The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) focuses on providing access education around leadership opportunities in the STEM disciplines. Whether working professionals or students, SACNAS aims to cultivate talent that will one day be able to lead some of the scientific charges in a way that is representative and considerate of the indigenous population in this country.
“A lot of students that come into SACNAS for the first time are first-generation college students,” SACNAS board member Dr. Allyn Kaufmann said Thursday at the organization’s conference at National Harbor, Maryland. “They have a lot of stress and pressure not to go into science.”
Some of the stress is cultural and some of it is relative to the challenges associated with being a first-generation college student.
“Science in general is a black box to people. They don’t really understand it,” Kaufmann said.
“There’s not a lot of role models,” he added, noting that “that’s actually a lot of what SACNAS does as well” ― provide role models.
But in some instances, it can be more than that. “Some of the culture in science is not necessarily eye to eye” with some of the traditional Native ceremonies and beliefs, Kaufmann said.
“If you think about indigenous cultures and practices and ceremonies,” some of the beliefs are not scientifically proven or compatible, he said.
