Diversity Equity and Inclusion Statements serve to express one’s values, understanding, and commitment towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in research, teaching, and service activities. A recent typology has identified common elements within these statements; among these:
Google provides employee resource groups and their specific goals of representation within leadership.
1. Authenticity
Diversity and Inclusion Statements (D&I Statements) can be an excellent way to demonstrate how deeply committed you are to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) principles within your academic community. But remember: Your statement needs to do more than simply tell; it needs to show how EDI has advanced at your institution or workplace.
Authenticity is one of the key concepts to remember when creating your DEI statement. Authenticity refers to genuineness – which measures whether your actions and words reflect your beliefs and values – which has become a desirable quality for individuals and organizations in modern thinking. Scholars have suggested that authenticity may allow individuals to make more ethical choices about their lives while others have noted how pursuing authenticity may result in falsehoods by forcing people away from acknowledging facts about themselves, such as history or context.
Your DEI Statement requires you to consider whether or not to share aspects of your personal identity that might influence how you approach teaching, research, and disciplinary/university service. If you choose to share these identities in any capacity, be mindful that any discussion must focus on how they support commitment to EDI rather than how they have affected individual experiences.
Your diversity and inclusion statement provides an ideal opportunity for you to discuss how you have experienced conflict related to diversity issues and its effect on your work environment. Furthermore, any changes outside the office that demonstrate your dedication to EDI would also make for excellent examples to include.
2. Transparency
The best diversity statements are transparent and provide clear details about their definition of EDA-B (education, development, inclusion and bias) as well as how research, teaching, and service fulfill EDIB goals. Furthermore, such statements clearly state how the institution advocates on behalf of minority communities to create more equitable learning and scholarly environments.
Provide this information in your DEI statement to build trust among employees, candidates and other stakeholders. Many companies opt to include additional data on their DEI statements page such as current workforce demographic data, representation targets or third-party audit results as proof that your company truly embraces EDIB into its mission and culture.
A successful diversity statement should also provide details about its impact on business. It should demonstrate how inclusion isn’t simply meeting public demand–it should also serve as a strategic imperative. A 2011 Accenture study demonstrated that businesses with diverse teams perform significantly better, 33% more likely to meet or surpass financial performance goals and 57% more likely to penetrate new markets than their counterparts without diversity programs.
Some companies go so far as to include a link to their diversity website where they share more detailed diversity and inclusion data, goals, testimonials from employees and candidates alike, as well as external resources like racial equity strategies and tools. This is an effective way of keeping conversations flowing as well as encouraging more people to get involved with your efforts to advance EDIB within your organization.
3. Clarity
An articulate, well-structured statement helps others better comprehend how an applicant brings their values and approach to any particular department or field. A good statement should illustrate what diversity, equity, and inclusion means to them personally as well as why these principles should be prioritized within work, teaching, or research activities.
It is critical that the tone of a DEI statement reflects the culture and aesthetic of its company. Affixing words or syntax that discordant with its brand may come across as performative or fake and could hinder efforts to promote an inclusive work environment. For instance, an IBM DEI statement should include language that conveys their tech-oriented, casual atmosphere – otherwise the statement may come across as insincere or overly-political.
If there are metrics available to your company to demonstrate DEI progress, these should be included in your statement. This could range from showing the percentage of women in leadership positions or spending with diverse suppliers; whatever it may be it can help demonstrate that your business is making meaningful strides towards diversity and inclusion.
Successful statements require a precise definition of “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion.” A thesis that clearly articulates these terms (such as an ambition for more equitable society building or decentering privileged voices in your discipline or amplifying marginalized perspectives in research/teaching) may help. Furthermore, including specific examples demonstrating candidate values within these areas in the body of your statement will further solidify this narrative.
4. Conciseness
Recent years have witnessed increased public sentiment for more diverse representation in all spheres of modern life – from workplaces to media. Brands which demonstrate inclusivity have gained widespread praise – and, often times, increased revenue as well. A prime example is Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line featuring products designed for all skin tones as well as diverse models; companies with a commitment to diversity and inclusion tend to attract top talent more readily due to this factor alone.
Your DEI statement should be clear and succinct so it can easily communicate your company’s value system and guide future decisions. Furthermore, it should connect to your mission and vision statements so you can live out these DEI values. Adobe provides an excellent example of an impactful, well-formulated DEI statement: their slogan sums it all up nicely: “Adobe for All”.
Make an impactful statement about diversity and inclusion by backing your commitment with facts and figures. This will lend credibility and substantiate your DEI goals while showing you are actively working toward them – P&G stands as an example with their highly specific commitment of having 40% representation of multicultural employees across all management levels in the U.S. Additionally, display any other metrics on your DEI statement page such as budget allocation for diverse suppliers or how many women have leadership roles within your organization.
5. Transparency
Companies facing increased scrutiny over diversity efforts must do more than simply proclaim their efforts transparently; they should provide tangible proof of progress — such as how many women they’ve appointed to leadership positions or spend with diverse suppliers — that back up any claims of progress they make about diversity efforts. They could even include a link to their public-facing diversity report for anyone interested to see what works and where the next steps may lie.
An effective DEI statement should provide examples of past contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion for academic communities in which the candidate wishes to serve, along with their vision for their future development. In order to do this, it’s essential that candidates begin by understanding broader challenges and needs within higher education – for instance an individual seeking admission as a professor must be cognizant of issues surrounding equity and inclusion that affect first generation students or individuals from under-resourced backgrounds in their discipline.
Candidates for DEI-related awards should also be prepared to address the complexities of their work on DEI. This may involve discussing their contributions and why they matter, for instance highlighting an antiracist pedagogy’s benefits in aiding marginalized student learning. In addition, candidates should be upfront with reviewers about any limitations or shortcomings in their work that they believe exist, so reviewers can better assess ways that candidates could address gaps and enhance practice – this demonstrates their dedication and grasp of diversity, equity, and inclusion nuances!