Portraits of Black Scientists

Project overview

The general perceptions of scientific practitioners are predominately stereotyped as being white and male (Chambers, 1983; Thomson et al., 2019). Whilst perceptions of the contribution of female practitioners are shifting, there is little recognition of the contribution of Black and other Minority Ethnic demographics.

Research on studentship indicates that Black students have an equivalent aptitude for science, however statistics show a widening gap between Black and other demographics across multiple levels of study, including undergraduate degree and early career scientist (Gibney, 2022). The reasons for this widening gap are complex, but can most likely be reduced through raising awareness and enabling students and early career scientists to learn about the work of successful role models.

This project aims to document the contribution of Black, and Minority Ethnic scientists within the United Kingdom, through subject portraiture and biographies presenting a body of work that highlights their practice.

Impact and outputs

The project has engaged with schools and colleges, highlighting the achievement of BME scientists through pop-up exhibitions to inspire young students from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds and stimulate greater engagement with STEM based scholarship and further career development.

The portraits have been exhibited at Cambridge Festival 2024, Radcliffe Science Library and the Biomedicine MRC Science Conference 2025.