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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Clim.
Sec. Climate Action
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fclim.2024.1439980

Meritocracy and inequality in the climate debate in Edinburgh, Scotland

Provisionally accepted
Nia Hunjan Nia Hunjan 1Miriam Gay-Antaki Miriam Gay-Antaki 2*
  • 1 Other, London, United Kingdom
  • 2 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This paper underscores the role that structural barriers play in climate change research in Edinburgh, Scotland. By employing an intersectional gender analysis we stress how unequal power relations underly our understanding of climate change, influence the quality and nature of climate research and responses developed. Using semi-structured and unstructured interviews with women and men working in climate change, we identify the shared experiences of individuals who face gendered barriers in climate science and policy, examine their perception of privilege, and their consequent perceived success in climate change research. Our findings stress the relationship between the concept of meritocracy, the underrepresentation of women and marginalised groups in science, and the reproduction of systematic barriers to contribute to the climate debate. We stress the importance of relationships and networks in supporting and encouraging marginalised voices to succeed in participating in climate change research and science more broadly.

    Keywords: Climate Change, gender and feminism, meritocracy, Equity, Diversity and Representation, women in STEM

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hunjan and Gay-Antaki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Miriam Gay-Antaki, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.