Diversity, equity and inclusion

The mission of the Chemistry Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is to encourage a stronger and just environment for chemistry education and training. Our key efforts are to increase DEI awareness, manage DEI expectations and incident reporting, and ensure that DEI policies are adopted in our department to foster a highly diverse STEM community at WSU.

Committee members

Reporting

Any kind of harassment or aggression, major or micro, is a serious concern to our chemistry department. If you find yourself in a situation outside the normal expectations of a friendly, inclusive, professional, safe and supportive environment, here is the place to get help.

File a Confidential Incident Report

Resources

• Disability resources
  • CML: Chemistry Markup Language
  • Gaining Online Accessible Learning through Self-Study (GOALS)
  • MathML: Math Markup Language
  • National Center on Disability and Access to Education (NCDAE)
  • NCAM: National Center for Accessible Media
  • WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
  • WCAG 2.0 Standards for computer software
  • Webaim
• External resources
  • Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE)
  • Diversity and inclusion at the American Chemical Society
  • Entering Mentoring (from HHMI) (PDF)
  • National Committee on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE)
  • National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE)
  • NSF sponsored National Diversity Equity Workshop 2015
    • Margaret Mwenda, "Underrepresented minority students in STEM doctoral programs: the role of financial support and relationships with faculty and peers.", Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 2010 (PDF)
    • MIT's Initiative for Faculty Race and Diversity
    • NSF Broadening Participation
    • Project Implicit: Take a test to discover your implicit biases about race, gender and sexual orientation
    • Public Law 111-358: America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010
    • State of Higher Education for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender People: Campus Pride 2010 National College Climate Survey
    • Tutorials on Gender Schemas and Science Careers and the Gender Equity Project by Virginia Valian
  • Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity
  • University of Michigan Handbook for Faculty Searches and Hiring
  • Women Chemists of Color
• Helpful books and articles

  General

  • Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
  • The Double Bind: The Price of Being a Minority Woman in Science
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • The Rage of a Privileged Class by Ellis Cose

  Nature articles about diversity

  • Collaboration: Strength in diversity
  • Diversity: A Nature & Scientific American Special Issue
  • Diversity: Pride in science
  • Diversity challenge

  NIH-funded efforts to foster diversity

  • National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) (mentoring to diversify the biomedical workforce)
  • Undergraduate
    • Minority Access To Research Careers (MARC)
    • Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program
  • Graduate
    • Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program
    • Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Program
    • Research Education Program (PREP)
  • Post-doctorate
    • Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Support of Competitive Research (SCORE)
    • Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA)

  Scientific American articles about diversity

  • 3 Myths Plus a Few Best Practices for Achieving Diversity
  • Diversity in Science: Why It Is Essential for Excellence
  • How Diversity Makes Us Smarter
  • Point of View Affects How Science Is Done
  • When I Learned the Value of Diversity for Innovation: In a diverse team, the best ideas are more likely to rise to the top
• Incident reporting

  We have collected several resources to report incidents or individual behaviors that fall outside of the norms for an inclusive and equitable workplace.

  All of our DEI Committee members have agreed to have anonymous informal chats about incidents.

  Formal reports may be registered at the WSU Title IX office or through the Department of Chemistry Confidential Incident Report Form. In all cases, retaliation and/or any form of harassment against an individual as a result of filing a complaint is forbidden. Information about these policies is available from the University.

  Students have a network of advisors and peer groups to seek assistance from. Faculty are directed to our WSU Ombuds office to discuss concerns about the climate in the department.

• WSU resources
  • Ally training: Campus LGBTQ support system expanded through ally training sessions
  • Diversity Officer: Donyale Padgett
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Equitable and inclusive hiring practices
  • GRAD Initiative: Greater Retention and Achievement through Diversity
  • Learning Communities and peer mentoring
  • Mentoring at Wayne State Student Disability Services Women of Wayne Scholarship