Janet Macpherson, PhD
Senior Editor
Australia
This year I was disappointed not to be attending the ISCT Annual Meeting in the beautiful city of Paris, where we had planned to convene in 2020 but successfully pivoted to a virtual meeting. The return to Paris in person was much anticipated. In 2022, I was fortunate to attend the first in-person meeting of ISCT in San Francisco following the pandemic, and the camaraderie was amazing as successes and career changes were shared and celebrated.
In early May, I finally resiled to following the 2023 program and events on social media. I am connected to many ISCT members and leading cell therapy influencers on LinkedIn and on Twitter, so I was confident that I would get a feel for the meeting. Imagine my surprise when the first few posts were not sharing excitement about ground-breaking content, but expressions of concern about the lack of diversity! Several of the sessions highlighted were comprised solely of males. I have taken the view that a scientific program should be comprised of the best speakers on a topic, and that there should be careful consideration of the impression that featured sessions without diversity may present to those not involved in the organization. On balance, the program did have a broad range of speakers and session chairs not just thinking about males or females. I started to reflect on the broader topic of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.
Thankfully, we have moved on from simply thinking about diversity as gender balance. Diversity is so much more, and as I flagged in the title of this editorial, it probably means something different for each of us. We use our own lens of identity, privilege, race, and sexuality, and both conscious and unconscious biases come into play.
I encourage each and every one of you to take 10 minutes to think about your own identity. Take a sheet of paper or open up your favourite mind map application. This exercise can be done in several ways, and I make this point to illustrate that even something as simple as examining identity can be achieved in many ways, and if this example doesn’t make sense, then you can find many examples online.
Start by drawing a small circle in the centre that represents you. Around the perimeter, draw 5 or 6 circles. In each of these circles, write a word that reflects how you see yourself. These words can be outwardly and physically obvious features, or personal, or related to your job and role, if these are part of your identity. In my partially worked example, I have used tangible attributes like scientist, mentor, and organized.
Around each circle, add squares and words that describe how this aspect of your identity impacts your views of others and diversity. Next, Add squares or, in this example oblongs and words about how you think this makes others view you. Our identity is who we are, and we are now encouraged to bring our ‘whole self to work’, but what do we need to do to make this a reality? Are we doing enough as an organization to ensure that everyone feels safe?
In my APAC role at Cytiva, I have become very conscious of my own biases and lack of awareness of cultural differences. I used a number of tools and training programs to address this but found the most valuable way to become self-aware and effect changes in myself was to meet in person with those with different cultural norms. I have greatly enjoyed the experience of visiting countries including India, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand, meeting with cell therapy developers in academia and industry, and experiencing the subtle differences in how relationships are managed. One aspect that has been very rewarding is the building of new relationships and friendships.
ISCT, as a global organization, does plan the annual meeting to meet the needs of not just the region where it is being held but all regions. However, despite initiatives like discounts for emerging economies, the ISCT Annual Meeting is not always accessible. Meetings held only in English are less accessible to those from Japan, Korea, ASEAN or South and Central America countries, but even translation services may not help when the content is very technical and when speakers are from diverse ethnic backgrounds, the accents and local use of language can compound comprehension for non-native English speakers.
As I approach retirement, I reflect on those in the ISCT family whom I admire and who have retired already. For many, the cost of annual membership or non-member rates to attend the meeting is not possible, and it is a shame as these individuals have been stalwarts of the community and have a lot to share with those entering the field. Maybe we need a new category for late-career professionals?
See you at a meeting soon!
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