Princeton University is committing to advancing access, diversity, inclusion, and belonging within academic departments, centers, institutes and programs. Below is a sampling of initiatives and resources available to enhance outreach and professional development; support learning; and improve engagement and community-building.
Departmental initiatives and best practices
Initiatives and best practices implemented by Princeton academic departments, centers, institutes and programs:
- Created a climate and inclusion section on the departmental website (e.g. Physics, Molecular Biology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute)
- Posted a diversity, inclusion and community values statement on the departmental website (e.g. Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Chemistry, and Sociology)
- Developed and promoted a departmental policy on professional conduct (e.g. Physics and Princeton Neuroscience Institute)
- Hosted a visit day for prospective underrepresented graduate students (see MolBio Scholars Program and EEB program)
- Integrated diversity and inclusion topics into all department seminar speaker series with discipline-specific scholars and researchers
- Administered departmental climate surveys to gather relevant information about the experiences of department members (various departments)
- Hosted workshops on inclusive mentoring, teaching and innovation, preventing sexual harassment/bystander intervention and implicit bias (various departments)
- Piloted modifications to address gender imbalances in graduate seminar participation and explored blind grading of undergraduate work (various departments)
- Created opportunities for female graduate students and postdocs to share perspectives and build community (see Princeton Society of Women Engineers, Princeton Women in STEM, Princeton Women in Computer Science, Princeton Female Researchers in Chemistry and Brain Womxn Advocating Visibility and Equity in Science)
Possible Next Steps
Some recommendations for academic departments, centers, institutes and programs interested in enhancing an inclusive climate:
- Partner with the Office of the Provost to create a departmental climate committee
- Develop a departmental diversity, inclusion and community values statement
- Develop a departmental policy on professional conduct
- Partner with the Office of the Provost to administer departmental climate survey
- Partner with the Office of the Provost to host professional development workshops
Workshops
Princeton offers many ways to learn about diversity and inclusion. The Office of the Provost provides professional development workshops on a number of topics and in a variety of formats, including in-person, online webinars and customized sessions for groups of faculty, postdocs, graduate students and staff. Current offerings include:
- Interrupting bias in the academic search process: An overview of best practices and strategies to avoid unconscious bias in the academic search process
- Interrupting bias in graduate admissions: An overview of best practices and strategies to avoid unconscious bias in graduate admissions
- Inclusive Mentoring: An overview of best practices and strategies to mentor diverse groups of students, researchers and scholars
- Inclusive Innovation: Inclusion enhances the creativity and problem-solving effectiveness of diverse teams and is a catalysis for innovation. This workshop provides an overview of best practices
- Micro-messaging: This interactive workshop provide tools to avoid micro-aggressions and using micro-supports to create a more inclusive learning and working climate
- Bystander intervention for faculty: A workshop that provides tools to help participants intervene in problematic situations
- Boundaries: This workshop focuses on appropriate boundaries in professional relationships and best practices related to meetings, communications, socializing, and general interpersonal interactions
- Fostering Inclusion: An overview of best practices for creating an inclusive climate
- Sexual Misconduct: An overview of definitions, reporting responsibilities and resources related to sexual misconduct
Resources
The following resource materials provide foundational information on interrupting bias and micro-messaging in key aspects of hiring and recruitment within academic units.
