Diversity is not about numbers, nor about race, gender, or creed. True diversity is a frame of mind. It is, fundamentally, the openness of mind to accept all people as fellow human beings, without regard to their appearance or background or beliefs, and to value their abilities, perspectives, and unique contributions to the whole of humanity (https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/our-greatest-strength-1740117/). Diversity brings in new perspectives, new ideas, and new approaches, which better enable us to achieve the best science and innovation. How can we as a user community more effectively embrace diversity? There is a lot of enthusiasm in the community, but a lack of effective direction and organization. There are many barriers to diversity; what can we do to lower or eliminate them? What are innovative approaches and effective strategies that we can build on and share? How can this grass-roots effort influence policy at our respective institutions? The purpose of this session is to discuss these and related questions, from the perspective of the user community (of scientists, by scientists and for scientists), and to produce a white paper. This paper can then serve as the seed of a repository of useful information to help raise awareness and share effective ideas with others, and ultimately guide policies. This workshop is independent of institution.
The workshop will include breakout sessions for discussion of
A) raising awareness and harnessing community enthusiasm for social change
B) scientific model: highlighting benefits of diversity to science, innovation and economic gain
C) identifying and overcoming systemic barriers to diversity in science
D) the pipeline to science careers: perceptions, networks, opportunities
Organizers:
Paul Northrup, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Lead Scientist, Tender Energy Microspectroscopy Consortium
Judith Brown Clarke, Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, Stony Brook University