An effective diversity statement provides candidates with an opportunity to demonstrate their values and experiences related to diversity, equity and inclusion (EDI). Here are some helpful hints for writing an impactful diversity statement:
Researching EDI goals and initiatives at institutions to which you will apply allows you to customize your statement by addressing specific EDI issues relevant to their application process.
1. Be Specific
First step to creating an effective diversity statement: Be specific. Avoid generic phrases like, “We recognize and value diversity” or “Work to promote inclusion”, which don’t give any details of your personal experiences.
If you have worked with students from underrepresented backgrounds, share your specific experiences and how it has shaped your views on how to make workplace more equitable and inclusive. Likewise, include empirical research supporting your beliefs regarding ways of making the workplace more equitable and inclusive.
Clear communication of your position on key issues is equally as essential. For instance, if your research has led you to believe it essential that more mentorship opportunities be offered for female graduate or undergraduate students, your statement should reflect this stance and how it could potentially influence future work in that area.
Your plan should also outline any concrete actions you are taking or will take in the future to address these issues. For instance, if your aim is to expand opportunities for underrepresented groups within your department, for instance by helping implement existing programs or even starting new ones – this demonstrates your proactiveness and forward-thinking nature while simultaneously showing that DEI initiatives are more than mere lip service.
At all times, it is crucial that you demonstrate your dedication to diversity through clear examples from both past and future work. This could mean discussing initiatives you have taken within your academic community to promote DEI or outlining ways in which diversity would be prioritized in classrooms or labs.
2. Be Authentic
Authenticity is key when creating an impactful diversity statement on your company website. Statements written with genuine care by individuals interested in creating more inclusive workplaces tend to have greater resonance than statements using overly formal legal language, which could make the statement less than engaging or inspiring.
To ensure that your statement comes across as genuine, consider including a brief paragraph about your personal experiences with diversity in order to demonstrate an understanding of its complexity and not simply making generalized statements to appease employees. Doing this also creates a more intimate and human connection with your statement which is integral for maintaining an effective DEI commitment among employees.
Provide details of your current efforts and future plans for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within your organization. This shows that diversity initiatives are not simply passing trends – rather they’re ongoing, strategic priorities for your business.
Consider including resources that would add depth and enhance the experience for visitors of your DEI statement page, such as videos. This can make your statement come alive and instill trust among potential employees, customers or students.
Remember that your DEI statement represents a public commitment from company leadership. Employees will most likely trust and engage with leaders when their words match up with actions taken – so make sure your DEI statement promises are kept.
3. Be Relevant
Your diversity statement must be tailored specifically to the role for which you’re applying. One approach would be to outline how you plan to contribute to diversity initiatives at your future job and demonstrate how your research/teaching addresses diversity issues and challenges within a particular context – for instance if applying to university, for instance, you might provide details regarding how working with marginalized communities supports school’s efforts towards racial equity or other goals.
Your diversity efforts should align with the company vision. To do this, demonstrate how your commitment to inclusion reflects company values as well as specific examples of when you supported company initiatives in the past – this helps convince readers that DEI statements aren’t empty marketing and PR campaigns.
Make your statement more pertinent by listing employee resource groups (like Africans@Google, Greyglers and Trans at Google ) along with current representation figures or initiatives that are important to the company, like Adobe For All mottoes or other mottoes that pertain to it.
Take care when creating your diversity statement as this public document. Avoid including anything that might compromise your employment record or that could be misconstrued; prior to including them in your statement, discuss past contributions with trusted advisors before including them in it. Moreover, ensure your statement can easily be located online and accessible in different formats; using simple English is preferable with tasteful supporting media.
4. Be Concise
No matter the school, diversity statements must remain concise. They’re not an opportunity for you to list every time you worked with diverse populations or write an exhaustive treatise on classroom idealization or what constitutes diversity – they should instead serve as a chance to showcase how your experiences and perspectives have taught you valuable lessons about prioritizing diversity in teaching, research, or professional life–along with how you plan on continuing these efforts in the future.
An effective diversity, equity and inclusion statement is an invaluable asset in showing hiring committees or department chairs how you will benefit their campus or community. A good statement also illustrates your dedication to DEI – something which may seem obvious during interviews but often doesn’t show. Studies have also indicated that employees want their employer to go beyond simply talking about DEI practices – they want assurances they will actually see change being implemented in DEI practices within their company.
If you are writing a diversity statement for an institution, do your research and take stock of its existing programs and initiatives before creating your statement. Doing this can help determine the focus of your statement, since its content should more appropriately represent a school’s perspective than generalized statements that could apply to all schools.
Student or scholar applicants seeking graduate program admission or fellowship opportunities might want to write a diversity statement specifically for graduate program applications or fellowship applications. They can customize the statement to their particular interests or focus on how they navigated higher education as a marginalized student or scholar; additionally they could talk about any outreach or engagement efforts in their new field of study that relate to DEI-focused extracurricular programs and professional associations they would join as part of this statement.
5. Be Balanced
Your diversity statement must include a wide range of topics. For instance, consider including details of both your personal experiences and work related to furthering diversity within higher education or your field – as well as any plans to continue this important work in the future.
Setting out the definition of diversity also sets the stage for your approach to this key subject matter. For instance, consider writing: “Diversity encompasses an array of identity characteristics including but not limited to race, gender, social class, sexual orientation and neurodiversity.
You should use this opportunity to define inclusion, which should align with your definition of diversity. For instance, consider writing: “Inclusion means welcoming and appreciating individuals of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.”
Your DEI statement provides your organization with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what steps it has taken towards becoming more inclusive, for instance including information such as representation metrics and equity data to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
As some candidates may struggle to provide evidence of past work related to diversity, you could emphasize your future plans for contributions to DEI in the workplace. You could, for example, mention volunteering to tutor students from underrepresented communities or including antiracist pedagogy in your classes as ways of furthering diversity within your scholarly community and beyond – this can show that you possess potential to increase diversity both inside and outside its boundaries. Being as specific as possible increases its impact.