DEI Resources
The resources below have provided essential guidance in our efforts to promote DEI within our community and in higher education at large. We hope they will prove useful for all members of our community. We will continue to curate and expand the resources listed and welcome your thoughts on what to add!
Race in Biosciences: A Journal Club Series
The Social Issues in Biology (SIIB) journal club at Harvard Medical School (HMS) aims to provide a space for students, postdocs and staff to discuss how science impacts society and how society impacts science.
Following the success of the initial series, which was titled “Race in Academia”, it was carried forward into an online platform to broaden access to discussion materials.
The goal of the modules is to facilitate conversations that explore, engage and challenge our current understandings of and relationships with Race and Racism in the biosciences. These resources were developed with the aim of lowering the activation energy needed for groups to host these challenging discussions within their departments. The hope is that by enabling a bottom-up cultural shift, individual labs and social groups will be empowered to engage deeply with their understanding of Race in Biosciences and in Academia at large. If these communities feel equipped to translate their new knowledge into action, it will contribute to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice at Harvard and beyond.
Gender Equity and Sexual Harassment
SHARE Counselors are here to support individuals in processing experiences of interpersonal harm, including sexual assault, harassment, interpersonal partner violence, and stalking. Our staff also provides community engagement, educational initiatives, and preventative programming that strengthens individuals and our community in service of decreasing harm. (CONFIDENTIAL with few exceptions)
The Office for Gender Equity works to advance Harvard’s commitment to providing an environment where each of us feels safe to participate fully in University life—whether studying, teaching, conducting research, or working to support our individual and collective goals.
The Ombuds Office supports an ethical and civil culture, encouraging mutual understanding and resolution through respectful dialogue and fair processes.
The Anonymous Reporting Hotline operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is run by an independent, third-party provider. There are two ways to report: toll-free by calling 877- 694-2275 or you can submit a report online.
Allyship & Talking About Race
Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry (Southern Poverty Law Center)
This website provides a number of practical strategies for allies to call out and stand against bigotry in everyday situations. The content is conveniently organized into 36 sections, by situation (e.g., What can I do at work? What can I do about my own bias?)
Anti-racism and Allyship Journey (Stanford Graduate School of Business)
This resource provides a workbook for individuals to embark on a 7-day self-educational journey in anti-racism and allyship. The seven topics are: taking the pledge and thinking about race, unconscious or implicit bias, conversations across race, defining and applying anti-racism, identifying intersectionality, embracing allyship authentically, and creating an action plan.
Race, Research and Policy Portal (Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center)
This resource portal provides summaries of curated research articles and other publications related to racism, racial equality, and anti-racism. Users can search the portal by topic; this specific link takes visitors to search results related to allyship and microaggressions.
Allyship Infographic (Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
One-page infographic to share/post in labs that outlines key components of allyship: educating yourself, having conversations, reflecting, giving credit, supporting, and taking action.
Anti-Racism and Allyship Resources (Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
This document compiles Harvard and crowdsourced resources on anti-racism and allyship, organized into a number of categories such as recommended books, Harvard resources, helpful links about racism, and ways to take action.
Anti-Racism Training (Academics for Black Survival and Wellness)
This website provides video discussions related to the anti-racism training for non-Black academics that were offered in 2020. Topics discussed include: foundations for black survival and wellness, understanding anti-Black racism history and systems, appropriately applying intersectionality, white terrorism and black resistance, whiteness in academia, practicing Black allyship, and committing to Black liberation. The site also includes a list of recommended consultants to host trainings on these topics at individual institutions.
This brief guide provides guidance and resources for educators on how to discuss racial violence with students. More research-based guides can be found on the Equity in Graduate Education website.
Talking About Race Web Portal (National Museum of African American History & Culture)
This web portal provides educational resources to help educators, parents, or persons committed to equity, talk about race. Content is organized into seven topics: bias, community building, historical foundations of race, race and racial identity, self-care, social identities and systems of oppression, and whiteness.
Here you’ll find an excellent, downloadable glossary of key terms related to DEI work that can be used to ground one’s understanding and to facilitate important conversations. Essential reading for members of the community.
Microaggressions & Experiences of URM Colleagues in Higher Education
Davidson Microaggressions Project
This website provides an introduction to microaggressions and includes a number of examples of microaggressions experienced by students and faculty in higher education.
An article depicting Raven Baxter’s experiences of being a Black, woman scientist. Baxter is a molecular biologist and science communicator who is currently working towards a PhD in Education.
“For Black Scientists, the Sorrow is Also Personal”
An essay by medical doctor and neuroscientist Dr. Kafui Dzirasa about his experiences as an African American scientist in academia.
“Not all Scars are Visible: A Classmate’s Tale of Police Brutality”
An essay written by an anonymous Neuroscience PhD student at University of California, San Francisco about their previous mistreatment by police and the criminal justice system.
Equitable and Inclusive Practices
Avoiding Racial Bias in Letter of Reference Writing (University of California, Merced)
A one-page sheet with tips to avoid racial bias in letters of recommendation. Modified from the similar resource on Avoiding Gender Bias in Letter of Reference Writing from the University of Arizona.
This brief guide provides evidence-based strategies related to the equitable use of letters of recommendation in higher education. More research-based guides can be found on the Equity in Graduate Education website.
Healing from Racial Trauma & Wellness Resources for Affinity Groups
Black Survival and Wellness Resources (Academics for Black Survival and Wellness)
This website provides video recordings from a workshop series offered to Black academics in 2020. Workshop titles include: An Ode to the Ancestors; Existence and Resistance; Self-Care for Survival; Black-Owned Healing; Black Love, Advisors, and Expanding Connections (BAE); My Price Just Went Up; and Silence Will Not Save You. Information for free healing sessions offered through Kindred Medicine is also provided.
Community Spaces for Affinity Groups (Harvard Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging)
Provides a calendar and registration information for upcoming events for Harvard affinity groups. Open to members of the Harvard community.
Navigating Higher Education and STEM
This organization provides free mentorship and application help to students applying to medical or graduate school. A great resource for undergraduates, post-bacs, and research technicians planning to apply to medical/graduate school. Current medical/graduate students are encouraged to volunteer as mentors.
This organization provides a number of resources to aspiring scientists, including databases for fellowships, summer undergraduate research programs, post-baccalaureate programs; advice for applying to graduate school; and a graduate school mentorship program. A great resource for undergraduates, post-bacs, and research technicians planning to apply to graduate school.