essay on equality diversity and inclusion

May 8, 2023

Celebrating Our Differences: Inspiring Essays on Diversity and Inclusion

Ready to celebrate diversity and inclusion? Discover how to craft an exceptional essay on this important topic with our expert tips and real-world examples. Join us as we explore the power of diversity and its impact on individuals and communities alike.

Imagine yourself walking into a room full of people, each with their own stories to tell. What makes your story stand out? What makes your voice unique? This is the essence of a good diversity essay .

In your essay, you have the opportunity to show the admissions committee how your life experiences have shaped your perspective, identity, and aspirations. Through sharing personal stories, you can paint a picture of who you are and how you will contribute to the vibrant tapestry of the campus community.

Maybe it's growing up in a multicultural household that has taught you to value different perspectives and ways of life. Or, perhaps it's overcoming adversity and facing challenges that have made you a more empathetic and resilient person. Whatever your story may be, your diversity essay is a chance to showcase the richness and depth of your lived experiences.

As you craft your essay, think about how your unique background has informed your actions, beliefs, and goals. Share specific examples and anecdotes that bring your story to life, and make sure to emphasize how you will use your diverse perspective to contribute positively to the campus community. With a well-written diversity essay, you can show the admissions committee that you are more than just a set of grades and test scores - you are a unique and valuable addition to their community.

We have provided a guide as well as some essay examples to assist you in writing your essay about diversity. If you need inspiration for an essay, read them till last. But before we dig into the specifics, a basic understanding of diversity is necessary.

What is Diversity in actuality?

institutions. By recognizing and celebrating the unique experiences, viewpoints, and identities of students from diverse backgrounds, schools can create a more inclusive and welcoming environment that benefits everyone. Through diversity essays, students have the opportunity to showcase the strength of diversity and how it can contribute to the greater community. 

Scholarship options designed for historically underserved communities also demonstrate the importance of diversity in leveling the playing field and creating opportunities for all. Therefore, embracing diversity can lead to a stronger and more vibrant academic community.

What is Inclusion?

Inclusion is the practice of making a place where everyone, despite their differences, is treated with dignity and respect . It's the act of making sure nobody is held back from contributing to a group or community because of their identity or background.

Each person's race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, financial background, ability, religion, and other characteristics are valued and celebrated through the practice of inclusion. It's not enough to just tolerate differences; we need to celebrate them and foster communities where everyone can feel safe and included.

To advance social justice and equity, inclusion is crucial. It allows people from all walks of life to meet one another, learn from one another, and work together towards a shared objective. Positive results for individuals and communities can result from their inclusion in more open, welcoming, and supportive settings.

Step-by-Step guide on how to write an essay on diversity and inclusion

Writing an essay on diversity and inclusion is an important task that requires careful planning and execution. In this step-by-step guide, we will provide you with a roadmap on how to write a compelling essay on this topic.

Here are seven suggestions to consider as you write your diversity statement.

Tell your story

Highlight any challenges you had to overcome while writing an essay. Tell the world about how you used to have to lug two 20-pound sacks of rice uphill to school every day. Recognize your privilege if you were born into affluence. Either way, you can utilize your experience to demonstrate your ability to empathize with kids who struggle to complete their education.

Focus on commonly accepted understandings of diversity and inclusiveness

Issues of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation should be given special attention. Don't try to soften your stance by mentioning, for example, how challenging it is to be a Kansan in Missouri. Write about racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or another form of oppression that is well-known instead.

Avoid false parallels

When writing a diversity essay, it is important to avoid false parallels. False parallels are when two things appear to be similar, but in reality, they are different. To avoid false parallels, you must carefully examine the similarities and differences between the two things you are comparing. This will help you to make accurate and meaningful comparisons, which will ultimately strengthen your diversity essay.

Write about specific things you have done to help students from underrepresented backgrounds succeed

If you've never helped anybody before, now is the time to start. Become involved as a tutor at a low-performing school, help Habitat for Humanity construct homes, or adopt an antiracist pedagogical approach in your classroom. Not only will you gain valuable experience, but you can also use it to strengthen your diversity statement.

Highlight any programs for underrepresented students you’ve participated in

If you have participated in any programs for underrepresented students, be sure to highlight them in your essay on diversity. This could include programs focused on increasing access to education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, mentorship or internship programs for underrepresented groups, or community service initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion.

By highlighting these programs, you can showcase your commitment to diversity and demonstrate how you have taken active steps to promote equity and inclusion in your community.

Write about your commitment to working toward achieving equity and enhancing diversity

Provide details on what you can bring to the table. You might express your desire to help existing programmes on campus or to start something brand new inspired by what you've seen elsewhere.

Modify your statement based on where you are sending it

When writing an essay on diversity, it's important to tailor your statement to the specific institution or audience you are addressing. Modifying your statement based on where you are sending it shows that you have taken the time to research the institution and understand its values and priorities. This can increase the likelihood of your statement resonating with the reader and ultimately being successful in achieving your goals.

3 Example essays on Diversity and Inclusion

The importance of diversity workforce, introduction.

Workforce diversity is a critical aspect of modern-day organizations. It involves hiring individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities, genders, and ages. The concept of workforce diversity is gaining prominence as organizations are increasingly recognizing the benefits of having a diverse workforce. In this essay, we will explore the importance of workforce diversity, the challenges associated with it, and the benefits it offers.

Encourages Innovation and Creativity

Diversity brings together a wide range of perspectives and ideas that can help drive innovation and creativity. When people from diverse backgrounds come together, they can offer different viewpoints and ideas, leading to new solutions to problems.

Enhances Employee Engagement and Retention

Employees who feel included and valued are more engaged and motivated, leading to higher retention rates. When employees feel they belong and are appreciated, they are more likely to stay with the organization, reducing turnover costs.

Increases Global Competitiveness

Diversity in the workforce is crucial for organizations looking to expand globally. Organizations with a diverse workforce are better equipped to understand and navigate the cultural nuances of different countries and regions, making them more competitive in the global marketplace.

Promotes a Positive Image

Organizations that embrace diversity are viewed positively by the public, customers, and employees. A diverse workforce demonstrates that the organization values and respects individuals from all backgrounds, contributing to a positive brand image.

Resistance to Change

Implementing diversity initiatives can be met with resistance, particularly from those who believe that the traditional way of doing things is the best. It is essential to educate and raise awareness about the benefits of diversity to overcome this challenge.

Communication Barriers

When individuals from different backgrounds come together, there may be communication barriers due to language or cultural differences. It is essential to provide training and resources to overcome these barriers and foster effective communication.

Stereotyping and Bias

Stereotyping and bias can negatively impact diversity initiatives. It is essential to establish a culture of inclusivity and respect, where individuals feel valued and appreciated for their unique contributions.

Improved Decision-Making

A diverse workforce can provide a range of perspectives, leading to better decision-making. When individuals with different backgrounds come together, they can offer different viewpoints, leading to a more comprehensive and well-rounded decision-making process.

Increased Creativity and Innovation

Diversity can lead to new ideas and perspectives that can drive innovation and creativity. A diverse workforce can bring together different viewpoints and experiences, leading to new solutions to problems.

Enhanced Reputation

Improved Employee Engagement and Retention

When employees feel included and valued, they are more engaged and motivated, leading to higher retention rates. A diverse workforce can help create a sense of belonging, leading to improved employee engagement and retention.

Workforce diversity is crucial for modern-day organizations. It can lead to improved decision-making, increased creativity and innovation, and enhanced reputation. However, diversity initiatives can be met with resistance, communication barriers, stereotyping, and bias. It is essential to establish a culture of inclusivity and respect, where individuals feel valued and appreciated for their unique contributions. By embracing diversity, organizations can create a more productive, engaged, and innovative workforce.

2. The challenges of diversity in different institutions

Diversity is a term that describes the differences among people, whether they are cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic, gender, or sexual orientation differences. While diversity is often celebrated, it can also pose challenges, especially in institutions such as schools, workplaces, and governments. This essay will explore the challenges of diversity in different institutions and how they can be addressed.

Challenges of Diversity in Schools

Schools are meant to be places where students can learn and grow, but diversity can sometimes be a challenge. Students who come from different backgrounds may face discrimination and exclusion from their peers, which can affect their ability to learn and thrive.

Teachers may also struggle to provide a curriculum that is inclusive of all students experiences and perspectives. Addressing these challenges requires a commitment to creating an inclusive environment where all students feel valued and respected.

Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace

Workplaces are becoming increasingly diverse, but this diversity can pose challenges. Employees from different cultural backgrounds may struggle to communicate effectively or may feel excluded from the workplace culture. Discrimination and bias can also be a problem, as can the assumption that everyone shares the same experiences and perspectives. To address these challenges, employers need to be proactive in creating a workplace culture that values diversity and promotes inclusivity. This can involve training and education for employees, as well as policies and procedures that support diversity and inclusion.

Challenges of Diversity in Government

Governments are responsible for serving diverse populations, but this can be a challenge. Members of different cultural and linguistic groups may have different needs and expectations from their government, and some groups may face discrimination or exclusion. 

To address these challenges, governments need to be proactive in engaging with diverse communities and ensuring that their policies and programs are inclusive. This can involve outreach and consultation with community groups, as well as the development of policies that reflect the needs and perspectives of diverse communities.

Ways to Address the Challenges of Diversity

Addressing the challenges of diversity requires a commitment to creating inclusive environments where all individuals feel valued and respected. This can involve several strategies, including education and training, policies and procedures, and community engagement.

Education and training can help individuals better understand the experiences and perspectives of those from different backgrounds. This can involve training programs for employees or professional development opportunities for teachers. It can also involve curriculum changes in schools that better reflect the experiences and perspectives of diverse students.

Policies and procedures can also play a role in promoting diversity and inclusion. This can involve policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace or schools. It can also involve policies that promote diversity in hiring or that ensure that government programs and services are inclusive of all members of the community.

Community engagement is also an important strategy for promoting diversity and inclusion. This can involve outreach to community groups and the development of partnerships with organizations that serve diverse communities. It can also involve the creation of advisory committees or other mechanisms for engaging with diverse populations.

In conclusion, diversity is an important aspect of our society, but it can also pose challenges in different institutions. Schools, workplaces, and governments need to be proactive in creating inclusive environments where all individuals feel valued and respected. This requires a commitment to education and training, policies and procedures that promote diversity and inclusion, and community engagement. By addressing the challenges of diversity, we can create a more equitable and inclusive society for all.

3. Ideas on how to Reduce Discrimination in Society

Racial discrimination is a pervasive issue that has plagued society for centuries. It is a problem that continues to affect individuals and communities around the world. Discrimination is an act that denies individuals equal rights, opportunities, and treatment based on their race or ethnicity. The impacts of racism are far-reaching, and it affects individuals' economic, social, and emotional well-being. Therefore, there is a need for collective efforts to reduce racial discrimination and promote social justice. This essay discusses some of the best ways to reduce racial discrimination in society.

Education and Awareness

Education is a powerful tool that can help reduce racial discrimination. Education is essential in teaching individuals about diversity, equity, and inclusion. When people understand the impact of racism, they are more likely to become allies and advocates for change. Education can take many forms, such as books, documentaries, and workshops. 

Institutions can also incorporate cultural competency training into their curriculum to educate students and faculty members about the impact of discrimination. It is essential to recognize the different forms of discrimination, including implicit bias, microaggressions, and institutional racism, to address them appropriately.

Political Action

Political action is another way to reduce racial discrimination in society. Leaders at the local, state, and federal levels can enact policies that promote equality and diversity. Policies such as affirmative action and diversity initiatives can promote inclusion in the workforce and educational institutions. 

Politicians can also pass laws that make racial discrimination illegal and provide support to victims of discrimination. It is essential to recognize that racism is a systemic issue that requires political action to address.

Community Engagement

Community engagement is an important way to reduce racial discrimination. Building strong communities that are inclusive and diverse can help reduce racism. Communities can engage in activities that promote diversity, such as cultural festivals, food fairs, and art exhibits. 

These events can help build bridges between different communities and promote understanding. Community members can also engage in conversations about racism and work together to address it. This can create a sense of belonging and unity that can help reduce discrimination.

Diversity in Institutions

Institutions play a significant role in reducing racial discrimination. Institutions such as schools, businesses, and government agencies can promote diversity by recruiting and retaining individuals from diverse backgrounds. A diverse workforce or student body can help reduce discrimination by promoting inclusion and understanding. 

Institutions can also create policies that promote equality and diversity, such as flexible work arrangements, diversity training, and bias reporting systems. It is important to ensure that institutions are representative of the communities they serve to reduce discrimination.

In conclusion, reducing racial discrimination requires a collective effort from individuals, institutions, and political leaders. Education and awareness, political action, community engagement, and diversity in institutions are all effective ways to address discrimination. It is important to recognize that reducing discrimination is a long-term effort that requires commitment and perseverance. By working together, we can create a more inclusive and equitable society that values diversity and promotes social justice.

Final Words

In conclusion, embracing diversity and inclusion is crucial for creating a more equitable and harmonious society. Whether it's through recognizing and celebrating racial diversity and cultural diversity, fostering a sense of belonging for all individuals, or actively working to combat discrimination and prejudice, we must prioritize these values in all aspects of our lives. By championing diversity and inclusion, we can cultivate a richer, more vibrant world that values the unique perspectives and experiences of all people. By embracing diversity and inclusion, we can build a better future for ourselves and for generations to come.

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Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Education Essay

Introduction, perspectives on equality and inclusive education, inequality concerns in education, strategies to avoid inequality and promote equality and diversity.

Issues of equality in learning cut across the entire social divide. They involve concerns on how factors like poverty, social status, gender, individual liberty, democracy, ethnicity and race contribute to inequality in education. Diversity exists because people share some common attributes and differences that make them a unique group. People belong to different cultures, languages, and religions. Learners, teachers and other professionals involved in the provision of education need to be aware on how these factors affect inclusive learning. When there is diversity among learners and those facilitating the learning process, people are able to learn about themselves and the value of appreciating cross cultural differences among them. Inclusive learning is one way to encourage diversity. This paper briefs on the various issues on equality in learning and then provides some strategies than can used in order to promote inclusive learning and equality.

Roemer (1) explains that there two views of equality of opportunity today. The first one call on the nondiscrimination principle, this principle states that in the competition for positions in the society, individuals should be judged by attributes that are related to performance whereas personal attributes like race or sex should not be important considerations. The second view supports and encourages the society to ensure a level playing ground for all people so that everyone can benefit from the existing opportunities. Therefore those inequalities exist in education because the society has not been able to apply these principles in a manner that makes learning environments accommodative to learners who share different cross cultural heritage. Roemer (1)

Inclusive education has many facets, generally it is meant to provide all learners with equitable opportunities to enable them receive effective educational services. This also includes learners who have various disabilities. Inclusive learning in part involves providing the necessary teaching and learning aids together with offering support services that are helpful in preparing the learners to be full productive members of the society. Daniels and Garner (2).The major goal of inclusive learning is to value the diversity of the human community and also ensure that there is equity in the provision of education to all groups of people, such that not a single will be underrepresented in any way.

Inequality in education has had one major impact which is limiting access to and attainment of the same educational standard by a particular group of people because of the social status and class.

Educational inequalities between people from different social classes have been both a political and social concern for a long time. For example there was great focus on educational inequalities in Great Britain before the start of the Second World War. This continued to 1960s and 1970s.It was observed that these inequalities were between the sexes and also between the majority and minority racial groups. Foster, Gomm, and Hammersly (3)

In the United States, great differences exist in the ability of different states to finance educational programs adequately. It has also been established that educational opportunities and attainment continue to differ by social class, states, regions, and between urban and rural communities as well. Newton (4). When governments are unable to provide enough finances for educational projects fairly through out the country, then there will be various inequalities which will be noted within the education system.

Another important factor that contributes to inequality in education is poverty and the level of income which varies greatly within families. It is known that well off families are able to afford what is perceived by the many to be quality education for their children compared to poor families which have to send their children to low cost public schools. Poverty extends to include exclusion of advantages in housing and health as well.

The physical condition of the learners also continues to feature prominently on the equality debate. These physical factors relate to the learner’s ability to hear, see, or other forms of physical disability that some people constantly perceive to limit the learners’ ability to learn in a normal learning environment.

Proponents of inclusive education argue that it’s possible to integrate learners with various forms of physical disabilities in normal learning institutions as it is an important way to reduce stigmatization and segregation of disabled learners. They also continue to base their argument on lack of strong evidence that could support the widely held notion that specific categories of students learn differently. Those opposing inclusive education strongly advocate for the creation of special learning facilities for people with various disabilities.

Gender and patriarchy are also known to have a great influence in perpetuating the existence of educational inequality. This can be best seen in many African countries where education of the male children is held with high importance than that of the female children. Owing to this, women for a long time have had poor access to educational opportunities. Gender equity in Africa has been an area of focus by civil rights organizations and non governmental organizations for last two decades. Nafziger (5) notes that since colonial days in African states, education has been an important vehicle for upward social mobility.

He explains that the educated were able to occupy administrative positions in the government bureaucracies of the time and this enabled them to use education to transmit class status to their children. This group consisted of mainly men, the reproduction of the class system through education therefore led to a situation where men had higher educational attainment compared to women.

Democracy and racism are linked to equality in terms of human rights and societal development. Many immigrant groups were segregated and denied educational opportunities until the abolition of Jim Crow rules which led to equal opportunities for both the dominant white population and the minorities’. Countries undergoing civil wars and other forms of internal conflicts have poor records of good governance.under such circumstances, the ruling class has often violated the rights of the ordinary people. This consequently leads to the widespread inequalities that are seen when such countries are compared to those which have peace and democratic leadership.

A commitment to addressing the challenge of ensuring equal opportunity as well as non discrimination is important in ensuring that inclusive education becomes a practical reality. Towards this end, it would involve actions that are based on proper needs identification. These needs for example could be those of learners with some disability, those of learners who do not speak the dominant teaching language or learners who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who often encounter difficulties in their learning.

An excellent example for this is offering scholarships to international students and work-study programs for needy students which would enable them to meet their living costs especially in higher learning institutions. This is one way of encouraging equality and diversity. Needs assessment also relates to building the competence of new teachers who have little exposure to multicultural learning environments. This would for example involve encouraging such teachers to bilingual bearing in mind the context of the situation.

Planning for multicultural classrooms should take note of the staffing needs to ensure that the teaching and support staff are sensitive to the cultural diversity in the school. This is important in making every learner to feel that they belong together. The staff should interact more with learners who appear withdrawn and hardly noticeable in the school. Designing of the school curriculum should take into consideration the concerns of minority groups and ensure that their issues are addressed within the taught curriculum. A common mistake made by tutors in multicultural classrooms is ignoring, disapproving or showing open sarcasm to the customs of and traditions of learners with whom they have little ties in terms of cultural heritage. Gill, Mayor, and Blair (6).

Facilitating cultural exchange initiatives among the learners can also play an important role in integrating the diverse groups of learners into a cohesive unit.

Educational planners should facilitate and evaluate the professional development of staffs in multicultural learning centers. Planners should also evaluate educational policies both at the national and local level levels to ensure that discriminative policies are not enforced. This would is important in sustaining gains made should old staff members move out.Assessing whether there are conflicting issues among members of the school is important as it is possible to address them before they escalate to heightened levels. Performance evaluation among staff and earners as well should be based on the ability and not on individual attributes like color, race and ethnicity.

Inequalities in education disadvantage groups of people from access and attainment of education similar to others due to social status. The answer to educational inequalities lies in upholding the principle of nondiscrimination and ensuring a level playing field in order for all people to enjoy equitable opportunities.

• Roemer, J E. Equality of opportunity. U.S.A. Harvard university press; 1998.
• Daniels H, Garner P. Inclusive education: supporting inclusion in education systems. London.Routledge; 2000.
• Foster, P, Gomm, R, Hammersley, M. Constructing educational inequality: An assessment of research on school
• Newton, E. Problems of equality of opportunity in education.Jstor: review of educational research, vol.16, No.1 (1946) pp 46-49.Cited 2010.
• Nafziger, E W. Inequality in Africa: political elites, proletariat, peasants, and the poor. Cambridge.CUP Archive; 1988.
• Gill, D, Mayor, M.B, Blair, M. Racism and education: structures and strategies. London. Sage Publications;2002.
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, December 9). Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Education. https://ivypanda.com/essays/equality-diversity-and-inclusive-education/

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Bibliography

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• Inclusive Education and the Cultural Representation of Disability
• Educational Conceptions: Inclusive Education
• The Role of Inclusive Leadership Strategy in Diverse Workplaces
• Philosophy of Special Educational
• Contemporary Issue in Special Education Curriculum
• Exceptional Children with Special Abilities
• “Deaf Children’s Understanding”, “Research on Bi-Bi Instruction”, and “Research on Bi-Bi Instruction” Analysis
• Learning Disabilities and Communication Disorders

College Essays about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In recent years, many colleges and universities have expanded their supplemental college essay prompts to include topics about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This shift has increased dramatically in the past year, so read on to learn more about some of these prompts and how to prepare for your essays effectively and authentically.

What is the purpose of the DEI essay?

The increase in DEI essays shows that colleges want to know about students’ values and social awareness more than ever. They are looking for applicants who have bettered their communities in some way and who will bring those same contributions to their campus. Not only that, but they want to know about your personal identity; who are you and where do you come from? How do your values fit with their philosophy and how will you contribute to positive change on campus?

Giving students an additional space to discuss their identity and engagement gives admissions officers a more complete picture of an applicant. It also gives students more room to showcase various aspects of themselves without being limited to the personal statement or supplements that have a different focus. However, that is not to say you can’t talk about DEI in a non-DEI prompt! Just be mindful of whether a school has a dedicated space for this information so you’re not repeating the same content in multiple essays.

What questions might I be asked to answer?

DEI essays vary widely in scope and may cover topics such as social activism, identity, and cultural awareness. Some of the newly added prompts include: 

Brown : Brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. This active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. Tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond?

Emory : Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.

Lehigh : What would you want to be different in your own country or community to respond to issues of inequality, inequity, or injustice?

Princeton : At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? AND Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.

Richmond : Please share one idea for actions or policies that you think would begin to address an issue of racial or social injustice.

St. Olaf : We have a goal to create a community of students from diverse backgrounds with unique ideas, identities, and perspectives. Reflect on an experience that made you reconsider the way you see the world. How did you engage with new and challenging ideas?

Tufts : Where are you on your journey of engaging with or fighting for social justice?

Tulane : Tulane values the lessons gained from pursuing an education alongside a student body that represents a wide range of experiences and perspectives and is reflective of our multicultural world. If you would like to share a perspective related to your family, cultural group, sexual or gender identity, religious group, or some other aspect that has shaped your identity, please do so here.

UNC : Describe an aspect of your identity (for example, your religion, culture, race, sexual or gender identity, affinity group, etc.). How has this aspect of your identity shaped your life experiences thus far? AND/OR If you could change one thing to better your community, what would it be? Why is it important and how would you contribute to this change?

(not a new prompt, but) Duke : Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better–perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background–we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke.

How can I prepare to write a DEI essay?

As mentioned earlier, DEI prompts are a way for admissions officers to learn more about students’ identities, values, and engagement in their communities. So, the first step in writing a DEI essay is to reflect on who you are. There may be clear markers of your diverse background, such as race or gender identity, but remember there are many more traits that make you unique. Do you speak another language? What is your family or personal history? What is your community like? How have your life experiences expanded your awareness? And most importantly, how do all of these characteristics impact who you are and how you see the world? And, don’t feel pressured to write about the most obvious “diverse” trait you have. Write about what is most important to you . 

Once you reflect on what defines your identity, think about your values. What issues are you passionate about and how will you address them? How does your identity impact your positionality in relation to these issues? It’s nice to talk about what you value, but it’s much more significant to show how you have put those values into practice, so consider what you can do to get involved in your community. Community engagement comes in many forms, from volunteering to fundraising to promoting awareness, so choose what you love and thrive doing. At the same time, push yourself to get out of your comfort zone, especially considering that some DEI prompts specifically ask about how you have challenged and exposed yourself to new perspectives. 

Many students shy away from including their community engagement experience on their college applications, thinking it could hurt their admissions chances. What if the person reading my application does not agree with what I did?  

If a school is directly asking about your values through a DEI essay, you should have nothing to worry about. But whether or not this is the case, it is important to be authentic in your application. As long as you did not engage in any irresponsible activities, you should not be penalized for participating in advocacy, no matter what kind. Admissions officers should put their personal biases aside when evaluating applications, but if it were the case that your actions negatively impacted your admission, then it is worth asking yourself: If this school does not agree with my values, is it really the right fit for me anyway?

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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace

A majority of u.s. workers say focusing on dei at work is a good thing, but relatively small shares place great importance on diversity in their own workplace, table of contents.

• The value of DEI efforts at work
• The importance of a diverse workforce
• DEI measures and their impact
• How gender, race and ethnicity impact success in the workplace
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand how adults in the United States think about diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the workplace. This analysis is based on survey responses from 4,744 U.S. adults who are working part time or full time, are not self-employed, have only one job or have multiple jobs but consider one their primary job, and whose company or organization has 10 or more people. The data was collected as part of a larger survey of workers conducted Feb. 6-12, 2023. Everyone who took part is a member of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Read more about the questions used for this report and the report’s methodology .

References to workers or employed adults include those who are employed part time or full time, are not self-employed, have only one job or have multiple jobs but consider one their primary job, and whose company or organization has 10 or more people.

References to White, Black and Asian adults include those who are not Hispanic and identify as only one race. Hispanics are of any race.

References to college graduates or people with a college degree comprise those with a bachelor’s degree or more. “Some college” includes those with an associate degree and those who attended college but did not obtain a degree.

References to disabled workers include those who say a disability or handicap keeps them from fully participating in work, school, housework or other activities.

All references to party affiliation include those who lean toward that party. Republicans include those who identify as Republicans and those who say they lean toward the Republican Party. Democrats include those who identify as Democrats and those who say they lean toward the Democratic Party.

Workplace diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, or DEI, are increasingly becoming part of national political debates . For a majority of employed U.S. adults (56%), focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. But opinions about DEI vary considerably along demographic and political lines.

Most workers have some experience with DEI measures at their workplace. About six-in-ten (61%) say their company or organization has policies that ensure fairness in hiring, pay or promotions, and 52% say they have trainings or meetings on DEI at work. Smaller shares say their workplace has a staff member who promotes DEI (33%), that their workplace offers salary transparency (30%), and that it has affinity groups or employee resource groups based on a shared identity (26%). Majorities of those who have access to these measures say each has had a positive impact where they work.

Related : How Americans View Their Jobs

This nationally representative survey of 5,902 U.S. workers, including 4,744 who are not self-employed, was conducted Feb. 6-12, 2023, using the Center’s American Trends Panel . 1 The survey comes at a time when DEI efforts are facing some backlash and many major companies are laying off their DEI professionals .

Some key findings from the survey:

• Relatively small shares of workers place a lot of importance on diversity at their workplace. About three-in-ten say it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere with a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities (32%) or ages (28%). Roughly a quarter say the same about having a workplace with about an equal mix of men and women (26%) and 18% say this about a mix of employees of different sexual orientations.
• More than half of workers (54%) say their company or organization pays about the right amount of attention to increasing DEI. Smaller shares say their company or organization pays too much (14%) or too little attention (15%), and 17% say they’re not sure. Black workers are more likely than those in other racial and ethnic groups to say their employer pays too little attention to increasing DEI. They’re also among the most likely to say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing (78% of Black workers say this), while White workers are the least likely to express this view (47%).
• Women are more likely than men to value DEI at work. About six-in-ten women (61%) say focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing, compared with half of men. And larger shares of women than men say it’s extremely or very important to them to work at a place that is diverse when it comes to gender, race and ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation.
• There are wide partisan differences in views of workplace DEI. Most Democratic and Democratic-leaning workers (78%) say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing, compared with 30% of Republicans and Republican leaners. Democrats are also far more likely than Republicans to value different aspects of diversity. And by wide margins, higher shares of Democrats than Republicans say the policies and resources related to DEI available at their workplace have had a positive impact.
• Half of workers say it’s extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that is accessible for people with physical disabilities. About three-in-ten workers (29%) say this is somewhat important to them, and 21% say it’s not too or not at all important. A majority of workers (76% among those who do not work fully remotely) say their workplace is at least somewhat accessible for people with physical disabilities.
• Many say being a man or being White is an advantage where they work. The survey asked respondents whether a person’s gender, race or ethnicity makes it easier or harder to be successful where they work. Shares ranging from 45% to 57% say these traits make it neither easier nor harder. But far more say being a man and being White makes it easier than say it makes it harder for someone to be successful. Conversely, by double-digit margins, more say being a woman, being Black or being Hispanic makes it harder than say it makes it easier to be successful where they work.

A majority of workers (56%) say focusing on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion at work is mainly a good thing; 28% say it is neither good nor bad, and 16% say it is a bad thing. Views on this vary along key demographic and partisan lines.

Half or more of both men and women say focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing, but women are more likely than men to offer this view (61% vs. 50%). In turn, men are more than twice as likely as women to say it is a bad thing (23% vs. 9%).

About two-thirds or more of Black (78%), Asian (72%) and Hispanic (65%) workers say that focusing on DEI at work is a good thing. Among White workers, however, fewer than half (47%) say it’s a good thing; in fact, 21% say it’s a bad thing. But there are wide partisan, gender and age gaps among White workers, with majorities of White Democrats, women and those under age 30 saying focusing on DEI at work is a good thing.

Workers under 30 are the most likely age group to say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing. About two-thirds (68%) of workers ages 18 to 29 say this, compared with 56% of workers 30 to 49, 46% of those 50 to 64, and 52% of those 65 and older.

Views also differ by educational attainment, with 68% of workers with a postgraduate degree saying focusing on DEI at work is a good thing, compared with 59% of those with a bachelor’s degree only and 50% of those with some college or less education.

Democratic and Democratic-leaning workers are much more likely to say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing (78%) than to say it is a bad thing (4%) or that it is neither good nor bad (18%). Views among Republican and Republican-leaning workers are more mixed: Some 30% say focusing on DEI at work is a good thing, while the same share (30%) say it’s a bad thing, and 39% say it’s neither good nor bad.

A majority of workers say their employer pays the right amount of attention to DEI

When it comes to the focus of their own employer, 54% of workers say their company or organization pays about the right amount of attention to increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. The remainder are divided between saying their employer pays too much (14%) or too little attention (15%), or that they’re not sure (17%).

Women are more likely than men to say their employer pays too little attention to increasing DEI (17% vs. 12%). In turn, men are more likely than women to say too much attention is paid to this where they work (18% vs. 10%).

Black workers (28%) are the most likely to say their company or organization pays too little attention to increasing DEI, compared with smaller shares of White (11%), Hispanic (19%) and Asian (17%) workers who say the same.

Views on this question also differ by party. While half or more of both Republican and Democratic workers say their company or organization pays the right amount of attention to DEI, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say their employer pays too little attention to it (21% vs. 7%). In turn, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say their employer pays too much attention to DEI (24% vs. 6%).

While a majority of workers say focusing on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion at work is a good thing, relatively small shares place great importance on working at a place that is diverse when it comes to gender, race and ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. About three-in-ten workers say it’s extremely or very important to them to work somewhere with a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities (32%) and ages (28%), while 26% say the same about having about an equal mix of men and women. And 18% say this about having a mix of employees of different sexual orientations at their workplace.

Women are more likely than men to say it’s extremely or very important to them to work at a place that is diverse across all measures asked about in the survey. For example, there are 11 percentage point differences in the shares of women compared with men saying it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that has a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities (37% vs. 26%) and about an equal mix of men and women (31% vs. 20%).

Black workers are among the most likely to value racial, ethnic and age diversity in the workplace. Some 53% of Black workers say it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere with a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities, compared with 39% of Hispanic workers and 25% of White workers who say the same; 43% of Asian workers say this is important to them. (There is no statistically significant difference between the share of Asian workers and the shares of Black and Hispanic workers who hold this view.) And while 42% of Black workers highly value working somewhere with a mix of employees of different ages, smaller shares of Hispanic (33%), Asian (30%) and White (24%) workers say the same.

When it comes to diversity of sexual orientation, 28% of Black workers and 22% of Hispanic workers say it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that is diverse in this way; 15% each among White and Asian workers say the same.

Workers under age 50 are more likely than those 50 and older to say racial and ethnic diversity in their workplace is extremely or very important to them (35% vs. 26%). Workers younger than 50 are also more likely to say having about an equal mix of men and women is important to them, with workers ages 18 t0 29 the most likely to say this (34% vs. 26% of workers 30 to 49, and 20% each among those 50 to 64 and 65 and older).

There are also differences by educational attainment, with larger shares of workers with a postgraduate degree than those with less education saying it’s extremely or very important to them that their workplace is diverse across all measures asked about in the survey. For example, 44% of workers with a postgraduate degree say having a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities is extremely or very important to them, compared with 34% of those with a bachelor’s degree only and 27% of those with some college or less.

Democratic workers are much more likely than Republican workers to say working somewhere that is diverse when it comes to gender, race and ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation is extremely or very important to them. In fact, about half of Democrats (49%) place great importance on having a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities where they work, compared with 13% of Republicans. And there are differences of at least 20 points between the shares of Democrats and Republicans saying it’s extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that has about an equal mix of men and women (39% of Democrats say this vs. 12% of Republicans) and a mix of employees of different ages (39% vs. 17%) and sexual orientations (27% vs. 7%).

Overall, a majority of workers say their workplace has a mix of employees of different ages (58% say this describes their current workplace extremely or very well). Smaller shares say their workplace has about an equal mix of men and women (38%) and a mix of employees of different races and ethnicities (46%) and sexual orientations (28%). These assessments do not vary much across demographic groups.

Half of workers place great importance on working at a place that is accessible for people with physical disabilities

Half of workers say it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that is accessible for people with physical disabilities; 29% say it is somewhat important and 21% say it is not too or not at all important to them.

Highly valuing an accessible workplace varies by gender, race and ethnicity, and party, but there is no significant difference in responses between those who do and don’t report having a disability.

About six-in-ten women (58%) say it is extremely or very important to them that their workplace is accessible, compared with 41% of men.

Black workers are more likely than workers of other racial and ethnic groups to place great importance on their workplace being accessible: 62% of Black workers say this is extremely or very important, compared with 51% of Hispanic, 48% of White and 43% of Asian workers.

A majority of Democrats (59%) say it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that is accessible for people with physical disabilities; 40% of Republican say the same. Some 27% of Republicans say this is not too or not at all important to them, compared with 15% of Democrats.

There is no statistically significant difference in the shares of workers who have a disability and those who do not saying it is extremely or very important to them to work somewhere that is accessible for people with physical disabilities. But workers who do not have a disability are more likely than those who do to say this is not too or not at all important to them (21% vs. 15%).

Among those who don’t work fully remotely, about three-quarters of workers (76%) say their workplace is at least somewhat accessible for people with physical disabilities, with 51% saying it is extremely or very accessible. Some 17% say their workplace is not too or not at all accessible, and 8% are not sure.

When asked whether the company or organization they work for has a series of measures that are typically associated with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, a majority of workers say their employer has policies that ensure everyone is treated fairly in hiring, pay or promotions (61%), and 52% say there are trainings or meetings on DEI where they work.

Smaller shares say their workplace has a staff member whose main job is to promote DEI at work (33%), a way for employees to see the salary range for all positions (30%), and groups created by employees sometimes known as affinity groups or employee resource groups (ERGs) based on shared identities such as gender, race or being a parent (26%).

Responses do not vary much by most demographic characteristics. However, workers with at least a bachelor’s degree are consistently more likely than those with less education to say each of these five measures is available where they work.

Workers tend to see positive impact from policies and resources associated with DEI where they work

Among those whose workplace offers each policy or resource, a majority of workers say each measure has had a somewhat or very positive impact where they work. About a third or fewer workers say each resource has had neither a positive nor negative impact, and about one-in-ten or fewer say each of these has had a somewhat or very negative impact.

Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to say their workplace has these measures in place, but Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the impact of each has been positive by margins ranging from 10 to 32 points (among those who say their workplace has these measures). For example, 66% of Democrats who say their workplace has a way for employees to see the salary range for all positions say this has had a somewhat or very positive impact, compared with 56% of Republicans who say this. And while about three-quarters of Democrats (74%) say having a staff member whose main job is to promote DEI at work has had a positive impact, fewer than half of Republicans (42%) say the same.

Women are more likely than men to say each of these policies and resources has had a very or somewhat positive impact where they work. This is mainly driven by gender differences among Republicans: There are double-digit differences in the shares of Republican women and Republican men who say many of these resources have had a positive impact. For example, 58% of Republican women say having a staff member whose main job is to promote DEI at work has had at least a somewhat positive impact where they work, compared with 31% of Republican men who hold this view. The same share of Republican women (58%) say having affinity groups or ERGs has had a positive impact, compared with 38% of Republican men who say the same.

Among Democrats, majorities of both men and women offer positive assessments of these resources in their workplace, but Democratic women are more likely than Democratic men to say having trainings or meetings on DEI at work have had a positive impact (72% vs. 65%).

While there are differences by race, ethnicity and age on overall attitudes about DEI in the workplace, there are no consistent differences along these dimensions in how workers with access to these policies and resources at their workplace assess their impact.

About half of workers who have participated in DEI trainings in the last year say they’ve been helpful

Out of all workers, about four-in-ten (38%) have participated in a DEI training in the last year. A similar share (40%) did not participate or say their workplace does not offer these trainings, and 21% are not sure if their employer offers these trainings.

Looking only at those whose company or organization has trainings or meetings on DEI, about three-quarters (73%) say they have participated in such trainings in the past year. And assessments of these trainings tend to be positive, with 53% of workers who’ve participated saying they were very or somewhat helpful. About a third (34%) give a more neutral assessment, saying the trainings were neither helpful nor unhelpful, and 13% say they were very or somewhat unhelpful.

While men and women are about equally likely to have participated in trainings on DEI in the past year, women are more likely than men to say the trainings have been at least somewhat helpful (60% vs. 46%).

Republicans and Democrats are also equally likely to say they’ve participated in these trainings in the past year, but Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to say the trainings have been helpful (66% vs. 36%). About one-in-five Republicans say they’ve been unhelpful (19%), compared with 9% of Democrats.

While both Democratic men and women offer similar assessments of the DEI trainings they’ve participated in, there are gender differences among Republican workers. Republican women are more likely than Republican men to say the trainings they’ve participated in have been helpful (47% vs. 28%). Conversely, 22% of Republican men, compared with 14% of Republican women, say the trainings have been unhelpful.

Few workers are members of affinity groups or ERGs at work

While 26% of workers say there are affinity groups or employee resource groups (ERGs) where they work, members of these groups account for a very small share of workers overall. Just 6% of workers say they are members of an affinity group or ERG, with 58% of workers saying these groups are either not available at their workplace or that they aren’t a member. Another 37% say they are not sure if their workplace offers these groups.

Among workers who say there are affinity groups or ERGs at their workplace, 22% say they are personally a member. Women are more likely than men to be members of these groups (28% vs. 16%). And 28% of non-White workers say they are a member of an affinity group or ERG, compared with 18% of White workers. 2

When asked about the impact a person’s gender, race or ethnicity has on their ability to succeed at work, workers tend to say these characteristics neither make it easier nor harder to be successful at their workplace.

Still, when it comes to gender, workers are more likely to say being a man makes it easier to be successful where they work than to say it makes it harder (36% vs. 6%). In contrast, a larger share says being a woman makes it harder to be successful than say it makes it easier (28% vs. 11%).

Men and women have different views on the impact gender has on a person’s ability to succeed where they work. Some 44% of women say being a man makes it at least a little easier to be successful, including 24% who say it makes it a lot easier. This compares with 29% of men who say being a man makes it at least a little easier to be successful.

Similarly, 34% of women say being a woman makes it harder to be successful where they work, compared with 21% of men.

Women under age 50 are especially likely – more so than women ages 50 and older or men in either age group – to say being a man makes it easier to be successful where they work and that being a woman makes it harder. For example, 38% of women ages 18 to 49 say being a woman makes it harder to be successful where they work. This compares with 29% of women 50 and older, 25% of men younger than 50, and an even smaller share of men 50 and older (13%).

When it comes to views about how race or ethnicity affects people’s ability to succeed at work, 51% of Black workers say being Black makes it harder to be successful where they work. This is significantly higher than the shares of Asian (41%), Hispanic (23%) and White (18%) workers who say the same about the impact of being Black.

Similarly, about four-in-ten Asian workers (39%) say being Asian makes it harder to be successful in their workplace, a higher share than workers of other racial and ethnic groups who say the same about being Asian.

Hispanic, Black and Asian workers are about equally likely to say being Hispanic makes it harder to be successful where they work. A smaller share of White workers say the same about being Hispanic.

When asked about the impact of being White in their workplace, workers across racial and ethnic groups are more likely to say it makes it easier than to say it makes it harder to be successful. This is especially the case among Black and Asian workers. About half of Black (52%) and Asian (51%) workers say being White makes it easier to be successful where they work, compared with 37% of Hispanic and 24% of White workers who say the same about being White.

Previously released findings from this survey found that Black workers are more likely than White, Hispanic and Asian workers to report that they have experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotions because of their race or ethnicity at some point in their careers (though not necessarily where they currently work). Women are also more likely than men to say they’ve experienced such discrimination because of their gender.

There are large partisan gaps in views of whether gender, race or ethnicity make it easier or harder to be successful at work. Some 47% of Democratic workers say being a man makes it at least somewhat easier to be successful at their workplace, compared with 25% of Republican workers. Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to say being a woman makes it harder to succeed (37% vs. 17%).

Democratic and Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts to say being a woman makes it harder – and being a man makes it easier – to be successful where they work. The differences between Republican women and Republican men are particularly striking. About a quarter of Republican women (26%) say being a woman makes it harder to be successful, compared with 10% of Republican men. And while 36% of Republican women say being a man makes it easier to be successful where they work, just 16% of Republican men say the same.

Democratic workers are more than three times as likely as Republican workers to say being White makes it easier to succeed where they work (48% vs. 13%), and they are also more likely than Republicans to say being Black, Hispanic or Asian makes it harder. About four-in-ten Democrats (39%) say being Black makes it harder for someone to succeed at their workplace, compared with just 9% of Republicans. Similarly, 30% of Democrats say being Hispanic makes it harder to succeed, compared with 8% of Republicans. And while smaller shares in both parties say being Asian makes it harder to succeed, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say this (16% vs. 6%). These partisan differences remain when looking only at Democrats and Republicans who are White.

• For details, see the  Methodology  section of the report. The analysis in this report is based on U.S. workers who are employed full time or part time, who are not self-employed, and who have only one job or have multiple jobs but consider one their primary job (99% of workers who are not self-employed have one job or a primary job). Additionally, the analysis is restricted to workers at companies or organizations with at least 10 employees as certain federal requirements such as non-discrimination mandates apply to larger workplaces. ↩
• Non-White adults include Black, Hispanic, Asian and other races besides White, as well as people who identify as more than one race. The sample sizes among Black, Hispanic and Asian workers who have affinity groups or ERGs at work are too small to analyze separately. ↩

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Improving equity, diversity, and inclusion in academia

Omar dewidar.

1 Bruyere Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada

Nour Elmestekawy

2 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada

Vivian Welch

3 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Canada

Associated Data

No data was reported in this article.

There are growing bodies of evidence demonstrating the benefits of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) on academic and organizational excellence. In turn, some editors have stated their desire to improve the EDI of their journals and of the wider scientific community. The Royal Society of Chemistry established a minimum set of requirements aimed at improving EDI in scholarly publishing. Additionally, several resources were reported to have the potential to improve EDI, but their effectiveness and feasibility are yet to be determined. In this commentary we suggest six approaches, based on the Royal Society of Chemistry set of requirements, that journals could implement to improve EDI. They are: (1) adopt a journal EDI statement with clear, actionable steps to achieve it; (2) promote the use of inclusive and bias-free language; (3) appoint a journal’s EDI director or lead; (4) establish a EDI mentoring approach; (5) monitor adherence to EDI principles; and (6) publish reports on EDI actions and achievements. We also provide examples of journals that have implemented some of these strategies, and discuss the roles of peer reviewers, authors, researchers, academic institutes, and funders in improving EDI.

Editors, reviewers, researchers, funders, and academic institutions collectively act as gatekeepers of our disciplines. Their unique positions enable ethical publication practices and the setting of rigorous research standards. Frequently, these stakeholders are tasked with making critical judgements that can help progress our fields. In some cases, these judgements may be unintentionally biased and possibly fueled by the spread of misinformation.

The academic publication process is built on objectivity [ 1 ], gender and socio-cultural neutrality [ 2 ], and respect for human and animal rights. Hence, equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are essential in publication processes, among other academic spaces. However for the purpose of this According to the Editors Association of Canada [ 3 ], equity refers to recognizing the existence of “identity-based advantages and barriers” as well as “working to correct and address this imbalance.” They also define diversity as “increasing the presence of people of diverse identities” in the editorial process and inclusion as “creating an environment where all those with diverse identities are welcomed and valued”.

Given the ‘publish or perish’ nature of academia, the role of Journals and editors in propagating the cycle of injustice in this space is amplified [ 4 ]. There is evidence for a higher rejection rate of papers from traditionally under-represented groups [ 4 , 5 ]. These decisions can heavily impact such individuals, resulting in poorer career progression due to fewer publications and a lower chance of promotional opportunities. The obstruction of career progression contributes to the lack of representation of certain groups in positions of power and leadership: particularly women, individuals living in low-middle income countries and racialized people [ 6 – 12 ]. For example, in oncology research, Caucasian men hold over 70% of editorial leadership positions [ 6 ]. Similar findings were shown in a survey of editors of the Association of College & Research Libraries [ 7 ], and Wiley publishing [ 13 ]. Furthermore, in communication journals, editorial board members from the United States are more than all other world regions pooled together [ 14 ]. It has been hypothesized that overrepresented groups may have implicit biases that stem from historical institutionalized discrimination against individuals from under-represented groups [ 15 , 16 ]. However, the evidence is conflicting. Witteman and colleagues [ 17 ] demonstrated that when controlling for age and domain of research, a gender bias exists in peer review processes that are judging the calibre of the investigator: there is a 4% lower success rate for women. Yet, a more recent large analysis of 145 journals found that the bias is non-existent [ 18 ]. In fact, women led, and co-authored articles were favoured by referees and editors [ 18 ]. Nonetheless, some studies have demonstrated that implicit bias training may lead to modifying behavior [ 19 – 22 ]. Thus, EDI training and other resources, such as unconscious bias [ 23 , 24 ] and indigenous cultural competency training [ 25 , 26 ], should be easily accessible and completed by the editorial teams and authors alike.

Realizing that biases exist in scholarly publishing, The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) established a joint commitment to action on EDI in scholarly publishing. In collaboration with signed partners, they formulated the following six minimum standards for inclusion and diversity in academic publishing: (1) integrate inclusion and diversity in the publishing activities and strategic planning; (2) work on understanding the demographic diversity of individuals at all levels of their publishing process; (3) acknowledge and address the barriers experienced by those who are under-represented among them; (4) define and clearly communicate diversity and inclusion responsibilities at all levels of the publishing process; (5) revise the appointment process for editors and editorial boards as needed, to widen the scope of the captured talent; (6) publicly report diversity and inclusion progress at least once a year [ 27 ]. To date, 52 publishing organizations have committed to this initiative [ 27 ].

It may be argued that editors should not be obliged to ensure that their reviewer pool is geographically distributed, and that their only concern should be recruiting reviewers who are experts of the manuscript content under consideration. However, the lack of diversity in the peer reviewer can make finding reviewers harder [ 28 ]. In addition, there are many benefits to promoting diversity in the publishing processes for the scientific community. Ensuring the representation of individuals from underrepresented populations could facilitate meaningful career growth for these individuals and increase the depth of the content published in the journal. An environment of innovation and creativity could be fostered through the presence of a greater variety of problem-solving approaches [ 4 , 29 ]. Better performance, predictions, and overall results could emerge as problem-solving improves in the presence of a diverse team [ 30 ]. It was found that a significant increase in the citation of articles occurred when the authors who wrote them were of different ethnicities and nationalities [ 30 ]. Additionally, there was an association between the 5-year citation count of published papers and the diversity of people who authored them — ethnic diversity in particular [ 31 ]. For example, when a mandate was instituted in Japan by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University to ensure 50% of all researchers were from other than Japan, the institute saw an increase in academic ranking based on their research output [ 32 ].

Although commitments are in place to improve EDI in journals and publishing [ 33 – 37 ], the effectiveness of these approaches are yet to be determined. We also acknowledge that editor of this journal shared concerns for practical approaches to improving EDI in peer review and journal practices [ 38 ]. In this commentary, we provide practical approaches for editors and journal publishers to improve EDI in academic journals based on the six minimum standards set by the RSC. In Table ​ Table1 1 we also provide examples of journals that implemented some of these strategies. Finally, EDI issues in academia are tightly intertwined with systemic oppression that is integrated in policies and regulations of academic progression. Thus, both a bottom-up and top-down approach are needed to induce change. Subsequently, we reflect on the role of reviewers, researchers, academic institutions, and funding agencies in shaping the academic ecosystem. Figure ​ Figure1 1 presents how these stakeholders contribute to fostering a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive academic community.

Recommendations for improving equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) journals

RSC Royal Society of Chemistry ( https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/talent/minimum-standards-for-inclusion-and-diversity-for-scholarly-publishing/ ), EDI Equity, diversity and inclusion

Key model for improving equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) of journals. This figure was generated by the authors using Canva ( https://www.canva.com/ )

The role of journals

Given that the impact of journal policies on compliance to mandates has been demonstrated in several areas, such as clinical trial registration and reporting guidelines [ 45 – 47 ], editors and publishers should articulate a framework that influences the incorporation of EDI. We propose below six approaches that align with the six RSC recommendations for improving EDI in academic publishing.

Increasing diversity and inclusion in scientific publishing enhances excellence and innovation. Adopting a journal diversity statement, with clear, actionable steps to achieve it, is a practical first step for defining the problem and establishing accountability [ 37 ]. Explicitly defining the problem helps ensure that everyone shares the same understanding of it. Moreover, this process engages senior leadership to support EDI principles, making it clear to authors, reviewers, and editors that change is a priority. Several reports show that these recognition schemes provide an impetus for action on EDI which translates to more inclusive environments [ 48 ]. More than 47 publishing organizations have adopted recognition schemes [ 49 ]. Wiley publishing has developed guidance for assisting editors in developing an EDI statement [ 50 ]. The process involves the following three steps: (1) assessing the journal and research community’s needs, (2) identifying action priorities for the journal (I.e., changes in recruitment process, improving the diversity of invited reviewers), and (3) developing an active statement that acknowledges that this process is an ongoing one that will require revisiting on a regular basis to answer unknown questions.

Avoiding the perpetuation of prejudicial beliefs or demeaning attitudes in publishing activities may improve the recruitment of populations experiencing disadvantages. In turn, the journal should promote the use of inclusive and bias-free language in all correspondence and the journal website content [ 51 ]. With changes in language over time, editors should address individuals and or communities as they prefer to describe themselves, their experiences, and practices. For example, a notable addition to the 7 th edition of the America Psychological Association is the recommendation to use the singular “they” to refer to individuals when the identified pronouns are unknown or hypothetical person is irrelevant within the context [ 37 ]. The University of Nottingham reported improvements in the recruitment of female researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) when the language of advertised fellowships was checked for gender inclusivity among schemes [ 48 , 52 , 53 ].

When leaders use the power associated with their positions to advocate for EDI this may help support others to eradicate prejudice and discrimination. Editors in chief should prefer to include scholars with underrepresented backgrounds and EDI expertise to lead in EDI advocacy roles. They could, albeit less preferable, nominate one of their associate editors who has an underrepresented background or recruit an individual with expertise on EDI who does not have an underrepresented background. It would be wise to create a consultation committee for the EDI lead composed of underrepresented academics, EDI leaders, and members of the public with unique, lived experiences. The perspectives of underrepresented individuals could be crucial for the team’s success as it would help produce more culturally competent and practical solutions. The responsibilities of the lead could include reviewing journal processes while working with the Editors in chief, raising awareness of unconscious bias among the editorial teams and implementing initiatives that could improve EDI. The lead should also be responsible for developing strategies that would diversify the editorial teams, peer reviewers and authorship as well as monitor the journal’s progress in achieving EDI. The individual or team leading this appointment should review the journal’s recruitment sources and how the journal linguistically composes invitations to join the editorial teams. Of note, experience in the field of EDI and understanding of EDI principles alone are insufficient to achieve these goals. Leaders aiming to take on this role should be creative in developing strategies that align with the journal’s aims and resources.

There is plenty of evidence showing that members of certain populations are underrepresented in editorial roles. This impedes their ability to receive adequate experience to take on leadership positions. The process of finding editorial board members in all disciplines is challenging as is therefore recruiting editors with diverse backgrounds, gender identities, ethnicities and geographical locations would likely prove to be more challenging. However, a diverse and representative team may be more likely to display increased cultural competency based on their more diverse set of lived experiences. Efforts to recruit a representative team should be in place, and deficiencies in diversity should be explicitly acknowledged as a work in progress. Furthermore, all editorial positions should be time limited as any permanent position of power is prone to propagating disparities.

Journals can post open calls for reviewer positions rather than solely depending on personal networks to improve the diversity of their reviewer pool. These advertisements should be checked for inclusivity of their wording as well as the locations of their posting. It should be noted that the use of algorithms or artificial intelligence (AI) to identify reviewers, reinforces negative cycle of bias against researchers in low-middle income countries and marginalized populations [ 54 ]. Therefore, if AI is used, editors should monitor for potential biases, assess, and mitigate them. In addition, journal editors may encourage authors to recommend reviewers from under-represented backgrounds. Populations carrying the greatest burden of health inequities need a stronger voice in the planning and implementation of their health care and the systems meant to support it, yet for the most part, remain excluded from decision-making processes [ 55 , 56 ]. Therefore, when inviting reviewers, it may be beneficial to invite reviewers familiar with the article’s content. Knowledge of the author’s name, institution, professional status, or geographical location may result in unconscious bias and abstract the objectivity of the peer review process. To help minimize unconscious bias, journal editors should consider a double anonymized peer review policy where the peer reviewers are not aware of the manuscript's authors and vice versa [ 37 ].

When candidates for journal positions lack experience, establishing a mentoring approach may be a pragmatic approach to preparing them for the role in the future. Senior members of the editorial teams could team up with more junior members and tailor the mentoring according to their needs. Since mentors are highly likely to come from non-underrepresented groups, mentors should receive unconscious bias training or other EDI training as necessary (i.e microaggressions, anti-racism) before engaging in mentorship activities. Given that most editorial positions are voluntary, mentoring activities need to be encouraged and acknowledged to support their work. Mentors could be rewarded by compensating them for their time or establishing internal awards for mentor excellence that may help in promotions and tenures. The uptake of these strategies by several journals may help establish a community of mentors that could be drawn on for mentorship activities. Undergoing training in research integrity may help prepare them for their roles by engaging with their mentees meaningfully and creating a supportive environment. VIRT2UE Train the trainee program is intended for individuals interested in becoming trainers in research integrity. The program focuses on developing behaviours of high moral standards related to the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and applying them to specific cases and dilemmas.

To identify gaps in diversity, meaningful and accurate data collection on the composition of editors, peer reviewers and authors is required. Journal editors need to systematically collect demographic data to accurately assess journal progress and tailor their goals accordingly. A standard list of questions should be presented to the research community where they can voluntarily provide self-identification data such as career stage, gender, race & ethnicity, and geographical location of the journal community [ 57 ]. As a first step, journals can use the eight identification categories proposed in the questionnaire distributed by the Employment Equity Act and adjust as appropriate. Alternatively, journals may employ external services, such as TOP factor [ 58 ], to monitor journal metrics in implementing EDI principles. Empirical approaches are also needed to determine the effectiveness of the approaches used to improve EDI in academic settings. The UK Research and Innovation summarized interventions, frameworks and outcomes measured to quantitatively monitor changes in EDI interventions. They note the lack of experimental approaches to assess EDI interventions and small sample sizes. Thus, researchers should investigate rigorous approaches to investigate the effectiveness of EDI interventions.

To hold journals accountable for their progress, journals and publishers should make their data on diversity available to the public. Therefore, journals should ensure that they acquire informed consent from participants when collecting their self-identifiable. Their data should be treated with the utmost sensitivity and stored with great care. Although we are not aware of the most appropriate approach to store data, there are ten established rules for storing digital data that journals may apply to safeguard sensitive information [ 59 ]. Journals should only present the data in an aggregated form to ensure the confidentiality of participants.

The role of peer reviewers

Reviewers and journal editors must consider that the author’s first language might not be English. Thus, they must be understanding and try to base their decision on the quality of research rather than the language. If significant language corrections are needed, we suggest directing them to a language service such as SAGE Author Services or Language Editor Services by ElSEVIER and subsequently invite them to resubmit once their manuscript is reviewed. Adjustment may be needed for authors with disabilities or neurodiverse conditions, and peer reviewers should support them accordingly. They may offer them additional feedback, extra time for revisions or arrange a call to discuss feedback.

The role of researchers

The impact of marginalization on the health of marginalized groups is well established [ 60 ]. However, their perspectives are yet to be adequately reflected in evidence bases [ 55 ]. The absence of regularly collected data on outcomes and experiences of under-represented populations limits the relevance of available primary evidence informing evidence-based practice. Populations experiencing inequities need a stronger voice in the planning and the implementation of health care services as well as the systems designed to support them. For this reason, they should be involved in decision-making processes [ 55 , 56 ]. Greater involvement of stakeholders in evidence syntheses can support greater inclusion of social and organizational factors that may influence interventions and review findings [ 61 ]. Furthermore, Incorporating EDI in research ensures that pre-conceived beliefs and eco-chamber societies are likely avoided, minimizing confirmation bias and increasing the credibility of research findings [ 62 ]. An example of this is The New England Journal of Medicine which requires authors to provide the representativeness of the study group in a table as a Supplementary Appendix [ 63 ]. They also require authors to appropriately report on the representativeness of the patients included in the study and assess the generalizability of the research findings to populations at risk of experiencing inequities.

Reporting guidelines may improve the reporting of research and should be used by researchers [ 64 – 67 ]. Although guidelines such as the SAGER guidelines have recommended sex-specific analyses to obtain more equitable evidence [ 68 ], and several funders have mandated their analyses, such mandates may be insufficient to change reporting practices [ 69 ]. Researchers must demonstrate their commitment to improving equity in research by adhering to equity reporting guidelines such as the extensions of the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) [ 70 ] and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) [ 71 ] more work is needed to assess their impact on reporting.

The role of universities and academic institutions

Students from under-represented groups face several barriers to success when engaging with academia’s traditional measures and systems of evaluation [ 4 , 30 , 72 , 73 ]. A study conducted by Heller and colleagues found that as the GPA score requirements increased in medical schools, in the United States from 2005 to 2009, the diversity of the classes decreased [ 74 ]. This suggests that evaluations heavily based on academic metrics often come at the expense of EDI. Thus, establishing a different definition of student academic excellence may help improve EDI in academic institutions.

Several approaches have succeeded in improving diversity among trainees and early-career researchers [ 75 , 76 ]. However, differential recruitment, retention, and promotion rates across several factors such as age, sex and race are yet to be improved [ 77 – 80 ]. This may be partly due to the narrow focus on citation metrics and publications for the evaluation of these processes [ 30 , 81 , 82 ]. Institutions should award strong mentorship that involve the support of marginalized groups and include tenure or promotion assessments in recruitment. These awards include the National Science Foundation’s Presidential Award for Excellence for Science Math and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the Australian Museum Eureka Award, and the Nature Research Awards for Mentoring in Science. Expanding the measures of success to include non-academic metrics would enhance the selection of diverse candidates and set the stage for a diverse, new generation of researchers.

Furthermore, academic course coordinators should consider teaching the curriculum from an EDI perspective by diversifying the reading material of courses as well as the research used to compose the learning material [ 4 ]. Emphasizing diversity in the educational curriculum fosters the inclusion of diverse students, staff, and relevant topics and better engages underrepresented groups through a curriculum that reflects their lived experiences.

The role of funding agencies

Several funding agencies, such as NIH [ 83 ] and CIHR [ 84 ] have acknowledged the importance of equity research. This is integral for improving academia as research funding is indispensable in an academic’s career. Including diversity factors as a scorable criterion may improve research since several studies have shown that diverse teams produce more innovative, creative, and impactful science [ 81 , 85 , 86 ]. Funding agencies could also create grants dedicated to underrepresented scholars to allow more opportunities for them and potentially eliminate the funding disparity in research. Examples include the Mental Health Dissertation Research Grant to Increase Diversity funded by the National Institute of Health [ 87 ] and the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) funded by the National Science Foundation [ 88 ]. Funding agencies could also consider instituting a minimum number of scholars from underrepresented populations as reviewers on funding panels [ 81 ]. We acknowledge that this may introduce a “diversity tax” where a burden may be placed on marginalized scholars. However, it is essential to note that the “diversity tax” becomes problematic when the positions and work done are not career enhancing. There needs to be more work on incentivising leadership positions for representatives of marginalized populations in terms of academic value and career progression.

Conclusions

Journal editors cannot change the culture of academic societies alone since they are constrained by a broader system. Therefore, we advocate for consolidated action for improving EDI by using a systems approach that involves journal publishers, researchers, academic institutions, and funders. We acknowledge the lack of studies that show the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving EDI. However, we believe that journals adhering to the minimum standards set by RSC and following the guidance suggested in this paper may help journals obtain data that can help monitor their EDI progress. In writing this commentary, we reviewed it for inclusivity and bias-free language. We urge journal editors to develop evaluation plans to measure the effects of EDI interventions in improving the editorial culture using innovative methodological approaches.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr Mario Malički, the editor in chief for guiding this commentary with his critical review and thought provoking questions. We would like to thank the research community for supporting the integration of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in editorial and peer review processes.

Authors’ contributions

Omar Dewidar and Vivian Welch conceived this article. Omar Dewidar drafted the first draft. Nour Elmestekawy and Vivian Welch revised the article. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.

No funding was received for this article.

Availability of data and materials

Declarations.

No ethics approval was required for this article.

Vivian Welch is editor in chief of Campbell Systematic Reviews. Omar Dewidar and Nour Elmestekawy declare no competing interests.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Student reflections on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Ma students gender, globalisation and rights, 2020-2021 , dr stacey scriver ,, 28 april 21,  |  0 ( 0 )  stars,  | 14 mins, dr stacey scriver, lecturer and researcher in the global centre for women’s studies in nui galway, introduces the thoughts of masters students who are studying issues around gender, globalisation and rights..

The concepts of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) have in recent years become increasingly used by organisations, including universities, to signal their efforts to promote equitable environments.

Yet, these concepts do not necessarily fit together easily – equality, particularly formal equality, may struggle to incorporate diversity and may not, on its own, lead to inclusion – and the value of diversity is often lost in the quest for equality.

The challenge of creating substantive equality for all is one that feminists have long grappled with.

In the MA in Gender, Globalisation and Rights at NUI Galway, students also grapple with these challenges, formally within their Feminist and Gender Theorising module, but also personally as they live the experience of undertaking a postgraduate degree in a setting marked by the diversity of the students themselves.

In the work of Chandra Mohanty [1] , one of the theorists examined in the programme, they find one way of engaging with the often at-odds experience of being both a part and different. While for Mohanty, the recognition of our “common differences” emerged through a critique of colonialism and the exploitation of the Global South, the concept has broad applications in understanding the interactions between self and other, insider and outsider, belonging and separation.

As she explains, [1] Chandra Talpade Mohanty promoted the concept of “common differences” in the 1983 conference she organised as a graduate student, Common Differences, Third World Women and Feminist Perspectives (Urbana, Illinois). Her use of the concept was further developed in her 2003 publication, Under Western Eyes Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anti-Capitalist Struggles, in Signs , 28(2): 499-535.

In knowing differences and particularities, we can better see the connections and commonalities because no border or boundary is ever complete or rigidly determining. The challenge is to see how differences allow us to explain the connections and border crossings better and more accurately, how specifying difference allows us to theorize universal concerns more fully

(mohanty, 2003:505).

It is a concept that pays heed to the fact that of our particular locations, positions, histories, privileges and identities, create inequalities that separate us, and yet we share common threads of vulnerability, strength, and experience that can bring us together.

This concept of common differences thus navigates issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in a way that does not diminish the complexity of their interaction or privilege any one of these goals.

Below, students of the MA Gender, Globalisation and Rights use the concept as a heuristic device to explore their experience of common differences as students at NUI Galway.

Rachel Duffy, MA Students Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 2020-2021

As a student at NUI Galway, I experience common differences   among my fellow MA students. We all come from a variety of countries and backgrounds and our reasons for completing this MA are different.

As females, we have all experienced the social constraints of our gender, such as discrimination, harassment, juggling housework and childminding along with a million other things. The stories told and experiences shared, might come from different parts of the world but have the common thread of what it is to be a woman in our hostile world.

So, although we have different cultures and societies, we are all connected through our shared experiences as women and by picking this course, by our desire to learn more about this world we live in and contribute to positive change. 

Tinyiko Ndaba, MA Students Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 2020-2021

As a student at NUI Galway, I experience common difference when discussing academic or general issues with other students and lecturers.  I feel comfortable sharing my views from my background and perspective as an African female student. My sense of self is not threatened by diversity. Instead, it grows from listening to the experiences and views of the other students.

I feel challenged and enriched by ideas from other students from different geographical, racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds. They make me probe further into how I perceive the world, how similar and different we are. I believe we are one regardless of differences. We are unique and have so much to offer each other. I will not trade the feeling of belonging to a diverse community at NUI Galway for anything. It is an experience of a lifetime.

Kate Dunne, MA Students Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 2020-2021

As a student at NUI Galway, I have experienced common differences with my fellow classmates as we have navigated our way through our virtual academic year. In our small hub, I have had the opportunity to connect with women in other parts of the world through the lived experiences of my classmates and have also shared my experiences with them.

Our peer learning group Galway Women’s HERstory’s mission statement summarises the experience: “This community of learning is a collaborative and respectful environment whose aim is to explore, develop and critically analyse feminist concepts and theories. Through discussion and debate, each community member will be able to share their views, opinions and experiences in order to facilitate collective learning and individual growth. Members will be encouraged to express and refine their feminist voice and explore new understandings of feminism.” We celebrate our differences by using them as a tool to spark ideas and discussions while supporting one another from a place of friendship.

Rebecca Brett, MA Students Gender, Globalisation and Rights, 2020-2021

In my MA programme, I am the only American and thus I most certainly share differences with my course-mates. My upbringing in the States informs my perspective on academic issues and the stances I take on issues of political controversy. Despite these differences, I have felt an abundance of solidarity with the other women in my programme. We all wished each other a Happy International Women’s Day (a holiday not celebrated in the South of the US where I’m from).

When a news story broke about another country trying to limit reproductive health rights or the increase in domestic violence due to the pandemic, our WhatsApp group chat became a collective support group. Despite our different backgrounds in privilege, geographical location and cultural beliefs, it was very common for us to unite over our shared vulnerabilities as women. I think this thread of commonality is crucial to diversity and inclusion work, just as the acknowledgment of differences is vital to promoting intersectional solutions to complex problems. Addressing difference is important, but highlighting shared lived experiences is crucial to the feminist fight.

Dr. Stacey Scriver, Global Women's Studies, School of Political Science & Sociology, NUI Galway

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion by academic institutions and other organisations is essential and important. Nevertheless, structural inequalities within institutions and within broader society continue to impact lives unequally.

Achieving substantive equality is an ongoing project that requires the efforts of all – and thus a shared recognition of what is at stake and what can be achieved.

The reflections of the students of the MA Gender, Globalisation and Rights point towards this shared commitment that is strengthened and deepened through respect for diversity and the recognition of common differences.

Mohanty reflected in 2013, that the success of “collaborations and alliances depends on a deep commitment to understanding the  differences  between our histories and experiences”. [1] Here, we might learn, that it is not difference that undermines equality, but is rather what shines a light on our shared humanity and provides the foundations to achieve equality and inclusion, together.

[1] In Alcoff, L.M. (2013) Feminists we Love: Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Available at: https://www.thefeministwire.com/2013/10/feminists-we-love-chandra-mohanty/

[1] Chandra Talpade Mohanty promoted the concept of ‘common differences’ in the 1983 conference she organised as a graduate student, ‘Common Differences, Third World Women and Feminist Perspectives’ (Urbana, Illinois). Her use of the concept was further developed in her 2003 publication, ‘Under Western Eyes Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anti-Capitalist Struggles’, in Signs , 28(2): 499-535.

[2] In Alcoff, L.M. (2013) Feminists we Love: Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Available at: https://www.thefeministwire.com/2013/10/feminists-we-love-chandra-mohanty/

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Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance

• Cabinet Office
• Government People Group

Published 14 May 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance/civil-service-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-expenditure-guidance

Introduction

1. This guidance outlines measures to enact greater control over Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) spend and activity across the Civil Service, providing assurance and alignment with government priorities. This guidance supersedes any previously issued guidance or policy governing EDI spend and should be read alongside the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022 - 2025.

2. This guidance is primarily for the civilian members of the Civil Service workforce. This builds on the merit principle, the Inclusion at Work Panel report, advances our Levelling Up missions, and focuses on meeting our statutory obligations.

3. Specifically, it provides three broad measures on: External Spend, Internal Efficiency and Evaluation measures to support departments to:

a. Cease all external EDI spend in the Civil Service unless cleared and authorised by Ministers;

b. Ensure overall EDI spend is commensurate with agreed organisational and Civil Service priorities; 

c. Ensure robust evaluation of any EDI activity undertaken in the Civil Service. 

External Spend Measures

4. There should be no external EDI spend in the Civil Service unless cleared and authorised by Ministers. Any exception requires Ministerial clearance and authorisation on advice from officials. For ALBs, the same process applies, except the Principal Accounting Officer, in consultation with the Board, must authorise the expenditure. 

5. All exemptions granted must be centrally recorded with the Government People Group (GPG) in the Cabinet Office. To ensure transparency expenditure will be published annually in the Annual Report and Accounts of each department and through a Cabinet Office publication at the end of the reporting cycle. 

6. Ministers may choose to delegate exemption decisions to Permanent Under Secretaries. Such decisions should not be delegated to any other official. Any delegations from ministers to officials with regards to EDI expenditure should be recorded centrally with GPG and reported regularly to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for oversight.

7. External spend includes that relating to:

a. Benchmarks and accreditation schemes 

b. External organisational memberships

c. Use of consultancy

d. Use of externally provided learning and development

8. When approaching EDI activity, the default must be to use internal resources and best practice in departments and across government. To enable this, GPG will facilitate greater sharing of learning across the system to enable this first step, using the Civil Service Learning platform.

9. Should there be a specific need to operate beyond spend control, it must be accompanied by robust rationale with evidence on why this work cannot be undertaken internally. This must address the value for money case and return on investment, within the Civil Service’s organisational goals. 

10. Spend on external benchmarking and accreditation schemes is within scope of the spend control. This supersedes the policy on authorisation originally set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022 - 2025.

11. Purchase of memberships to external D&I organisations, albeit without engaging in benchmarks, is also within scope of spend control of external expenditure. 

12. Where Civil Service organisations choose to engage external EDI consultants, commission bespoke L&D interventions or fund D&I staff network activity the spend control on external expenditure also applies.

13. All decisions on departmental internal workforce policies and procedures should be made through the appropriate departmental governance structures. External advice can be considered as part of this process, where the evidence shows it supports departmental objectives. Any purchase of external advice is subject to the same control on external spend detailed above and should be put to Ministers for clearance and authorisation. 

14. Any advice and guidance provided by external organisations should be quality assured by the relevant HR experts who will wish to assure themselves it is:

a. legally sound and in line with the Equality Act 2010. 

b. aligns with the Civil Service Code and Values, including impartiality, and 

c. is objective, based on quality evidence and insight.

15. In the circumstance where external EDI spend is granted, Departments must adhere to their own procurement procedures. 

16. Any grant funding of EDI related activity must adhere to the spend control set out above. It must also comply with the Grants Functional Standard and minimum requirements for general grants. [footnote 1]

17. Effective contract management is essential to ensure departments are getting the most out of their services. When undertaking reviews and evaluating service provision, departments should consider:

a. Access to and capability of the service’s account manager

b. Quality of the products and expert resources provided, including alignment to the Equality Act 2010

c. Quality of any advice and guidance provided, including alignment to the Equality Act 2010

d. Access to and value gained from experts.

Internal Efficiency Measures

18. Internal measures are important to promote efficient and effective EDI practice, which aligns to Government priorities. To ensure EDI spend in the Civil Service is commensurate with agreed organisational priorities the following measures must be considered:

a. Centralised Civil Service EDI Guidance for Departments and ALBs : Where practicable HR and staff guidance on EDI related issues will be provided by Cabinet Office, Government People Group (GPG) for the Civil Service and ALBs. This guidance will be published on GOV.UK . This will promote consistency, improve the promulgation of best practice and reduce inefficiencies preventing duplication of resources to deliver similar products; limiting any risk of conflicting, ineffective or malpractice, conflicting with impartiality or the Government position on broader equality legislation. GPG provides departments with model policies, which are legally compliant and exemplars of good practice. The GPG suite of model policies covers a range of employment topics, supporting departments, employees and managers in addition to aiding the effective implementation of departmental HR strategies across Government. This includes expert guidance on key EDI matters. Departments have delegated authority to adopt, or align to the model policies and for their own policy implementation. Drawing on GPG model policies enables greater consistency and fairness across Government, as well as helping to protect departments against legal claims.

b. Consolidation of EDI learning onto Civil Service Learning : All suitable content, relevant across Government, will be consolidated on Civil Service Learning. This will stop duplication and generate savings. The spend control process requires departments to use the existing training or commission new training via the Learning Frameworks. If the training cannot be commissioned via the Frameworks, it must follow departmental procurement rules and the external EDI spend control detailed above. 

c. Incorporate standalone EDI staffing roles into broader HR : The responsibility for EDI delivery should be embedded into HR professionals’ broader accountabilities. The CS D&I Strategy frames an approach where diversity and inclusion is not an end in itself, but an integral means of delivering better outcomes for our citizens. To deliver this, and move away from tokenistic, albeit well-intentioned actions, to produce truly transformative delivery our HR professionals are required to take ownership of EDI and focus the approach against the key areas of an employee lifecycle that make the biggest impact for all our people: recruitment, talent management, learning & development, leadership, culture and tackling bullying harassment and discrimination when it occurs.

19. The Civil Service will consider these measures, at the Centre and in departments and ALBs, as part of professionalising the approach to EDI delivery and improving the value for money and return on investment. 

20. Notwithstanding the key measures being established in this guidance, we will protect and exempt disability related expenditure particularly work to deliver on the Government’s National Disability Strategy (2021) and the Disability Action Plan (2024). Departments are expected to continue to work to support disabled civil servants to thrive at work and improve the everyday lives of all disabled people.

Evaluation Measures

21. All EDI activity undertaken internally or through approved external spend should be subject to robust evaluation. 

22. An Independent Report published in March 2024 on the Inclusion at Work Panel’s recommendations for improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) practice in the workplace made the case for why a new approach to D&I in the workplace is needed. However, the report also outlined some well intentioned practices that had proven to be counterproductive and, in some cases, unlawful and the key for employers was not to outsource or delegate this to those with potentially conflicting incentives. Development and implementation of evaluation of EDI is key in this.  

23. The Civil Service D&I Strategy committed to ‘deliver evaluation frameworks, underpinned by data, to support departments and professions to evaluate effectively their diversity and inclusion interventions and programmes’.

24. This is in line with the Inclusion at Work panel endorsement of a new framework which sets out criteria employers might apply to their D&I practice, for effectiveness and value for money.

25. EDI evaluation frameworks will seek to embed and promote a structured approach to the evaluation of EDI. It is aimed to support HR professionals delivering EDI activity. It ensures value for money is at the forefront of any EDI activity 

26. The Government cares about how taxpayers’ money is spent, wanting value for money for the delivery of public services. In July 2023, the Government Efficiency Framework was published to this end. The same applies to internal policy and services, delivered for the CS workforce.

27. The implementation of evaluation principles, ministerially steered as set out above, is expected to influence the way EDI is delivered in the CS, and departments are asked to work through changes in designing, monitoring and evaluating their EDI policies and interventions, including questioning, and testing, assumptions made about EDI.   

28. To support evaluation, the government has, among others:

a. Published guidance on evaluation in The Magenta Book

b. Set up the Evaluation Task Force based in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury

c. Set up the Evaluation and Trial Advice Panel (ETAP)

d. Established the What Works Network

e. Committed to support departments in improving evaluation.

29. When executed well, activity on EDI brings value to the organisation. It can support efforts to attract and retain diverse talent from across all communities, promote exacting standards in leadership, and ensure value for money from talent and learning and development offers. This promotes a return of investment in initiatives around people delivery, for example, when seeking to address under-representation, tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination or deliver fair reward.

30. The measures set out in this guidance are to support the Civil Service achieve its aims effectively. This government is committed to Levelling Up by driving improvements in the day-to-day lives of all citizens, spending taxpayers’ money with care and providing excellent services. To deliver those commitments requires a Civil Service that can attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. It is for this reason that we want the Civil Service to have a truly diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity, as a means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve.

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Guest Essay

‘The Seeds Had Been Planted. Trump Didn’t Do It Himself.’

By Thomas B. Edsall

Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.

Over the past 30 years, authoritarianism has moved from the periphery to the center, even the core, of global politics, shaping not only the divide between left and right in the United States but also the conflict between the American-led alliance of democratic nations and the loose coalition of autocratic states including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Marc Hetherington , a political scientist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a co-author of “ Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics ,” has tracked the partisanship of white voters in this country who are in the top 15 percent on measures of support for dictatorial rule.

Replying by email to my inquiry, Hetherington wrote:

In 1992, those whites scoring at the top of the authoritarianism scale split their two-party vote almost evenly between Bush and Clinton (51 to 49). In 2000 and 2004, the difference becomes statistically significant but still pretty small. By 2012, those high-authoritarianism white voters went 68 to 32 for Romney over Obama. In both Trump elections it was 80 to 20 among those voters. So from 50 Republican-50 Democrat to 80 Republican-20 Democrat in the space of 24 years.

The parallel pattern of conflicting values and priorities that has emerged between nations is the focus of a paper published last month, “ Worldwide Divergence of Values ” by Joshua Conrad Jackson and Dan Medvedev , both at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. The two authors analyzed data from seven studies conducted by the World Values Survey in 76 countries between 1981 and 2022.

Jackson and Medvedev found that over those years, “Values emphasizing tolerance and self-expression have diverged most sharply, especially between high-income Western countries and the rest of the world” and characterized this split as a clash between “emancipatory” values and values of “obedience.”

I asked Medvedev whether authoritarianism represents the antithesis of a regime based on emancipatory principles, and he wrote back, “It certainly does seem that authoritarian regimes tend to reject values that we categorize as emancipative.”

He said he would prefer to use the word “traditional” but “that’s just my preference — I don’t think it’s incorrect to use ‘authoritarian.’”

Jackson and Medvedev found that “the rate of value divergence” could be determined using seven questions producing “the highest divergence scores.” Those were:

(1) justifiability of homosexuality, (2) justifiability of euthanasia, (3) importance of obedience of children, (4) justifiability of divorce, (5) justifiability of prostitution, (6) justifiability of suicide and (7) justifiability of abortion.

I wrote Jackson and Medvedev, asking about this divergence:

There has been a lot of speculation lately about new global divide pitting democracies led by the United States against a coalition including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Does this divide show up in your data on values differences between countries? Are there values differences between democratic countries and autocratic countries?

“The short answer is yes,” Jackson and Medvedev wrote back and provided a detailed analysis in support of their reply.

Their data shows that the citizens in authoritarian countries tend to “believe that homosexuality and divorce are not justifiable” while those living in the United States, Japan, Germany and Canada “tend to believe that homosexuality and divorce are justifiable and disagree that obedience is an important value to teach their children.”

More important, Jackson and Medvedev found that over those years, Russia, China and Iran have moved in an increasingly authoritarian direction while the democratic countries have moved in an emancipatory direction.

“These cultural differences were not always so stark; they have emerged over time,” Jackson and Medvedev wrote. “These two groups of countries are sorting in their emancipative values over time. For example, Russia and the United States used to be quite similar in their values, but now the United States is closer to Germany in its values, and Russia is closer to Iran.”

There is a debate among scholars of politics over the level of centrality that authoritarianism warrants and the forces that have elevated its salience, especially in American politics, where high levels of authoritarianism are increasingly linked to allegiance to the Republican Party.

What is clear is that authoritarianism has become an entrenched factor in partisan divisions, in global conflicts between nations and in the politics of diversity and race.

Rachel Kleinfeld , a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, wrote that the embedded character of authoritarianism in America “is like a barnacle attached to our affective polarization, a side effect of a political realignment being run through the uniquely polarizing effects of our first-past-the-post, winner-take-all system and primary structure.”

In an email, Kleinfeld argued that the Great Recession played a pivotal role in stressing the importance of authoritarianism in American politics:

In 2008, the financial crisis created a great deal of anger and a desire for more government intervention. At the same time, an identity revolution was taking place in which group identity gained increased salience, especially in America. Together these movements opened space for a political realignment: a long-dissatisfied group of voters who were pro-economic redistribution, but only to their “deserving” group, found political voice. These “more for me, less for thee” voters who hold left-wing redistributive economic ideas and socially conservative views formed Trump’s primary base in 2016, and moved firmly into the Republican camp in 2020.

The two-party system in the United States, Kleinfeld contended, strengthens authoritarianism by failing to provide a vehicle specifically dedicated to the agenda of the disgruntled electorate. As a result, these voters turned en masse in 2016 to an autocratic leader, Donald Trump, who, in his own words, became their “ retribution .”

This newly mobilized, angry electorate, Kleinfeld continued, is “not choosing the antidemocratic behavior — they are choosing their tribe, and the behavior comes with it. Authoritarian behavior is happening in America, not in Europe, because of our political structures.”

In support of her argument, Kleinfeld cited a January report issued by the Democracy Fund, “ Democracy Hypocrisy : Examining America’s Fragile Democratic Convictions,” that shows how Americans can endorse democratic principles and simultaneously support autocratic behavior by fellow partisans.

Among the report’s conclusions:

While a vast majority of Americans claimed to support democracy (more than 80 percent said democracy is a fairly or very good political system in surveys from 2017 to 2022), fewer than half consistently and uniformly supported democratic norms across multiple surveys.

Support for democratic norms softened considerably when they conflicted with partisanship. For example, a solid majority of Trump and Biden supporters who rejected the idea of a “strong leader who doesn’t have to bother with Congress and elections” nonetheless said their preferred U.S. president would be justified in taking unilateral action without explicit constitutional authority under several different scenarios.

About 27 percent of Americans consistently and uniformly supported democratic norms in a battery of questions across multiple survey waves, including 45 percent of Democrats, 13 percent of Republicans and 18 percent of independents.

In contrast to an overwhelming and consistent rejection of political violence across four survey waves, the violent events of Jan. 6, 2021, were viewed favorably by many Republicans. Almost half of Republicans (46 percent) described these events as acts of patriotism, and 72 percent disapproved of the House select committee that was formed to investigate them.

While much of the focus on authoritarianism in the United States has been on Republican voters, it is also a powerful force in the Democratic electorate.

In their 2018 paper “ A Tale of Two Democrats : How Authoritarianism Divides the Democratic Party,” five political scientists — Julie Wronski , Alexa Bankert , Karyn Amira , April A. Johnson and Lindsey C. Levitan — found that in 2016 “authoritarianism consistently predicts differences in primary voting among Democrats, particularly support for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.” More specifically, “as a Democrat in the Cooperative Election Study survey sample moves from the minimum value on the authoritarianism scale to the maximum value, the probability of voting for Clinton increases from 0.33 to 0.76.”

Wronski and her colleagues determined that “Republicans are significantly more authoritarian than Democrats” but “the variation in authoritarianism is significantly higher among Democrats than Republicans.” Put another way: The level of authoritarianism among the top half of Democrats is almost the same as it is among Republicans; the bottom half of Democrats demonstrates lower levels of authoritarianism than all Republicans.

One of the more intriguing discoveries is that growing racial diversity activates authoritarianism.

In their 2017 article “ Racial Diversity and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism ,” Yamil Ricardo Velez and Howard Lavine , political scientists at Yale and the University of Minnesota, determined that racial diversity “magnifies the political impact of individual differences in the psychological disposition of authoritarianism.”

“In white areas with minimal diversity, authoritarianism had no impact on racial prejudice, political intolerance and attitudes toward immigration,” they wrote. “As diversity rises, however, authoritarianism plays an increasingly dominant role in political judgment. In diverse environments, authoritarians become more racially, ethnically and politically intolerant and nonauthoritarians less so.”

Velez and Lavine defined authoritarianism as

a stable propensity concerned with minimizing difference and maximizing the “oneness and sameness” of people, ideas and behaviors or, more simply, as a preference for social conformity over individual autonomy. The worldview of authoritarians stresses conformity and obedience, as well as the belief that too much individual autonomy — and diversity in general — will result in social rebellion and instability of the status quo.

Authoritarians, Velez and Lavine wrote, “find diversity threatening, and they react to it with increasing racial resentment, anti-immigration beliefs and political intolerance. By contrast, nonauthoritarians react to diversity by becoming more politically tolerant and by embracing African Americans and immigrants.”

As issues “related to race and ethnicity, crime, law and order, religion and gender” have gained centrality, according to Velez and Lavine, “two fundamental changes have occurred in the nature of partisanship.”

The first is the creation of “an alignment between political identity and authoritarianism, such that high authoritarians have moved into the Republican Party and low authoritarians have moved into the Democratic Party.”

The second is that “the notion of partisan identities as social identities — defining what Democrats and Republicans are stereotypically like as people — has intensified, leading the two partisan groups to hold increasingly negative feelings about each other.”

As a result, the authors argued:

given that authoritarianism is (a) strongly linked to partisanship and (b) activated by ethnoracial diversity, it is likely that some of the “affective polarization” in contemporary American politics can be traced to authoritarianism. That is, perceptions of “us” and “them” have been magnified by the increasing alignment between party identification and authoritarianism.

Ariel Malka , a political scientist at Yeshiva University, contended in an email that there are further complications. “Public attitudes in Western democracies,” Malka wrote, “vary on a sociocultural dimension , encompassing matters like traditional versus progressive views on sexual morality, gender, immigration, cultural diversity and so on.”

Recently, however, Malka continued:

some evidence has emerged that the anti-immigrant and nativist parts of this attitude package are becoming somewhat detached from the parts having to do with gender and sexuality, especially among younger citizens. Indeed, there is a meaningful contingent of far-right voters who combine liberal attitudes on gender and sexuality with nativist and anti-immigrant stances.

What do these trends suggest politically? According to Malka:

As for how this relates to democratic preferences, citizens who hold traditional cultural stances on a range of matters tend, on average, to be more open to authoritarian governance and to violations of democratic norms. So there is some basis for concern that antidemocratic appeals will meet a relatively receptive audience on the right at a time of inflamed sociocultural divisions.

I asked Pippa Norris , a political scientist at Harvard, about the rising salience of authoritarianism, and she provided a summary of her forthcoming book, “ The Cultural Roots of Democratic Backsliding .” In a description of the book on her website, Norris wrote:

Historical and journalistic accounts often blame the actions of specific strongman leaders and their enablers for democratic backsliding — Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection in America, Modi for the erosion of minority rights in India, Netanyahu for weakening the powers of the Supreme Court in Israel and so on. But contingent narratives remain unsatisfactory to explain a general phenomenon, they fail to explain why ordinary citizens in longstanding democracies voted these leaders into power in the first place, and the direction of causality in this relationship remains unresolved.

Her answer, in two steps.

Deep-rooted and profound cultural changes have provoked a backlash among traditional social conservatives in the electorate. A wide range of conventional moral values and beliefs, once hegemonic, are under threat today in many modern societies. Value shifts are exemplified by secularization eroding the importance of religious practices and teachings, declining respect for the institutions of marriage and the family and more fluid rather than fixed notions of social identities based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, community ties and national citizenship. An extensive literature has demonstrated that the “silent revolution” of the 1960s and 1970s has gradually led to growing social liberalism, recognizing the principles of diversity, inclusion and equality, including support for issues such as equality for women and men in the home and work force, recognition of L.G.B.T.Q. rights and the importance of strengthening minority rights.

These trends, in turn, have “gradually undermined the majority status of traditional social conservatives in society and threatened conventional moral beliefs.”

Authoritarian populist forces further stoke fears and exploit grievances among social conservatives. If these political parties manage to gain elected office through becoming the largest party in government or if their leaders win the presidency, they gain the capacity to dismantle constitutional checks and balances, like rule of law, through processes of piecemeal or wholesale executive aggrandizement.

For a detailed examination of the rise of authoritarianism, I return to Hetherington, the political scientist I cited at the start of this column. In his email, Hetherington wrote:

The tilt toward the Republicans among more authoritarian voters began in the early 2000s because the issue agenda began to change. Keep in mind, so-called authoritarians aren’t people who are thirsting to do away with democratic norms. Rather they view the world as full of dangers. Order and strength are what, in their view, provide an antidote to those dangers. Order comes in the form of old traditions and conventions as well. When they find a party or a candidate who provides it, they support it. When a party or candidate wants to break from those traditions and conventions, they’ll oppose them. Until the 2000s, the main line of debate had to do with how big government ought to be. Maintaining order and tradition isn’t very strongly related to how big people think the government ought to be. The dividing line in party conflict started to evolve late in the 20th century. Cultural and moral issues took center stage. As that happened, authoritarian-minded voters, looking for order, security and tradition, moved to the Republicans in droves. When people talk about the Republicans attracting working-class whites, these are the specific working-class whites that the G.O.P.’s agenda attracted. As such, the movement of these voters to the G.O.P. long predated Trump. His rhetoric has made this line of conflict between the parties even sharper than before. So that percentage of high-scoring authoritarian voters for Trump is higher than it was for Bush, McCain and Romney. But that group was moving that way long before 2016. The seeds had been planted. Trump didn’t do it himself.

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Thomas B. Edsall has been a contributor to the Times Opinion section since 2011. His column on strategic and demographic trends in American politics appears every Wednesday. He previously covered politics for The Washington Post. @ edsall