The Body and the Bench. the ‘Fragile Worker’ in STEM Workplaces

In the our paper, we assess the consequences of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion needs and a lack thereof within STEM. Based on work by Slaton (2013) who investigated the twisted marginalities within marginalities inherited in American science and technology sectors, and their impact on epistemological exclusiveness, we ask how current focus on ‘human centred’ engineering (Briken et al 2023) and the ‘fragile body’ (Remnant 2023) replicates a specific version of the ideal worker yet again excluding marginalized bodies. Investigating the ideas about bodies and related preconceptions of human actors as prone to errors, engineering sciences includes in its modelling epistemological understandings encouraging ableism with the twist of normalising the body as defunct compared to machines (see Briken et al 2023). Our paper is based on two explorative projects engaging with both a systematic literature review and interviews with engineering colleagues in academia to understand their perception of the 'human factor' (Briken), and a workshop based project on Robotics, inclusive Work and the 4th Industrial Revolution(ReWire, Remnant).With our combined findings, we wish to contribute to a field that is despite efforts in EDI research is underdeveloped, namely the material and epistemological underpinnings of re-producing scientific data as ‘functions of some bodies and not others’ (Slaton 2013).