Achieving diversity and equity through inclusion.

Elijah Malik Persad-Paisley is the winner of the third annual Rising Black Scientists Award for a graduate/postdoctoral scholar in the life and health sciences. For this award, we asked emerging Black scientists to tell us about their scientific vision and goals, experiences that sparked their interest in science, how they want to contribute to a more inclusive scientific community, and how these all fit together on their journey. This is his story.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Laboratory: Strategies to Enhance Inclusive Laboratory Culture.

Building a diverse laboratory that is equitable is critical for the retention of talent and the growth of trainees professionally and personally. Here, we outline several strategies including enhancing understanding of cultural competency and humility, establishing laboratory values, and developing equitable laboratory structures to create an inclusive laboratory environment to enable trainees to achieve their highest success.

Recruiting women faculty through inclusive, family-friendly practices.

Recruitment of STEM faculty is biased against parents and caregivers. Specifically, women experience discrimination associated with childrearing and marriage. Underestimating the value of these candidates leads to a tremendous loss of talent. Here, we present a toolkit to facilitate the recruitment of talented women caregivers by providing guidelines for hiring.

On the report of the ASHG "Facing Our History-Building an Equitable Future" initiative.

The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)-and the research community it supports-believes in the power of human genetics to advance science, health, and society. However, ASHG and the field have failed to acknowledge, fully and consistently, the misuse of human genetics to serve unjust ends or take action to denounce such use. As the community's oldest and largest professional society, ASHG also has been late in making explicit efforts to integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion into its values, programs, and voice. The Society affirmatively seeks to reckon with, and sincerely apologizes for, its involvement in and silence on the misuse of human genetics research to justify and contribute to injustices in all forms. It commits to sustain and expand its integration of equitable and just principles in the study and use of human genetics research, taking both immediate actions and swiftly determining longer-term goals it will set to realize the benefits of human genetics and genomics research for all.

Members of the majority need to actively promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The responsibility for promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) too often falls on scientists from minority groups. Here, I provide a list of potential strategies that members of the majority can easily do to step up and get involved in DEIB.

Ten recommendations for hosting a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) journal club.

Despite advances and social progress, the exclusion of diverse groups in academia, especially science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, across the US and Europe persists, resulting in the underrepresentation of diverse people in higher education. There is extensive literature about theory, observation, and evidence-based practices that can help create a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse learning environment. In this article, we propose the implementation of a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) journal club as a strategic initiative to foster education and promote action towards making academia a more equitable institution. By creating a space for people to engage with DEIJ theories* and strategize ways to improve their learning environment, we hope to normalize the practice and importance of analyzing academia through an equity lens. Guided by restorative justice principles, we offer 10 recommendations for fostering community cohesion through education and mutual understanding. This approach underscores the importance of appropriate action and self-education in the journey toward a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just academic environment. *Authors' note: We understand that "DEIJ" is a multidisciplinary organizational framework that relies on numerous fields of study, including history, sociology, philosophy, and more. We use this term to refer to these different fields of study for brevity purposes.

Emphasis of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on US Adult Infectious Disease Fellowship Program Websites in the Era of Virtual Recruitment.

Women and underrepresented-in-medicine applicants value a climate for diversity when selecting graduate medical education training programs. Climate may not be accurately represented during virtual recruitment. Optimizing program websites may help overcome this barrier. We reviewed websites for adult infectious disease fellowships that participated in the 2022 National Resident Matching Program for emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Fewer than half expressed DEI language in their mission statement or had a dedicated DEI statement or webpage. Programs should consider emphasizing their commitment to DEI prominently on their websites, which may help recruit candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lessons From Developing Stroke Education Programs for West Michigan Asian Communities.

BACKGROUND: Asians in the United States, facing health care disparities, have increased stroke risk. Multiple subgroups, with distinct cultures and languages, add complexity to caring for Asian American (AsA) communities. We developed a tailored stroke education program for underserved West Michigan AsA communities. Methodology, lessons learned, and diversity, equity, and inclusion insights are described. METHODS: Neurology residents and faculty, in collaboration with trained community-specific navigators, developed culturally resonant stroke education that was tailored to meet the needs of specific self-identified West Michigan AsA communities. Educational and debriefing sessions were delivered over 6 months, following the Plan-Do-Study-Act model, to elucidate diversity, equity, and inclusion insights and improve materials and delivery methods. RESULTS: Eighty-six non-English-speaking participants from 5 self-identified AsA communities (Burmese, Buddhist Vietnamese, Catholic Vietnamese, Chinese, and Nepali) attended educational stroke sessions. The average age of attendees was 57.6±13.2 years; most were females (70%). Diversity, equity, and inclusion insights included identification of Asian cultural beliefs about acute stroke treatment (eg, bloodletting), investigator insights (eg, need for kitchen-table programs), systemic barriers (eg, language), and mitigation strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Institutions should consider the integration of equity-focused, trainee-influenced quality improvement projects, such as this culturally resonant stroke educational program for AsA, to enhance stroke care in these vulnerable communities.

A guide to establishing, implementing, and optimizing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) committees.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) efforts are increasingly recognized as critical for the success of academic institutions. These efforts are facilitated mainly through the formation of dedicated DEIA committees. DEIA committees enhance professional development and create a more inclusive environment, which benefits all members of the institution. Although leadership and faculty membership have recognized the importance and necessity of DEIA, the roles of DEIA committees may be more ambiguous. Although leadership and faculty may seek to support DEIA at their institutions, they may not always fully understand the necessity of these committees or how to successfully create a committee, foster and promote its success, and sustain its impact. Thus, here, we offer a background rationale and guide for strategically setting up DEIA committees for success and impact within an academic institution with applicability to scientific societies.

Unlocking the Benefits of Gender Diversity: How an Ecological-Belonging Intervention Enhances Performance in Science Classrooms.

Gender diversity signals inclusivity, but meta-analyses suggest that it does not boost individual or group performance. This research examined whether a social-psychological intervention can unlock the benefits of gender diversity on college physics students' social and academic outcomes. Analyses of 124 introductory physics classrooms at a large research institution in the eastern United States (N = 3,605) indicated that in classrooms doing "business as usual," cross-gender collaboration was infrequent, there was a substantial gender gap in physics classroom belonging, and classroom gender diversity had no effect on performance. The ecological-belonging intervention aimed to establish classroom norms that adversity in the course is normal and surmountable. In classrooms receiving the intervention, cross-gender interaction increased 51%, the gender gap in belonging was reduced by 47%, and higher classroom diversity was associated with higher course grades and 1-year grade point average for both men and women. Addressing contextual belongingness norms may help to unlock the benefits of diversity.

2023 Update on equity, diversity, and inclusion in Canadian cardiac surgery.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite efforts to diversify the medical field, cardiac surgery remains amongst the least diverse specialties. Specifically, the percentage of women and racial minorities has remained low in past few decades. This may impact prospective trainee recruitment and surgical care. This paper highlights recent efforts that aim to promote diversity and inclusion of the Canadian cardiac surgical workforce. RECENT FINDINGS: Formal programs have been established to support students at different stages of training. In 2022, the Canadian Society for Cardiac Surgery has released an equity, diversity, and inclusion statement to summarize the current state and the strategic goals to accomplish a more just working environment. At the local level, the University of Toronto Next Surgeon high school pilot program, provided low-income, women, and racial minority students mentorship and experiential exposure to our field. Also, the University of Toronto, scholarships funded summer research with cardiac surgeons for women, as well as Black and Indigenous medical students. SUMMARY: Tangible efforts that target high school, undergraduate, and medical students are underway to promote equity and diversity of cardiac surgeons in Canada. Future studies that evaluate the gaps and identify bottlenecks could better guide interventions at institutions across the country.

Reinvigoration of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics: Student-driven Progress.

Extremist far-right ideologies, including scientifically inaccurate beliefs about race, are on the rise (Mierina and Koroleva 2015; Youngblood 2020); individuals perpetuating such ideologies occasionally cite genetics research, including behavioral genetics research. This highlights the need for behavioral geneticists to actively confront extremist ideology and promote anti-racism. We emphasize the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committees within behavioral genetics institutions. DEI committees can lead to: greater awareness of ways in which behavioral genetics has been misused (historically and currently) to harm minoritized communities, increased discussions on conducting ethical behavioral genetics research, and increased collaboration for conducting more diverse behavioral genetics research. We discuss the activities and goals of the student-driven DEI committee at the Institute for Behavior Genetics (IBG). At the same time, we acknowledge we have a long way to go, both as a committee and as a field. Our committee is still in its early stages; we discuss challenges to increasing DEI in the field and present future goals for both IBG and the behavioral genetics community as we explore the process of implementing DEI work.

How to Create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Curriculum: More Than Checking a Box.

We are beginning to accept and address the role that medicine as an institution played in legitimizing scientific racism and creating structural barriers to health equity. There is a call for greater emphasis in medical education on explaining our role in perpetuating health inequities and educating learners on how bias and racism lead to poor health outcomes for historically marginalized communities. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI; also referred to as EDI) and antiracism are key parts of patient care and medical education as they empower health professionals to be advocates for their patients, leading to better health care outcomes and more culturally and socially humble health care professionals. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education has set forth standards to include structural competency and other equity principles in the medical curriculum, but medical schools are still struggling with how to specifically do so. Here, we highlight a stepwise approach to systematically developing and implementing medical educational curriculum content with a DEI and antiracism lens. This article serves as a blueprint to prepare institution leadership, medical faculty, staff, and learners in how to effectively begin or scale up their current DEI and antiracism curricular efforts.

Unmasking disparities: the challenge of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Press Ganey surveys.

Data on minority group physicians from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds is sparse and not reported by PG metrics at the national level. While PG metrics typically concentrate on the individual, patterns and trends are clearly discernible at the group level and comparison of groups to capture patterns may yield results hitherto unknown. One could even envisage using AI to capture any trends, differences, and comparative figures to build databases for the future. It is time to retool PG surveys to fit the modern U.S. healthcare workforce and be inclusive, and not selective at the individual level.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer: a global membership survey.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are essential for healthcare organizations since they allow for the development of programs and initiatives that bring together diverse perspectives and knowledge. Global multidisciplinary organizations, such as the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), need to understand the perspective of their members regarding EDI to identify opportunities to enhance diversity and inclusiveness and to better meet the needs of members from different backgrounds and resources. The MASCC Health Disparities Committee designed a survey to identify issues related to disparities faced by MASCC members when providing supportive care to patients with cancer and to examine the EDI landscape within the organization. Here, we report results related to EDI initiatives within the organization. Two-hundred and eighteen MASCC members responded to the survey (response rate 10.2%). The results indicated that respondents were generally satisfied with how MASCC manages leadership, membership, and organization-related EDI issues. Opportunities for improvement noted by respondents included developing strategies to foster a more diverse membership, improving communication regarding diversity in the organization, and increasing EDI content in educational sessions and publications. The results of this survey represent the first attempt at understanding how to improve EDI within MASCC and will be utilized to guide further initiatives and programs.

Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Preclinical, Clinical, and Public Health Mathematical Models.

Mathematical modelling applied to preclinical, clinical, and public health research is critical for our understanding of a multitude of biological principles. Biology is fundamentally heterogeneous, and mathematical modelling must meet the challenge of variability head on to ensure the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are integrated into quantitative analyses. Here we provide a follow-up perspective on the DEI plenary session held at the 2023 Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting to discuss key issues for the increased integration of DEI in mathematical modelling in biology.