Diversity in Science
AGU is a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion in science. The AGU Ethics and Equity Center provides policies, reports, tools, surveys and learning resources to help foster more diverse scientific research and work environments, creating a global scientific enterprise that is inclusive for everyone.
The materials below outline leading practices for researchers and students in scientific societies, academic departments and institutions to increase diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging for all. These resources provide guidelines for addressing bias, race/ethnicity, racism, gender and ability and ways to create more inclusive practices in the sciences.
Policies & Reports
Policies
This list includes policies from organizations and scientific departments that outline many promising practices for encouraging greater diversity and inclusion.
- AGU's Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics Policy takes a strong stance against harassment, discrimination and bullying by including them in the definition of scientific misconduct.
- AGU's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan (PDF) incorporates D&I across all the organization's strategic goals to enact change in the Earth and space science culture and community.
- AGU’s position statement, The Responsibilities and Rights of Scientists, provides supporting ethical principles for the responsible practice of science.
- Thriving Earth Exchange's Community Science Principles and Statement on Integrity describes the principles and foundations for community science, as well as the mutual benefits experienced by both science and communities. (PDF)
- For an example of an ethics policy from another scientific society, please see the American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics.
- The Baylor University Department of Geosciences' Standards of Geoscience Ethics shows how a code of conduct can be adapted and applied to an academic geoscience department.
- The University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences' Guidelines provide an example of policy language applied for use by faculty, research scientists, staff, teaching and research assistants.
- For a wide selection of ethics codes and policies for reference as you develop your own, please visit the Illinois Institute of Technology's collection of ethics codes and policies.
Reports
These reports provide data and background information on the underrepresentation of women and other groups in science, as well as recommendations for addressing inequities.
- NSF and the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics' report, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, provides statistical information about the participation of these groups in science and engineering education and employment.
- The American Indian College Fund's report, Creating Visibility and Healthy Learning Environments for Native Americans in Higher Education, describes actions that college and university campuses can take to create equity in higher education for Native Americans. (PDF)
- Making Racial Equity Real in Research offers recommendations for achieving broader partnerships to reduce inequities in research funding. (PDF)
- The Science of Effective Mentoring in STEMM is a practical resource guide from NASEM, for mentoring practitioners to create and support viable, sustainable mentoring support system.
Education, Tools & Surveys
Education
These educational resources provide background information and readings to address bias, race/ethnicity, gender and ability in academia and the workplace.
- UCLA's website provides videos, readings and resources to both understand and manage implicit bias.
- Victoria Alexander's anti-racist resource guide provides curated, updated resources to explain and solve injustices, particularly racial inequities.
- The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory has provided these guidelines for avoiding implicit bias in letters of recommendation.
- The University of Washington's AccessSTEM project provides resources to help increase the participation of people with disabilities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
- GeoReadingForEquity has compiled a library of resources, tips for discussions and actions to take to improve equity in STEM and the geosciences.
- The National Academy of Engineering’s Center for Engineering Ethics and Society is an online repository of resources on science, engineering and research ethics, for engineers, scientists, educators and students.
- In her presentation, Take Your Humanity with You, Sarah Myhre explains why STEM needs intersectional feminism. (video)
- Vernā Myers' book, What if I Say the Wrong Thing? 25 Habits for Culturally Effective People, encourages more diverse and inclusive workplaces by providing tips and action items that are accessible to employees and team members.
- Ashley Mardell's book, The ABC's of LGBT+, includes in-depth definitions, personal anecdotes, infographics, links to online videos and more to provide a friendly voice to a community looking for information.
Tools
This list provides tools to take action and establish more diverse and inclusive practices in your workplace or institution.
- AGU's best practices for inclusive remote meetings is a resource describing ways to support inclusive meetings and better assure that remote meetings are successful for all participants. (PDF)
- Better Letters: Equitable Practices (PDF) provides guidance on how to ensure that letters of recommendation are effective tools for enhancing equity.
- The National Museum of African American History and Culture has shared tools and guidance for having meaningful conversations about race.
- “One Black employee’s answer to 'How can I help?'” is a blog post by Alica Forneret describing the actions organizations and institutions can take to support Black employees.
- Fernando T. Maestre's Ten Simple Rules Towards Healthier Research Labs describes 10 practices to improve workplaces and make research labs more welcoming and collaborative environments.
- V. Bala Chaudhary and Asmeret Asefaw Berhe's paper outlines 10 rules to help scientists conducting research in laboratories to develop anti-racist policies to promote racial and ethnic diversity, equity and inclusion.
- The National Center for Professional & Research Ethics' resources for leading different types of groups provide readings, tips and videos on leadership development to encourage more diverse and welcoming academic environments.
- This webinar video from the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, Higher Education Recruitment Consortium and Association of Public & Land-grant Universities provides promising practices for hiring diverse faculty.
- Abigail J. Stewart and Virginia Valian's article, Recruiting Diverse and Excellent New Faculty, outlines how deans, department chairs and academic search committees can recruit more diverse faculty members.
- An Inclusive Academy: Achieving Diversity and Excellence, a book from The MIT Press, describes how colleges and universities can achieve their goals of greater diversity and inclusion on campus.
- The NSF and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research's Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity program funds five pilot projects that work to increase the participation and belonging of underrepresented groups within STEM.
- AccessComputing's guidelines for accessible remote meetings outlines practices to incorporate in voice-only teleconferences to ensure participants with disabilities can actively engage in the conversation.
- 500 Women Scientists' Resources for addressing Racism / Support for #BlackLivesMatter, dos and don’ts lists social media resources, books and other readings, as well as actions to take to advocate against systemic racism.
- Vernā Myers' presentation, How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them, provides tips to address implicit biases to become advocates and allies in combating systemic racism. (video)
- Kevin G. McDonald's training video includes promising practices for organizations and institutions to implement to increase diversity and inclusion.
- This panel discussion video presents the freely available Antiracism Toolkit, developed for colleagues who want to become allies and advance inclusivity and equity within the scholarly publishing community.
- The Women in STEM resource guide contains useful information on demographics, history and areas of attention to help address gender equality and representation in STEM fields.
Surveys
Listed below is an example of a diversity dashboard, as well as surveys that can help you implement a study of the environment at the departmental level or the institutional level in order to inform best practices in your workplace.
- The Administrator-Researcher Campus Climate Collaborative (ARC3) campus climate survey provides guidance for requesting and conducting a campus survey.
- The National Center for Professional & Research Ethics' Survey of Organizational Research Climate (SOURCE) outlines how to implement a departmental survey for academic leadership development.
- Cornell University has an example of a diversity dashboard, which shows information about university constituencies, as well as findings from a student climate survey on diversity.
Workshops & Trainings
Click here to visit workshops & trainings related to diversity in science.