Supporting Diversity in Science through Social Networking

Science is disproportionately produced at research centers within a few select regions [1,2]. This distribution contributes to ‘‘brain drain’’—the cultural and geographical separation of researchers from their communities of origin [3]. In places lacking research centers, brain drain precludes achieving a critical mass of scientific expertise and the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Displaced scientists gradually become disconnected from their home communities and colleagues, presenting a challenge to maintaining research collaborations that could benefit their communities of origin. Insidiously, dispersion also presents socio-cognitive challenges to scientists who see themselves as underrepresented in the larger culture of science [4–6]