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Autumn

Graduate Student

2021

Many of the research meetings I have participated in take place at long rectangular tables where the power and primary conversation participants are at one end. I don’t experience this hierarchical power differential in talking circles. Talking circles are democratic and inclusive. There is still a circle at the rectangular table, just a circle that does not include everyone at the table. I find this to be representative of experiences I have had in my STEM discipline, in which it was difficult to find a place in a community or team or in which I did not feel valued or included.

This photo was featured in the Winter 2024 issue of Issues in Science and Technology.