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When asked to name scientists, students mention the likes of Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton. And when asked to draw a scientist, students almost always draw a white man holding a test tube and wearing a lab coat. Professor Robin Costello from the University at Buffalo tells us more about a new study that parsed the effects of including visual depictions and humanizing information about scientists featured in undergraduate biology course materials.

“While demographics in the United States continue to diversify, we demonstrate the mismatch between aspiring scientists and the role models held up as exemplars in biology textbooks.”