Celebrating Diversity in Science and Medicine

On 30 April, the Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) hosted an EDI networking event showcasing the “Portraits of Black Female Scientists” exhibition from Cambridge Black Medical Scientific Network. Representatives from local networks, Oxford University Black Medics, OxFemTech and Women in Computing Science were also key participants, promoting the support they offer to their peers. 

Karine Barker, EDI Lead for the RSL shared their objectives, outcomes and lessons learnt from organising this special event.  

What was the purpose of this event and what were the outcomes?

“Our objectives were to:

• Promote the renovated Radcliffe Science Library as an inclusive space with its new EDI portraiture.
• Provide a space for Oxford student societies working in the area of EDI, to raise awareness of their societies and connect with their peers.
• Showcase a project by and about Black Female Scientists.

Attendees enjoyed meeting new people and networking with their peers as well as hearing about the project from guest speakers, Laura Eghobamien, founder of the Cambridge Black Medical Scientific Network (BMSN), and James Bell, the photographer.  

The "Portraits of Black Female Scientist" ignited discussions on diversity in science, knowledge sharing and follow-up collaborations. Those who had not visited the library since its renovation took the opportunity to have a tour and view its new inclusive portraiture.

We were pleased to see that the networking went beyond the Oxford cohort and several participants exchanged contact details with the Cambridge Black Medical Scientific Network. We hope to see some Oxford scientists added to the collection overtime." 

What did you learnt from holding this event? 

"Planning the event took a lot of time and required a lot of communication. It was wonderful to work with student representatives that were so enthusiastic to participate in the event but their heavy study schedules meant that the time they could dedicate to the project was limited.

The event sparked many conversations among the attendees but we feel having a key note speech would have given the event more structure and facilitated a topic driven conversation. We were lucky to have a great space to hold the event in the Radcliffe Science Library and to have a budget to cover host fees and catering. Based on feedback, we know that free lunches and tour of the library maximized attendance.

We received great feedback about the event.” 

It was much more powerful than I expected to see all these beautiful portraits shown together. In principle I've always been aware that this kind of representation is important, but such a strong demonstration of the power was really important. Inspiring.

Thank you for the event, it was really inspiring, I made such amazing connections and got to talk about diversity in medical sciences and diversity.

What’s next for this project? 

Contributors Laura Eghobamien, James Bell and the Radcliffe Science Library are interested in expanding the exhibit with portraits of black scientists at Oxford. If you would like to learn more about the exhibit and have photographs taken, please contact Black Medical and Scientific Network blackmedicalscientificnetwork@gmail.com or karine.barker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

The Radcliffe Science Library will continue to host EDI events. If you have any suggestions or want to partner with them, please contact karine.barker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk