Communications of the ACM
Why Tech Workers Showed Up to March For Science
Scientists and science supporters at the March for Science in London.
Credit: ABC News
Demonstrators turned out in an estimated 600 cities around the world on Saturday (April 22) to rally for science and its role in policy-making, many tech workers among them. The march was organized after the Trump administration proposed and began to implement steep budget cuts to federal science agencies in the United States.
In San Francisco, droves of researchers and educators showed up from the area's major universities, hospitals, tech firms, and non-profits. Some sported a pink, knitted hat that looked like a human brain.
In a March for Science mission statement, organizers said their event was meant to be non-partisan, and a "celebration of science" that could help bridge the "divide between the scientific community and the public."
Despite that, the marches were seen as leftist. Many engineers and other tech workers at the San Francisco March for Science declined to discuss their participation on the record, citing uncertainty about employers' press policies and a belief that science should be non-partisan.
However, many also sported logos from and confirmed they worked for recognizable tech brands including: 23andMe, Prothena, IBM, SpaceX, Salesforce, Slack, UCSF, and others.
From TechCrunch
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