In your own research
We saying: If one uses the term “we” they should consider who is included in that “we”. As a heuristic, when using an unqualified “we” one should imagine one is addressing an audience exclusively made up of people from underrepresented groups and intends the “we” to include them.
Appeals to intuition that are just WEIRD dogma: Related to ‘we saying’ is the tendency to identify certain beliefs as “intuitions” that “we all share” when in fact they are just beliefs that are typical in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies (Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan).
Inclusive credit: When the arguments or concepts that one is using or defending have been articulated and employed by non-Westerners, intellectuals that are otherwise often considered marginal (e.g., Indigenous theorists, feminists, theorists of race, queer theorists, disability theorists, etc.) one should read, cite and critically engage that work.
Diversity in your research: Look at your reference lists and consider who you cite. If all your citations are of work by white men this may mean that implicit biases or structural discrimination are affecting your research. As a heuristic, look to have at least one third of your references by members of underrepresented groups or from non-European or non-mainstream (i.e., Indigenous, feminist, queer, disability, or critical race) perspectives. If you achieve this, aim for half.
Research projects with others
Inclusion with influence: When working in research partnerships one should be sure not to exploit members of underrepresented groups. This includes not giving them adequate credit for their ideas and their work and leaving tedious academic grunt work (such as proofreading or reference checking) to them. Certain members of overrepresented groups, e.g., men or white women, have a tendency to overestimate their contribution to various projects, while certain members of underrepresented groups will under-estimate their contributions. It is good to embark of collaborative work with this in mind.
Credit: Questions about credit and authorship for shared projects are often difficult to negotiate. This is further complicated by the fact that senior academics, typically members of overrepresented groups, often have professional status and connections that help projects get up-take with audiences and publishers, which incentivizes junior academics to work with them. Address questions about authorship and workload explicitly and early with an awareness of the role of status and power. Those with status and power should be concerned not to exploit it.
Multiple paths for inclusion: Accommodating people with different abilities and various life complications requires a certain amount of inventiveness and openness. Research and Teaching and Learning projects should be structured to avoid ways of subtly excluding people.
Journals
Given the importance of the gatekeeping role of journal editors and the prevalence of implicit biases, journal editors should take steps to address discrimination against members of underrepresented groups and support their success.
Desk rejections: As a rule, when they are able to identify authors, journal editors should not desk reject members of underrepresented groups or work by academics from countries outside the Global North. This is a way of addressing implicit bias.
So, you want to diversify your journal: Over the years, journals acquire reputations for being uninterested or actively hostile towards certain approaches or certain groups. Journal editors are encouraged to notice if their journals lack diversity in either the authors who are publishing there or the topics and subdisciplines that are addressed. Editors of high profile journals have a particular obligation to address this question.
Things that can be done to address a lack of diverse authors:
- If your journal publishes special issues, plan special issues that target subjects that members of the underrepresented group in question tends to publish on
Things that can be done to address a lack of diverse topics:
- Ask someone who works on that topic to guest edit a special issue of the journal