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DEI Resources

Valuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Contributions in AAEA Awards and Fellowship Applications

Prepared by Kate Fuller and Deepthi Kolady, on behalf of the CWAE Nominations Sub-Committee.

From the AAEA’s Executive Board Statement in June 2020:

“As an organization, our responsibility is to remain a platform for rigorous research on a breadth of societal issues, engaged public discourse across a diverse set of stakeholders, and to inform discussions and policies that can help refine and strengthen the frayed social fabric. Science is stronger when it can grow from a diverse set of experiences. To be truly inclusive, we must move beyond steps taken in the past to improve the culture and climate of our association and escalate our efforts to create a different future for underrepresented minorities, women, and others historically marginalized in our profession and in societyLet us pledge ourselves to these principles and rededicate ourselves to the mission of striving toward a just society that needs engaged, empathetic, and intelligent education, science-based and community-driven research, and engaged scholars more than ever.”

CWAE and COSBAE commend the AAEA Executive Board for this statement and offer this proposal as one tool toward achieving the “mission of striving toward a just society.” Ongoing work across academia, industry, and government has demonstrated that diversity, equity and inclusion remain undervalued by our institutions, unless we create structures to value it. Awards are a major way we place value on the people in our profession and the work they do. The idea behind this document is to give some structure to valuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) contributions in AAEA’s awards systems, and to support efforts to value DEI contributions throughout our profession.

What follows are not definitive prescriptions, specific rubrics, nor exhaustive lists but instead, several examples for each category. (Several groups and institutions have created such rubrics; examples are listed at the end of this document.) AAEA awards fall into four main categories: Research, Teaching, Extension, and Mentoring, as well as awarding Fellowship. This document is structured around those award types. However, several examples of DEI contributions bridge all award types:

DEI Contribution Examples Common to All Award Types

  • Contributor viewed as a role model in diversity, equity and inclusion work by their peers, colleagues, mentees, students or others
  • Demonstrated positive impact on students, peers, stakeholders, clients, employer culture, and/or the profession through efforts to catalyze change in diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Public advancement and prioritization of diversity, equity and inclusion within their workplace and/or the profession
  • Advocating for policy that brings resources and actions to address systemic inequalities

DEI Contributions in Research Awards

  • Research on topics such as disparities in outcomes or discrimination
  • Use of inclusive research methods such as community-based participatory research
  • Providing research capacity building or training to colleagues from marginalized populations

DEI Contributions in Teaching Awards

  • Integrating DEI topics into existing courses or creating courses on DEI topics
  • Work that increases accessibility of coursework, courses, or other methods of teaching for students from marginalized populations
  • Using, developing, or promoting inclusive teaching methods and curricula
  • Extensive work with students from marginalized populations (e.g. mentoring students from marginalized populations, advising/mentoring student groups)
  • Contributor represents a marginalized population or populations

DEI Contributions in Extension Awards

  • Work that increases accessibility of extension programming for stakeholders from marginalized populations
  • Programming that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion through education and experience
  • Programming designed to meet needs of stakeholders from marginalized populations
  • Contributor represents a marginalized population or populations

DEI Contributions in Mentoring Awards

  • Leading, creating, serving in, or promoting DEI mentorship programs
  • Working to make mentorship programs more accessible to those from marginalized populations for those in academia, industry, and government
  • Supporting individuals from marginalized populations in a systematic, but informal way, such as through nominations for awards, mentoring outside of mentorship programs, being available as a resource for career advice and professional guidance

Please Share your Links for gender equity and women in AAEA at aaea.cwae@gmail.com.