Diversity Chair

Diversity Chair

I am honored to step into a new role for Division 50 this year, as your Diversity Committee Chair. I am currently working to better understand where we are as an organization in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion across multiple arenas, including membership, representation in research, and general Division 50 policies. My goal is to work both within our own division and across APA divisions to build a more inclusive and equitable Division 50 which fosters diversity of thought and perspectives across multiple domains. For example, according to our most recent APA reports provided to our esteemed Division 50 Membership & Program Chair, Dr. Susan Collins, our Division 50 population is approximately 60% male, 0.1% American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.8% Hispanic/Latinx, 2.5% Asian, 1.6% Black/African American, 0.8% Multiracial; and 0.7% under 30. As Dr. Collins noted in her introduction as Membership Committee Chair, we need to do better in terms of engaging ECPs and non-male identifying folks from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. And, focusing on membership is just one facet to increase our representation. We also need to be encouraging a diverse research portfolio that addresses these issues in our programming, as well as continually examining our Division 50 policies and practices to ensure that we are moving forward in an inclusive and equitable way. Luckily, Dr. Collins (Program Chair and Membership Committee Chair) and I have a long history of successfully working together to address some of these issues in our work together over the past 13 years.

I have been deeply appreciative of those of you who have reached out to share your thought and ideas thus far (still getting my bearings-thank you for your patience), particularly members of the CPA Diversity Committee. THANK YOU! I would love to hear from more of our membership about what you see as your top priorities for this committee moving forward (seemac@uw.edu). Also, we are recruiting committee members, so please join us in these efforts. Finally, I have created a 3-5-minute anonymous survey to garner a snapshot of what you all feel should be top priorities for our committee as we set our priorities for this year (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y5Q92QJ). I look forward to working with you all to create a Division 50 that we are all proud to be a part of and can serve as a role model for our fellow colleagues.