UWPA Diversity and Inclusion Statement:
The mission of the UW-Madison Postdoctoral Association (UWPA) Diversity and Inclusion Committee has two equally important components. The first is to enrich the experience of UW-Madison’s postdocs from all underrepresented groups; including, but not limited to, postdocs who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOCs); members of the LGBTQIA+ Community; Womxn; and postdocs with disabilities. The second is to empower ALL postdocs to advocate and support underrepresented groups in academia.
In response to our July 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Survey, we have identified three primary goals in support of this mission. These are 1) Build community, 2) Educate, and 3) Advocate.
Build community: We will create social events dedicated to underrepresented communities to facilitate meeting, connecting, exchanging information about the postdoctoral experience, and building solidarity. We will therefore continue our program of hosting such events, and are amplifying our scope to include other social events, such as celebrations of diverse cultural contributions and storytelling events.
Educate: We will organize events that will help educate members of majority groups about the challenges faced by members of underrepresented groups (including implicit bias and microaggressions). Thus, we are developing educational initiatives such as an anti-racism reading group, a speaker series, and town hall meetings.
Advocate: We will advocate to campus leadership and shared governance committees for policies that improve diversity and inclusion, including guidelines for behavioral standards for the treatment of postdocs.
To those who took the time to complete our survey, a sincere thank you. We invite continued feedback, involvement, and commentary as we plan future initiatives, and want all postdocs to know that your voice and your experience matter. Feedback can be sent to the committee’s co-chairs (James Romero-Masters and Anahid Ebrahimi), provided anonymously here, or brought to the UWPA executive council meetings (an up-to-date agenda including information on how to join the month’s meeting is available on the UWPA website). If you’re interested in joining the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, please contact the committee co-chairs!
We look forward to strengthening the postdoctoral community as we work towards achieving the goal of a diverse and inclusive community at UW-Madison.
The UWPA Diversity and Inclusion Committee
