Speaker
Description
As discussions around diversity, equity, and inclusivity are becoming increasingly more common (thankfully), it seems a good time to ask: What measures/concrete actions can we make as researchers to bring these principles to life? I will describe one such measure taken by my co-organizers and myself in organizing a recent workshop, where we held an inclusivity initiative that funded ~10 young researchers with an interest in the topics--but not necessarily any previous experience--to attend the workshop, with priority given to underrepresented and under-resourced applicants. We were delighted to find an incredible amount of support all the way from funding agencies to administrative staff to the "regular" participants of the workshop. Interestingly it wasn't just the workshop making an impact on the inclusivity participants: the inclusivity participants themselves totally enhanced the environment with their presence and questions, which ultimately led to better science coming out of the workshop. I will conclude with a few remarks on this phenomena more generally: it's not just that we should implement such principles from a societal standpoint---it's equally that we should do this because it genuinely leads to better science.
