Stemming systemic racism

Government efforts to tackle underrepresentation of minorities in Stem must address deep roots of racism

In late January 2021, on his first day in office, president Joe Biden signed an executive order that promised to tackle systemic racism in the US through an “ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda”.

In the wake of global protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in 2020, Biden’s White House made it clear with this move that it saw racial equity as central to its agenda. Its message was clear: advancing equity “is not a one-year project”.