Essay series: Equity, diversity and inclusion in cell biology

Equity, diversity and inclusion is an important, relevant and timely issue that should be a guiding force in all that we do. We hear the terms being used more and more these days, but we’re all still early in the journey, and here at JCS we wanted to create an opportunity to amplify voices that are not always heard in this space. We asked the community: "Has equity, diversity and/or inclusion shaped your experience as a cell biologist in some way?"

We received some wonderful entries with a range of perspectives that made us appreciate how broad the scope of this issue can be. It was a struggle to choose a single winner, so we chose three, and decided to also publish the runners up, as they all had voices worth hearing.

We will be listing these essays on this page as they are published, so keep checking back for updates. We hope you enjoy reading these pieces and find them as inspirational as we did.

Winning essays

Uniting diversity to create a more inclusive academic environment 
Lucie Delemotte, Sarahi L. Garcia, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gijón, Erdinc Sezgin, Anniina Vihervaara

Autism in science – ‘through the looking glass’ and the role of empathy in the equation 
Mariana De Niz

Biased in favour 
Swetha Gopalakrishnan

Runners up

Operation STEM fatale – how an equity, diversity and inclusion initiative has brought us to reflect on the current challenges in cell biology and science as a whole 
Nicole Amberg, Melissa Stouffer, Irene Vercellino

A reflection of life – my tale of microdiversity, equity and inclusion in cell biology (and beyond) 
Nozomu Takata

Crossing unlikely paths in science 
Dosh Whye

Diversity as the fuel of my scientific career 
Lizbeth de la Cruz

Scope for change 
Krystyna A. Gieniec