#ShutDownAcademia
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION IN ACADEMIA
We need to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in academia. We can do this by:
Education about DEI and the struggles black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) face
Increasing the visibility of BIPOC researchers
Improve access to mentorship and resources for BIPOC academics
Implementing Diversity Initiatives to better serve our BIPOC researchers
To this end, myself, and a few other graduate students in LSU Department of Biological Sciences have put together a list of resources during the #ShutDownAcademia #ShutDownSTEM in the wake of the long-running #BlackLivesMatter movement. The purpose of this document is to provide resources for white and non-black people of color to be a better ally to black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).
#ShutDownAcademia - Resources for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Alternative link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSa6FY0BP5Ex0lZ1QYMMHAjiTGodXIWcRT0N5ob2tRokTdTah_oeauRlkFq4ewgtVWards0lNVsQpwy/pub
ISSUES IN ACADEMIA
Diversifying STEM does not mean harvesting marginalized students like some kind of resource and then plugging them into the same old machines. Change the machine so that everyone has access to its resources. I want to use my knowledge and experiences to promote a healthier climate in academia, at my university, and increase the academic preparation of students, particularly from underrepresented groups. Broad statements about diversity are encouraging; however, these initiatives need to be concretized with specific goals and evaluated the following year. I encourage everyone to work with students, faculty, and administration to implement ideas, goals, and actionable items to improve the climate within your department.
There are inadequate support structures for underrepresented minority (URM) students. We need increased access to resources and mentorship. To engender a healthier, supportive, and more welcoming climate in academia, we encourage education about diversity and inclusion, increase the visibility of underrepresented researchers, and improve URM access to other mentors.
EDUCATION
Education is the first step to improving diversity and inclusion. A first step towards improving climate is to recognize that academia does not operate solely on meritocracy; unconscious biases, attitudes, and other influences not related to the qualifications, contributions, behaviors, and personalities of our colleagues can influence our interactions, even if we are committed to egalitarian views. We should encourage all faculty, staff, and students to engage in diversity training. We can encourage professors and principal investigators to write diversity & in mission statements into their syllabi and lab web pages. On a much smaller scale, we could also instigate a diversity journal club. Here, we would discuss recent publications about challenges and practical approaches for improving diversity and inclusion. This discussion could also serve as a low-key opportunity to educate your colleagues and highlight areas for improvement.
INCREASE VISIBILITY
It is critical for the future of science that young URM researchers can see real evidence that scientists can succeed regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion, or race. Thus, we must provide role models for URMs to aspire to if we are going to encourage them into careers in science. Increased visibility will promote solidarity and help disheartened students to connect with others that share similar experiences. We should also encourage department heads to circulate monthly newsletters, resources, webinars, or publications with a focus on diversity and inclusion. The diversity offices already do an excellent job of communicating these, but the same resources and news can be circulated within individual departments to increase visibility.
INCREASED ACCESS TO MENTORSHIP
Recruit women and other marginalized faculty to attend departmental events and serve as accessible role models. We can co-opt pre-existing seminar series to host forums, social hours, or discussions. Here, they can share anecdotes, especially to first-generation college students, to encourage students to expand their career search and discuss opportunities in STEM.
INITIATIVES
While graduate students can work to dismantle structural racism, the faculty must lead the bulk of efforts to transform departmental culture. We need to implement formalized, concretized initiatives to better serve our BIPOC resources. Further, we need to develop deadlines for specific goals and evaluate them the following year. We also need to focus on diversity and inclusion efforts that take an intersectional approach that disaggregates diversity initiatives by gender and race. Several bodies of research demonstrate that white women are the primary beneficiaries of diversity initiatives. We need to serve our BIPOC researchers, especially WOC, better.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
Created a no-excuses resource document so that we can be better allies to our black academics #ShutDownAcademia - Resources for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Identified a series of initiatives that we (LSU Biology Graduate Students) and the department can do to improve diversity & inclusion: LSU Biology DEI
Provided a statement to our department chair and the college of science, indicating that we stand with #BLM and that we can improve our EDI initiatives
Wrote a letter to our college asking for funds to bring in BIPOC speakers to our seminar series: BioGrads-letter-for-BIPOC-speakers.pdf
