YCEI has committed to take socially conscious, affirmative steps in our research projects to scrutinize all aspects of our work in relation to DEI. In June 2020, YCEI researchers formally articulated our deep commitment to embody and promote racial justice and equity. We committed to be explicit in our commitment in our YCEI mission, interrogating our research process, including funding, research questions, methodologies, measures, recruitment, incentives, analyses, findings and dissemination through a DEI lens. These actions have included defining our goals as a division, creating subcommittees to advance the mission of each goal, alongside a continuous community of professional learning.
Goal 1
Systematically evaluate the elements of our research process and develop best-practice recommendations and a system of accountability, at each phase of research.
Toward this end, we are:
Examining the questions we ask to consider how they contribute to or detract from equity in our society- for who, of who, how and why? What knowledge do these questions and subsequent results advantage? What constructs do we study, and whose perspectives do they prioritize or reinforce? What systems (e.g., individualistic vs. communal) do these questions and subsequent results prioritize?
Adopting a Center-wide language for how we measure and report on race, ethnic, and intersectional identities across our research studies. We formed a subcommittee of researchers representing all levels of training to interrogate interdisciplinary field norms and practices to ensure that all demographic and related questions use fully inclusive terminology, build a shared library of demographic questions ready for study use, and design accompanying decision trees centered on the participants to guide decisions for which items are to be included when. These steps will create consistency across our studies moving forward, support research autonomy and discretion on each individual project, and inform our department and field’s model of best practice when conducting emotion science and social and emotional learning research.
Interrogating our methodologies to ensure we use the best possible methods to capture a fully inclusive voice. For example, we use action research, person-centered analyses, qualitative and mixed-methods designs to support elevating and centering critical voices in our work which may not be fully reflected otherwise. We are also engaging in center-wide learning of the QuantCrit paradigm, a model of examining quantitative methods through critical race theory, for research among other professional learning.
Creating a template to guide our language and a process-based checklist to hold ourselves accountable in our work and to ensure that we have fully met our DEI commitments in our work.
Goal 2
Examine our hiring and staffing procedures through a DEI lens to identify and eliminate existing structural inequalities.
Toward this end, we are:
Revisiting all researcher job requirements at each level of training to ensure that required training and experiences do not privilege applicants on basis of race, class, gender, sexuality, or disability.
Recruiting talent to join our team through intentional communication with organizations, social media networks, and institutions committed to broadening access and participation of researchers of color and those from marginalized communities in academia.
Working with our department and university business offices to evaluate and change salary caps for training positions to enable broader participation among trainees from all socioeconomic backgrounds.