Binaural Hearing and Speech Lab Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

To address historic injustices such as the legacy of racism in the United States, recent tragedies like the police murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and the predominately White, male- dominated culture of academia, the members of the Binaural Hearing and Speech Lab identified a need to draft a statement to

1) express publicly our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within our lab and related communities and

2) share our action plan for actively pursuing and reflecting on our progress toward our lab’s goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We are committed to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our lab and all our spheres of influence.

We define diversity as the range of identities that impact and influence how people behave and how they are perceived and treated. These include but are not limited to ethnicity, race, age, gender, religion, color, disability, language, dialect, sexual orientation, education, socioeconomic status, and values.

We define equity as when individuals are treated fairly based on what they need, which also requires active removal of barriers and imbalances of power. Equity means individuals are provided the resources they need to have access to the same opportunities.

We define inclusion as when all members feel that they are part of the intricate fabric of the lab community and feel welcome, heard, and included.

Scientific discovery flourishes in a lab whose members’ diverse backgrounds inform their inquiries. This happens when we recognize lab members’ identities and personal histories while striving to make our peers feel included, respected, and welcomed.

We are committed to a culture in which all our members treat each other respectfully and work together to remove obstacles preventing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our research, education, and outreach.

Our commitment to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion requires collective and sustained effort to dismantle harmful patterns of bias, discrimination, and systemic racism. To bring this commitment into practice and create change in all our spheres of influence, it is important to recognize and address harmful patterns.

Systemic racism creates and maintains an illusion that all people are treated equally and equitably. In reality, systemic racism promotes systems that prevent diversity, equity, and inclusion and unduly benefit White people. Everyone in the community is harmed by systemic racism, including White people who fail to acknowledge and address the undue benefits and ongoing consequences of White Privilege, which directly perpetuates these policies of oppression. These systems cause disproportionate trauma, suffering, and inequities among historically racialized and minoritized people, including Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color (BIPOC).

Given the complexity of the impact of systemic racism, we will give an example by focusing on the stark disparities in the racial profiles of American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) members, which have persisted for decades.

Authors Mohapatra and Mohan (2021) compare data from 2020 ASHA membership with data for the general population from the 2019 US Census Bureau:

  • 80.7% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists identified as White compared to 76.3% of the general population
  • Only 3.1% of members identified as Black or African American compared to 13.4% of the general population
  • Only 0.2% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native compared to 1.3% of the general population
  • Only 0.1% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists identified as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander compared to 0.2% of the general population

Similar disparities persist in the ethnic profiles of ASHA members:

  • 84.3% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists identified as Not Hispanic or Latino compared to 60.1% of the general population
  • Only 5.3% of audiologists and speech-language pathologists identified as Hispanic or Latino compared to 18.5% of the general population.

Importantly, Mohapatra and Mohan (2021) highlight that systemic racism creates and maintains specific barriers to increased representation of Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color in these health profession programs. Strategic planning is required to recruit, include, and retain historically racialized and minoritized people.

As a lab, we have identified areas where lab members can make an impact in addressing systemic racism in academia and the science and professions of audiology, speech-language pathology, and related fields. We collaboratively planned objectives within these areas and action steps to address each objective during our academic year, including active reflection on progress and planning for the next academic year.

We believe that bias, discrimination, and systemic racism must end to achieve a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. Our commitment to ending systemic racism will lead to necessary immediate and long-term change across our spheres of influence.

As lab members, our spheres of influence include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) ourselves and our interpersonal relationships,

(2) institutions of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Waisman Center, the University Center for Excellence and Developmental Disabilities, the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department and other academic departments,

(3) national and international conferences on hearing science and our related research, and (4) outreach events in our communities.

This is a living document, to be regularly revisited and modified based on discussions in our lab meetings.

References:

Mohapatra, B. & Mohan, R. (2021). A Proposed Framework for Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Communication Sciences and Disorders Academic Programs: The REAP Model, Perspectives, https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_PERSP-20-00285.

As a lab, we have voted on and will commit to the following objectives and action steps for the 2021-2022 year:

Area 1 : Planning and accountability

Objective: to regularly revisit and evaluate our plans for our action plans, with focus on drafting concrete steps to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion
Fall 2021 steps:

Collectively review, approve, and commit to our statement and action plan

Collectively identify the first objective we will focus on and schedule multiple lab meetings to address progress toward that objective

Collaborating lab members will identify and communicate steps for before, during, and after lab meetings to address objective

Spring 2022 steps:

Evaluate and update our progress on the plan during January 2022 lab meeting, adjust and correct based on progress

Send poll to lab members to identify the next objective(s) we will address during the Spring 2022 Semester

Collaborating lab members will identify and communicate steps for before, during, and after lab meetings to address objective

Summer 2022 steps: 

Evaluate and update our progress on the plan during June 2022 lab meeting, adjust and correct based on progress

Schedule group and individual opportunities to revise and update DEI statement

Send poll to lab members to identify the next objective(s) we will address during the Summer 2022 Semester

Collaborating lab members will identify and communicate steps for before, during, and after lab meetings to address objective

Importance: We need to commit and recommit to the advancement of DEI in all our spheres of influence. We recognize the need for concrete action steps and active reflection to avoid gestures that are performative but do not actively work to dismantle systemic racism. Ongoing planning and accountability will create opportunities for BIPOC students and staff to give feedback without having to do all the work themselves.

Area 2: Training and mentoring

Objective: to formalize and improve upon the lab’s current practices for mentorship, with particular attention towards how to have functional interracial mentor-mentee relationships
Fall 2021 steps:

Develop and share a template for mentor-mentee compacts, to be signed by both parties

Assign a lab meeting to read and discuss resources such as:

Mentoring Minority Students

A Dozen-Plus Ways You Can Foster Educational Equity 

Have all mentors and mentees sign compacts

Spring 2022 steps:

Reflect on how mentor-mentee compact and reading discussions went in the fall; collect examples of what did and didn’t work and why; practice an anonymous feedback system if possible

Summer 2022 steps:

 Reflect on how mentor-mentee compact and reading discussions went in the fall; collect examples of what did and didn’t work and why; practice an anonymous feedback system if possible

Begin compiling mentorship handbook for new and current members of the lab

Importance: We need to commit and recommit to the advancement of DEI in all our spheres of influence. We recognize the need for concrete action steps and active reflection to avoid gestures that are performative but do not actively work to dismantle systemic racism. Ongoing planning and accountability will create opportunities for BIPOC students and staff to give feedback without having to do all the work themselves.

Areas of focus for future semesters as identified by our lab members: Click here for more information.