Setting Strategic Goals for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in CSIOP and Beyond

By Rachel Appiah and Aisha Taylor

We are excited to provide an update on the work we have been doing to set direction and move to action as CSIOP's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Standing Committee (2023/24). Our goal is to provide you with insights into our approach and in the development of an EDI strategic plan.

The Three-Legged Stool. At the heart of the EDI Standing Committee's mission is the three-legged stool framework, symbolizing the balance between engaging people in and outside of the committee; fostering inclusive and equitable processes with transparent decision-making and shared leadership; and steadfast commitment and prioritization of attainable goals and results.

Engaging People. The first leg of the metaphorical three-legged stool is people. Over the past year, the CSIOP EDI Committee has sustained momentum in our work through virtual committee-wide and small-group meetings. These gatherings typically begin with a land acknowledgement to honour the residing land of the speaker, wherever they are within Canada, and a brief conversation about what acknowledging the land means to the speaker and members of the committee. Acknowledging the challenges of busy work lives, semesters, and global news, meetings also begin with a check-in. This check-in often involves people briefly sharing how they are doing (e.g., one time, using an emotion wheel), providing valuable context as to how members approach our discussions.

Our Process. In addition to prioritizing people, our journey places significant focus on our process and how we work together to create our goals. Because we are dedicated to creating an environment where each person's feedback and ideas are heard, our committee uses a bottom-up strategy to encourage inclusive participation and decentralize decision-making authority for broader representation. Our feedback methods are comprehensive and varied. For example, in outlining our goals, the committee spent considerable time reviewing a SWOT analysis and Strategic Priorities developed by the 2021 CSIOP EDI Working Group. As we considered which strategies to focus on, our monthly virtual meetings became a platform for open dialogue, complemented by Google Jamboards (online boards in which participants can add their thoughts and/or questions anonymously) to uncover general thoughts and perceptions. Recognizing the diverse schedules of each of our committee members, meeting minutes are promptly shared on our shared drive, allowing members to review conversations they may have missed. Over time, we implemented other feedback channels, such as smaller Working Group meetings (in addition to committee-wide ones), Google Forms, and online (email) communication.

Results. After thorough discussions within our committee, we collectively determined that we would measure results within

five strategic priorities: 1) the internal structure of our committee, 2) education and outreach among academics,

practitioners, and those of marginalized identities, 3) promotion of an EDI and teaching lens in academia, 4) sharing

information on evidenced-based, anti-oppressive organizational practices, and 5) fostering two-way

communication.

Members expressed their preferences for each priority by joining its related Working Group and initiated

conversations about how they envisioned approaches to the work. By the end of summer 2023, each group had

formulated a purpose statement, goals, and a list of actionable items for the next year.

After some thought, the committee made a decision to consolidate the education and outreach (#2) priority with the

two-way communication (#5) one. Simultaneously, the practitioner group was put on hold, resulting in three active

working groups. This was done to optimize our resources, streamline our efforts, and ensure a more effective

approach to each respective priority.

After months of refinement, we are excited to share our Strategic Priorities, along with the purpose statement and

goal(s) for each.

Strategic Priority #1: Internal Structure

The members of this Working Group include Melanie Grier, Vincent Wong, and Aisha Taylor. The group’s purpose

is to develop and document the structures and functions of the Standing Committee, which are being developed with

the intention of maximizing the representation and participation of people with marginalized identities on the

committee. In this way, future members of this committee can build on what we developed, adapting and improving

it as needed to better foster EDI.

Within the Internal Structure Working Group, we hope to serve as a helpful model for CSIOP and CPA on how to

integrate EDI work into organizational structures. The main goal we have set is to develop recommendations and/or

draft statements for the following:

CSIOP EDI Commitment Statement for Executive Committee review and approval, to be posted on CSIOP’s

website – an external statement to share broadly

Purpose statement – an internal statement to guide our committee’s work

Charter – a document similar to by-laws, terms of reference, or an operating code, that outlines our ways of

knowing, doing, connecting, and being, including our purpose, internal communication norms, decision-making16

processes, membership composition, terms, & roles, selection process, leadership selection process, leadership

position descriptions, and working group processes

Strategic Priority #2: Education, Outreach, and Two-way Communication

The members of this Working Group include Samantha Hancock, Jocelyn Brown, Kemi Anazado, and Sara Murphy.

The group’s purpose is to bridge the gap between CSIOP and related areas (I/O psychology, Organizational

Behaviour, HR Management) to foster better communication between academics and practitioners across fields,

especially those with marginalized identities. Through these collaborations, we hope to see improved education and

evidence-based practice, as well as increased representation of Canada’s population in CSIOP and our profession and

opportunities relating to EDI.

This Working Group has developed three main goals for this area:

Create a communication strategy in collaboration with CSIOP Executive to promote EDI-related materials on a

regular basis (e.g., outreach to universities, social media, website, and newsletter).

Create a resource hub focused on EDI topics to allow for stronger outreach and communications.

Increase access to CSIOP membership for marginalized individuals.

Strategic Priority #3: Academia

The Academia Working Group members include Deborah Powell, Sandrine Poulin, Irina Doering, Elaine Atay,

Duygu Biricik Gulseren, Rachel Appiah, and Alvan Yuan. The group’s purpose is to promote an EDI lens in teaching

and research, improve student and faculty experiences, enhance the recruitment and retention of diverse students and

faculty, and encourage knowledge sharing by promoting and collating industrial-organizational related resources that

further improve EDI efforts within and across academic institutions.

This Working Group has developed one main goal for this priority:

Build, maintain, advertise, and evaluate an academic resource repository with a variety of EDI-related topics

(e.g., case studies, readings [including open access resources]), organized by topic or courses.)

Strategic Priority #4: Practitioners (currently on hold – see Call for Volunteers below)

This group’s purpose is to bridge the scientist/practitioner divide by increasing the understanding of how to approach

work from an anti-oppressive lens and not silo EDI work into one part of an organization, but weave it throughout.

Once a Working Group for this area becomes active, some ways to achieve this purpose will be to promote evidence-

informed organizational practices, communicate I/O EDI science and evidence in formats that are accessible and

digestible to I/O practitioners and non-I/O-trained EDI practitioners, and use engaging strategies to communicate

ways for I/O practitioners to incorporate EDI into their work.

Call for Volunteers.

As we refine and fulfill the goals in each strategic priority, we will continue to share updates with you. If you are

interested in participating in one of the three active Working Groups (1. Internal Structure, 2. Education, Outreach,

and Two-way Communication, and 3. Academia), please reach out to Aisha Taylor at ataylor@taylor-

madestrategies.com or Rachel Appiah at appiahr@uoguelph.ca We are looking for a few good people to help us reach

our goals! If you are interested in moving the Practitioner Strategic Priority forward, we would love to get that

Working Group going (please also email Aisha or Rachel).

Thank you for your interest, and if you have any comments or questions about our work, don’t hesitate to reach out.