A new study claims that language relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in scientific publications has increased by 4,200% between 2010 and 2021.
The National Association of Scholars released a report in late November outlining the steep increase of DEI-related language being used on university websites, university social media accounts, academic associations, scientific publications, and scientific grants.
Analyzing several different repositories for scientific publications, the study saw a substantial increase in DEI-related language being used.
"It is clear from this analysis that DEI-related publications have risen sharply in the scientific literature, especially in recent years," the study states. "Between four different repositories—Web of Science, Google Scholar, arXiv, and PubMed—the general pattern holds. When this dataset is compared to those of the university websites and Twitter feeds, the annual programs of academic associations, and research funding, one overall conclusion can be drawn: the empirical evidence clearly shows that the vocabulary of DEI ideology has increased dramatically in frequency in the STEM fields, both within and outside of the universities."
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For example, the study analyzed the Web of Science, which is "among the largest commercial citation indices in the world," and found that "reports about antiracist and DEI-related topics have grown between 3 to 42 times faster than scientific topics in general in the Web of Science."
On PubMed, the study found that the database of biomedical research has published an increasing amount of publications that contain the words "anti-racism," "critical race theory," "oppression, and other DEI-related terms between 2010 and 2021.
In analyzing the Twitter accounts of 100 universities, the study found that the number of "DEI-related" tweets gradually rose at a slow rate from 2010 to 2019, and then saw a rapid increase in 2020.
"University Twitter feeds show a similar pattern in the usage of DEI language to universities’ web sites: a modest yet steady amount of growth in the usage of DEI language, with a large spike in the summer of 2020. This spike is almost certainly an accompaniment to the Black Lives Matter riots," the study states.
