Who belongs in science? Efforts to increase diversity in scientific communities have traditionally focused on race, gender, and other dimensions of identity, while paying less attention to religion. A new study by Elaine Howard Ecklund, Moses Biney, and Zikang Hou examines how religious identity shapes scientists’ experiences and sense of belonging within scientific communities.
Drawing on 53 in-depth interviews with biologists and physicists at leading universities in the United States, Mexico, and South Africa, the study explores how scientists respond to colleagues who are religious. The researchers find an important tension: although scientists frequently describe themselves as open to religious people, that openness often comes with an expectation that religion should remain separate from scientific work.
This expectation can create subtle forms of exclusion for religious scientists. The researchers describe this pattern as “safe siloing”—a process in which religious scientists may feel that their religious identities are acceptable only when kept separate from their professional identities and scientific work. As a result, religious scientists can experience pressure to suppress or compartmentalize an important part of who they are in order to be perceived as legitimate members of the scientific community.
The findings broaden conversations about diversity, inclusion, and representation in science by identifying religion as an overlooked dimension of scientific identity. They also contribute to research on the relationship between science and religion by shifting attention from what scientists believe about religion to how religious people are actually treated within scientific institutions.
Understanding religious representation in science is increasingly important as universities and scientific organizations seek to build more inclusive communities. This research highlights the need to consider religious identity alongside other dimensions of diversity—and to recognize that inclusion involves not only who enters science, but also whether scientists can bring their whole identities into their professional lives.