The Importance of Policies: It’s Not Just A Pipeline Problem

For decades, a leaky pipeline analogy has been used when discussing diversity issues in STEM fields. However, this imagery is overly simplistic and does not capture critical issues that contribute to people leaving the field. It puts distance between structural issues, our actions, and why people leave the field. When we view our research structure as something more complex, we can start taking ownership and frame more impactful solutions instead of misidentifying important issues and providing ineffective short-term solutions.

Many of the issues discussed in the "Cultivating a culture of inclusivity in Heliophysics" position paper have counterparts within our policies and our institutions. To fully address and mitigate the current issues within our field, we have identified a need to cultivate a positive, safe, inclusive, and effective environment. However, we need both cultural and programmatic changes. We will try to identify systemic issues that inhibit many from fully participating and potential solutions, as well as groups and fields producing best practices for creating and enabling effective environments where innovation can occur.