An effective diversity, equity and inclusion statement is an integral component of business sustainability. Employees, candidates and customers should all have access to it, and it should showcase concrete initiatives and strategies.
Resources, such as workforce diversity reports, racial equity strategies and employee or candidate testimonials can bolster your statement further.
Be specific.
Writing a diversity statement for an academic job application allows you to showcase how your values and experiences promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Furthermore, this statement allows you to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of issues affecting higher education or your field of study.
Your diversity statement must also demonstrate an understanding of the difference between diversity and inclusivity. While diversity refers to having many types of people working in one environment, inclusivity emphasizes providing equal access to opportunities — recognizing that diverse groups may start from unequal points while making efforts to address any disparate starting positions that exist between members.
An effective diversity and inclusion statement requires an eye-catching title, so make yours stand out from similar statements by coming up with something creative that is easily memorable. Use keywords relevant to your business such as “empower” and “include”, or more specific terms like “femmes,” “nonbinary,” and “trans”.
Add data to your diversity statement as a way of supporting its claims. Include statistics regarding employee representation, company initiatives or outreach efforts as evidence that your company lives up to DEI commitments. Google and Spotify have both included this type of data on their websites to demonstrate progress made towards creating inclusive environments.
Use positive language when writing your statement about diversity. Words that reinforce its value may inspire employees and get them to embrace your organization’s mission and culture.
Diversity and inclusion statements that resonate are ones that combine inspiration with real-world experience. A candidate’s personal background and experiences can provide a strong basis for writing their diversity statement; so too can any work they have done in previous roles to foster an inclusive workplace environment. Furthermore, an excellent statement should outline their clear vision for how they would further diversity, equity and inclusion goals at their institution in their new position.
Be concrete.
Producing an engaging diversity and inclusion statement is an excellent way to demonstrate your dedication to inclusivity in both classroom and scholarly communities. Furthermore, creating such an document enables you to consider strategies used in teaching and research practices and how these may incorporate inclusiveness more fully in future endeavors.
As companies face greater expectations to demonstrate their commitment to inclusiveness, it’s vital that they honor the promises they make regarding inclusion. According to a Deloitte study, employees were more likely to trust company leadership when they saw public statements promoting equality and inclusion from them. It’s therefore key that you link DEI statements back into your overall mission for your company, along with having an established plan in place for fulfilling them.
An effective DEI statement can help your organization build a powerful brand image and instil trust among employees, students, and the wider community. It may also attract top talent while building a diverse workforce. When crafting such statements it is crucial not to use overly legal language – this type of language may come across as robotic or impersonal and unlikely to resonate with potential employees.
Make your statement more inspiring by including personal details about yourself and your experiences with diversity. If you have ever experienced any form of bias or microaggression, share that experience with readers. Also discuss how your research has allowed you to better comprehend marginalized communities while working respectfully alongside them.
Your overall objective should be to demonstrate that you are an authentic individual who truly cares about creating an inclusive learning environment for all your students. A well-written DEI statement will highlight this fact and make your application stand out from others.
If you are considering writing your own diversity equity and inclusion statement, we suggest seeking feedback from trusted mentors or colleagues. They can help identify key strengths and weaknesses while providing constructive advice for how to enhance it.
Be inspiring.
Idealistically, your diversity statement should encourage people to engage with and collaborate with your team. It can draw more diverse candidates to your job openings while motivating existing employees to drive change within your company. However, for an inspiring diversity and inclusion statement to take effect effectively it must tie back to company vision and values while offering clear instructions for fulfilling commitments made.
Writing a diversity statement can be tricky, and can easily turn into a bland corporate boilerplate. To add personal elements and keep your statement engaging and inspiring, use personal experiences, such as lived experience with diversity and inclusion issues in general or your lived experiences with prejudice or discrimination in specific instances, such as race, sexual orientation or disability to frame the rest of the statement.
Your DEI statement provides you with the opportunity to describe how you have been working towards inclusivity within your scholarly communities, such as classrooms, departments, research labs or mentoring and outreach initiatives. Be honest in describing how you strive for inclusivity as well as any challenges encountered along the way.
As part of your diversity statement, it’s also crucial to detail how you plan to continue making strides toward inclusivity in scholarly communities even after writing your diversity statement. This could involve setting future goals or outlining ways you have prioritized inclusivity (for instance by including DEI-related materials in course syllabi or research lab policies).
Keep this in mind when creating your diversity, equity and inclusion statement: it isn’t simply another Google Doc hidden on an internal company website! Your DEI statement can have far-reaching ramifications on hiring practices, employee morale and even your organization’s reputation if written poorly – so follow these tips for writing an engaging DEI statement and make sure it stands out!
Be relevant.
Diversity statements can serve both an organization and its employees by communicating its commitment to inclusivity, while simultaneously instilling trust. Employees want the freedom to bring their authentic selves to work and are looking for leadership who supports these values; an effective diversity statement can communicate this to prospective hires by emphasizing applicants who fit within company culture.
First step of this process should be ensuring that your statement reflects the real culture of the company rather than some rosy PR campaign. A good way to do this is to include details on current diversity initiatives being carried out and their execution, along with any current or upcoming goals set for your company that should be specific and measurable.
Finally, it’s key to provide candidates with access to your company’s diversity and inclusion policies in order to give more context as well as give an indication of its EDI priorities.
Nike provides an excellent example of such an initiative in their diversity statement, which lists their current initiatives related to gender equality and racial equity as well as links to their diversity and inclusion policy which can be read here in full.
An effective diversity statement must also detail past achievements of tangible progress toward diversity, equity, and inclusion by its author. This could involve sharing details about personal experiences related to race or disability that has informed conversations within their field or mentoring students who may be marginalized in higher education.
Final considerations when creating a diversity statement is to avoid using overly legal language. While it may be tempting to list all legally mandated information, doing so will make the statement sound generic and boring. Instead, incorporate positive wording and phrases that create an impactful narrative.