Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The ability to evaluate intersections, influences, and social contexts from a position of shared humanity and openness toward difference, in order to integrate one’s values and belief systems into action.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion examine how our various identities and concepts of self are shaped by social constructs and social inequalities. Attending to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requires understanding of where social constructs come from, how they shape us, and how we shape them. It also means analyzing how systems and institutions exercise power in ways that often lead to inequities. Interacting with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion involves a process of moving from distrust and distance, through curiosity and wanting to learn, to synthesizing views and other ways of knowing and being without judgment. Acting on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion requires examining our values and beliefs and engaging with the world in ways that are consistent with those values and beliefs.

Guiding Questions

• What are my identities? What values and beliefs come from my identities?
• What social constructs influence my identities and my concept of self? How do these social constructs come about?
• How do I navigate and/or resist the social constructs that have been assigned to me by others?
• Where can I find new opportunities to learn from others without judging them?
• How do institutions and systems exert power to create or perpetuate inequities?
• How do my actions embody my values and beliefs?