Open Science and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

Measurement of excellence

Firstly, the Open Science movement involves a general, foundational critique of the meaning and measurement of excellence in academia which largely dovetails the EDI critique of rewards and recognition in academia, e.g., that academic structures systematically exclude specific social groups to the detriment of those groups and their members, of academia and academic institutions, as well as of society in a general sense.

This makes the Open Science movement an opportunity to advance and anchor EDI perspectives within academic structures at a moment when these are evolving.

Access and opportunity

Secondly, given that the Open Science movement addresses all aspects of scientific processes, it also necessarily addresses the question of who engages in those processes, since a principled approach to openness and transparency in terms of academic content (data, methods, technology, results, ...) must also embrace the question of who has access and opportunity to be part of the scientific community and why certain groups are more (less) represented within it.

Moreover, the Open Science focus on societal impact underscores the significance of the „who?“ question, since the „who?“ question largely determines which problems academia prioritizes and which go unaddressed.