforts to engage diverse young potential scientists, we cannot expect to retain them if the only path forward relies on unpaid work. We also fully acknowledge that change from the status quo will not happen instantaneously, and that the role of funding is not trivial. How change occurs will be very different at a large institution in the U.S. compared to a small non-profit in a low-income nation. Thus, we will need to come together as a community to find creative and innovative ways in which we can collectively increase the accessibility of internships and other work experience positions and thereby increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in marine mammal science. Jacobsen et al. have taken an important step in giving our community an opportunity to engage more broadly with each other, at a pivotal time, on the impact of unpaid positions and, in turn, on other barriers to diversity in our field. If not for this letter to the SMM, it is unlikely that these conversations would be ongoing at this scale at this time. The women who drafted this conversation starter are notably early-career researchers, which makes their willingness to lead this effort especially courageous. We would like to thank them, the letter cosignatories, and all those willing to contribute constructively to this most important discussion. Sincerely, The WIMMS Initiative Organizers Dr. Erin Ashe Dr. Amanda Bradford Dr. María Constanza Marchesi Cara Gallagher Natalie Mastick Dr. Frances Robertson Dr. Mridula Srinivasan Dr. Karen Stockin -- Women in Marine Mammal Science (WIMMS) Email: [email protected] Website: https://wimms.weebly.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womeninmmsci/ Twitter: @womeninmmsci Hashtag: #womeninmmsci
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