Diversity and Inclusion Efforts that Really Work (PDF)

This article focuses on potential solutions instead of challenges to DEI efforts in organizations. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, the article offers five evidence-based suggestions for actionable places to start in planning DEI work.

(May 2020, HBR)

• diversity
• inclusion
• equity
• evidence-based
• bias

Fostering a Culture of Inclusion for Employees (Video + captions)

This video provides a summary of techniques for individuals to foster a culture of inclusion at work with their colleagues and managers, including self-directed thought exercises and questions that can be used in discussion with others.

(August 2020, MediaCentral)

• active listening
• inclusion
• communication
• collaboration
• empathy

We Are Not a Melting Pot (Video)

This TED covers concepts of unconscious bias and the ways in which they influence harmful behavior.  It includes reflections on ways to interrupt bias and discrimination in ourselves and others.

(November 2018, ted.com)

• unconscious bias
• communication
• racism
• discrimination
• coaching

How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace (PDF)

The article focuses on a set of 10 interviews with black women in the corporate world and shares their experiences working there. It describes a pattern of low support, code switching, covering, and unfair criticism.

(March 2018, HBR)

• covering
• code-switching
• diversity
• inclusion

Tackling Systemic and Structural Inequities in Higher Ed IT: A Primer on Beginnings (PDF)

This article from EDUCAUSE provides definitions of general DEI topics, explains why being aware of these concepts is important, and provides a list of actions individuals can take to challenge systemic and structural inequality issues.

(April 2023, EDUCAUSE)

• introduction to DEI
• accountability
• inequity
• injustice
• systemic inequities
• structural inequities
• DEI primer
• unconscious bias

Belonging Series 2: WHAT MAJORITY MEN REALLY THINK ABOUT D&I And How to Engage Them in It (PDF)

This report (part 2 of a 4-part series) reflects on the concept of "majority" populations in the workplace (in this case, men), and how to encourage engagement in DEI efforts from persons in the "majority" role at work.  It includes exercises, personal reflections, and learning takeaways for the reader about the value of dedicated DEI work, and ways to encourage others to participate.

(August 2020, Center for Talent Innovation)

• DEI primer
• inequity
• majority persons
• bias
• learning
• coaching

Challenging the Image on Equity and Equality

(Oct 2018 - Medium)

• defining equity and equality
• defining DEI

The Standards We Choose (Video)

This podcast episode describes the concept of casuistry (unsound but perceived as “clever” reasoning to get what you want), especially around hiring and professional promotion.  It gives hypothetical and specific examples of this in practice, wherein people decide who they want (or certain biased standards) first, then backfill the qualifications to justify the decision.

(June 2018, Youtube.com)

• bias
• unconscious bias
• casuistry
• hiring

Verna Myers: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them (Video)

The way to combat harmful biases is not to ignore them or pretend they don’t exist.  Rather, the speaker suggests that we should acknowledge our biases, seek to understand them in ourselves, and lean into behaviors that will combat them.  This specifically includes moving toward and getting to know people against whom we are biased, if we do so authentically and from a genuine place of wanting to be a positive force in others’ lives.

(December 2014, Youtube.com)

• antiracism
• bias
• unconscious bias
• behavior
• relationships
• diversity
• inclusion

The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap (PDF)

The earnings difference between men and women is a well-known and documented fact in the US. This article by the Pew Research Center links data from research studies in order to describe and explain why women earn a lower wage than men in the same categories - focusing on education levels and parenthood - but also considering race, types of occupations, and trends in the labor market. It details historical changes from 1982 through 2022 and shows a slow-down in progress for the last 20 years.

(March 2023, Pew Research Center)

•  gender pay gap
• pay inequality
• salary gaps
• gender wage gap
• gender workplace inequality
• equal pay

STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes (PDF)

This article shares the results and process of a study which found that professors who believed intelligence was a static property in a student resulted in significantly lower grades for minority students than those who believed students could “grow” their intelligence. Many of the professors have tenure and weren’t choosing to give lower grades.

(February 2019, Science)

• bias
• teaching practices
• racism

Black Workers Really Do Need to Be Twice as Good (PDF)

Black employees tend to receive higher levels of criticism and scrutiny from their white managers and colleagues, meaning that smaller mistakes have a bigger impact on their upward mobility at work, contributes to stress and burnout, and creates an unfair disadvantage for Black employees simply by nature of their Blackness.

(October 2015, The Atlantic)

• Systemic racism
• bias
• employment bias
• hiring

Systemic Racism Explained (Video)

This video provides a background of redlining and the long-term impact it continues to have, as well as a quick summary of implicit biases and the result of school funding coming from property taxes.

(April 2019, Youtube - Subtitles Included)

• systemic racism
• implicit bias
• redlining

What Systemic Racism Means And The Way It Harms Communities (Audio)

In this interview, Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want To Talk About Race, discusses what systemic racism is, how it impacts society, and what one can do to try to eliminate these practices from our systems. This resource is available as an audio file and a transcript for flexibility and accessibility.

(July 2020, NPR - Transcript Included)

• Systemic racism
• Racism
• Equality
• Biases
• Dissempowerment
• Police VIolence

Interrupting Sexism at Work: What Drives Men to Interrupt or Do Nothing? (PDF)

This report analyzes the reasons men respond or don't to sexism, what climates support interruption, and provides suggestions on what workplaces can do to improve.

(June 25, Catalyst)

Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome (PDF)

This article looks at imposter syndrome in women (emphasis on women of color but includes all women) not as an individual phenomenon, as it is typically framed, but instead as a product of systemic racism, sexism, and other biases that exist in the workplace. The takeaway is to “fix bias, not women” – leaders need to create a culture that addresses systemic racism and bias in a workplace that remains white/masculine/heteronormative.

(February 2021, HBR)

• imposter syndrome
• systemic bias
• racism
• organizational culture

Why Everyone Feels Like They’re Faking It (PDF)

Imposter syndrome is a more universal concept than some may know. It goes beyond self doubt and feeds on fear of being “found out.” Imposter syndrome happens more frequently when your aptitude is overestimated instead of underestimated. Imposter syndrome is also used as a way to frame systemic inequality as an individual pathology.

(February 2023, New Yorker)

• imposter syndrome
• systemic inequality
• belonging
• inclusion

It's Time to Break the Cycle of Female Rivalry (PDF)

While women often have to battle with overpowering men in the workplace, women colleagues can also negatively impact other women co-workers. Organizations thrive when teams are diverse. Only having one woman in a division or team is not diverse. Women should champion other women to succeed instead of fighting against them. This article gives examples of how women hold back their female colleagues and gives advice on how women can empower other women in the workplace.

(April 2020, HBR)

• inclusive culture
• sexism
• internalized sexism
• tokenism
• mentorship
• women in the workplace
• female rivalry

Stop Using ‘Executive Presence’ as a Reason to Not Promote Women (PDF)

Executive presence is used as a catch-all to represent what leaders should talk, look, and act like in such a way as to exclude women and people of color from leadership positions.

(September 2022, Chief)

• bias
• equality
• sexism
• authenticity

The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap (PDF)

The earnings difference between men and women is a well-known and documented fact in the US. This article by the Pew Research Center links data from research studies in order to describe and explain why women earn a lower wage than men in the same categories - focusing on education levels and parenthood - but also considering race, types of occupations, and trends in the labor market. It details historical changes from 1982 through 2022 and shows a slow-down in progress for the last 20 years.

(March 2023, Pew Research)

• gender pay gap
• pay inequality
• salary gaps
• gender wage gap
• gender workplace inequality
• equal pay

Feminism and the Future of Library Discovery (PDF)

This paper discusses the various ways in which the practices of libraries and librarians influence the diversity (or lack thereof) of scholarship and information access. We examine some of the cultural biases inherent in both library classification systems and newer forms of information access like Google search algorithms, and propose ways of recognizing bias and applying feminist principles in the design of information services for scholars, particularly as libraries re-invent themselves to grapple with digital collections.

(April 2015, Code4Lib Journal)

• libraries
• feminism
• bias

Women in the Workplace study: the State of Women in Corporate America (PDF)

This report focuses on how the pandemic and social issues have changed what women leaders want from their companies, including more advancement opportunities, flexibility, employee well-being, and a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Women in leadership are leaving their positions at the highest rate ever because the needs mentioned above are not being met and because they are not getting promoted into leadership positions at the same rate as men. For gender equity to happen, companies need to invest more into getting women into leadership roles and retaining the women they already have by doubling down on goals, outcomes, and accountabilities for organizational change.

(2022, Lean In)

• women
• leadership
• remote/hybrid work
• DEI
• bias
• advancement
• management

What’s Really Holding Women Back? (PDF)

(March 2022, HBR)

• Gender
• work/life balance
• Organizational challenges
• Advocacy to Leadership

All of work? All of life? Reconceptualizing work-life balance for the 21st century (PDF)

This article calls for a reconceptualization of work-life balance to take into account broader and more contemporary definitions of “work”
and “life” than traditional caregiving (life) and single-employer, in-person (work) situations. Broadening these categories and doing research
studies to include other aspects of life (e.g. hobbies, education, religion, culture) and work (e.g. gig and zero-contract employees, teleworkers,
self/family-employed) would allow HR administrators and organizations to align research with contemporary social/economic trends, focus on
positive impacts of work-life balance, align with organizational and governmental policies, and overall provide better work-life satisfaction for employees. 

(Aug. 2018, Human Resource Management Journal*)

*Note: Need to be signed in to Wiley Online Library with NetID to access the article online

• work-life balance
• situationist approach
• subjectivist approach
• flexible work
• remote work
• telework
• gig economy

Remote work and work-life balance: Lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic and suggestions for HRD practitioner

This article examines how the desirable image of remote work has been challenged by the involuntary nature of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors examine literature about remote work prior to the pandemic and review 40 empirical studies examining work-life balance during the pandemic. They use the person-environment fit theory to conclude that a fit between remote workers’ expectations and the remote work environment increases work-life balance and leads to positive professional and personal outcomes, and they recommend strategies that Human Resource professionals can use to support remote work and employee work-life balance.

(Mar. 2022, Human Resource Development International*)

*Note: Need to be signed in to Routledge/Taylor and Francis with NetID to access the article online

• remote work
• work-from-home
• telework
• work-life balance
• person-environment fit
• ethics of care

Flexible work is feminist - and women won’t return to a system that hasn’t served them well to spare the feelings of powerful men (PDF) 

Despite the push for more in-person work (largely by men), women and other underrepresented genders have greatly benefitted from remote work and have made strides toward gender equality in the workplace. For these groups, remote work contributes to less burnout and more career advancement, as well as a greater sense of belonging, psychological safety, and fewer microaggressions. To make remote work stay, companies need to reimagine the “ideal” worker as one who has responsibilities outside of work and invest in policies that promote gender equality and improve the workplace. 

(May 2023, Forbes)

• remote work
• flexible work
• hybrid work
• career advancement
• mommy track
• pink collar

Will Remote Work Undermine Diversity Efforts? (PDF)

Studies have shown that for people of color and women especially, remote work has been beneficial in terms of minimizing microaggressions, code-switching, and tending to family care. However, this article warns that companies need to be intentional about remote and hybrid work culture so that these groups do not get left out of promotion considerations due to “proximity bias” of those in the office. Remote/hybrid work can help companies meet DEI goals by diversifying applicant pools if location is not an issue. Managers can also be more intentional in supervising hybrid teams by getting training in and implementing workflows and norms so that no one gets left out and there is not a “two-tier” system of employees.   

(June 2022, Society for Human Resources Management)

• remote work
• hybrid work
• proximity bias
• microaggressions
• intentionality
• code-switching

What is proximity bias? (PDF)

This article talks about proximity bias, a tendency to favor the people we’re physically closer to, and its effects on hybrid work environments post-pandemic. The article explains the psychology behind proximity bias and gives examples in different contexts. Overall, it offers strategies to overcome proximity bias in order to create more equitable workplaces.

• proximity bias
• remote work
• hybrid work
• flexibility
• code-switching
• digital-first systems
• equity

Authenticity: Who You Are is Non-Negotiable (Video)

Description from YouTube: "Target's Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer & Vice President of Human Resources Caroline Wanga explains why authenticity is critical for success. She shares her keys to being exactly who you are, while advancing toward senior leadership."

(April 2020, YouTube.com)

• authenticity
• success
• advancement 

Kenji Yoshino: Diversity Does Not Mean Having to Choose Between Identity and Inclusion (Video + Transcript)

Yoshino argues that Diversity and Inclusion in organizations often means Diversity OR Inclusion, as people find themselves “covering” or adjusting their true identities to conform to mainstream behaviors in order to be included. A study found that 45% of straight white men reported “covering” some part of their identity at work, which puts them inside rather than outside of the inclusion paradigm. This kind of paradigm shift allows for diversity and inclusion work to move forward in organizations. 

(Big Think)

• covering
• passing
• diversity and inclusion
• identity

The Librarians are Not OK (PDF)

The author describes "passion jobs" in the context of library professions, and the ways in which these sorts of jobs are at risk for burnout, exploitation of employees, and low morale long-term, and what can be done to address this.

(May 2022, SubStack)

• burnout
• librarianship
• workplace morale

Emotional Labor and Burnout: A Review of the Literature (PDF)

This article provides a breadth of research and cited articles on what burnout is, what emotional labor is, and the research that’s been done on linking the two.

(March 2018, NLM)

• burnout
• emotional labor

Agile Doesn't Work Without Psychological Safety (PDF)

This article covers suggestions and techniques about how to enable folks to be vulnerable during the agile process.

(February 2022, HBR)

• agile
• vulnerability

Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams (PDF)

This article aims to test the hypothesis that psychological safety in team makes learning easier or more effective, which then improves performance. To test it they surveyed and then watched a variety of teams to see how their psychological safety affecting their learning behavior. They found that learning behavior is a strong predictor of performance, that a team’s history matters in shaping psychological safety, and that psychological safety improves learning behavior.

(1999, SageJournals)

Research: To Excel, Diverse Teams Need Psychological Safety (PDF)

Diversity of perspectives on teams leads to innovation but can also slow down performance. Teams can only reap the benefits of a diversity of perspectives in their work if they operate with psychological safety (the ability to share ideas, make mistakes, raise concerns without fear of being called out or rejected for doing so). Leaders must foster a team environment of psychological safety, and here are some tactics to do so (including methods for creating a learning environment, enabling communication, etc).

(March 2022, HBR)

• diversity
• psychological safety
• teams
• communication
• tactics

The Manager’s Guide to Inclusive Leadership — Small Habits That Make a Big Impact (PDF)

This article contains an overview of tools and tactics that managers can use to promote inclusion and equity within their teams and throughout an organization, including methods for communication about difficult topics, and addressing microaggresions.

(FirstRound)

• inclusion
• equity
• tactics
• microaggressions
• communication

Leading in a Culture of Inclusion for Managers (Video + captions)

This video provides a summary of leadership techniques that foster a culture of inclusion, including self-directed thought exercises and questions that can be used in discussion with others.

(August 2020, MediaCentral)

• leading
• inclusion
• communication

How to Speak Up as a Group at Work (PDF)

This advice column contains tactics and for ways in which people can bring a shared concern up to those in a position of leadership in their teams and/or organizations.

(Februray, 2018, Ask a Manager)

• strategy
• empathy
• leadership
• communication
• collaboration

3 Types of Meetings — and How to Do Each One Well (PDF)

The article goes over classifying “gatherings” as transactional, relational, or adaptive. It then goes on to describe how each can be executed and when you might want to hold that type of meeting.

(September 2022, HBR)

• process
• meetings
• organization
• remote work

Womenintech: Beyond Salary Negotiation Process How To Not Lose Your Head (Video and PDF Slides)

This talk at Code4Lib 2017 discusses the job seeking process from interview to acceptance with an emphasis on maintaining confidence throughout in order to get what you deserve out of a job offer. Emphasis is on learning how to know what/how to negotiate, what non-monetary benefits to keep in mind, and focusing on self-care as you go through this process.

(March 2017, PDF Slides; Youtube presentation, starts at 2:05:00)

• interview
• negotiation
• salary
• wage gap
• self-care

Why Do Employees Quit on Their Bosses? Because They Never Get Asked These Important Questions (PDF)

This article outlines an important reason why people leave their current jobs. People want to be engaged in their work, know their tasks have purpose, and want to have opportunities to learn and grow their knowledge and skill-sets. If managers are not having personal 1:1 conversations with their staff to learn project updates, discussing accomplishments, and finding learning opportunities, then staff will feel disengaged and will tend to look for other employment opportunities.

(July 2017, Inc.)

• staff retention
• staff satisfaction
• manager post-hiring actions
• advancement
• management
• manager/employee relationship
• studies

Navigating Identity as Part of Your Leadership Practice (PDF)

This article identifies concepts including identity awareness (including self awareness), code-switching, and authentic leadership.  It offers strategies for fostering a culture of inclusion around individuals' identities at work.

(June 2017, CRE)

• inclusion
• identity awareness
• code-switching
• authenticity
• communication

Care, Code, and Digital Libraries: Embracing Critical Practice in Digital Library Communities (PDF)

There’s a disconnect between the people who develop digital library applications and those who use these systems. There is a large amount of care work involved in shepherding users and community members through our applications; this work needs to be built into a project’s mission and evolution as much as tech/coding work. We need communal ways of - and a greater swath of people involved in - knowing, practicing, and doing this work in order to build more inclusive applications that reflect the communities they represent.

(February 2019, In the Library with the Lead Pipe)

• ethics of care
• open source
• open access
• digital libraries
• digital repositories
• digital scholarship

Leading with Compassion Has Research-Backed Benefits (PDF)

Leading with compassion (empathy linked to actions) is beneficial not just for the colleagues receiving that compassion, but also to the person practicing compassion. This compassion needs to come from an authentic place, however if so it can help reduce burnout in oneself and one’s colleagues, contribute to employee retention in a significant way, and make for a healthier workplace and team dynamic.

(February 2023, HBR)

• compassion
• empathy
• belonging
• leadership
• relationships

11 Harmful Types of Unconscious Bias and How to Interrupt Them (PDF)

This brief blog post presents definitions of terms related to unconscious bias, and interrupting these patterns of behavior at work.

(January 2020, Catalyst)

• unconscious bias
• belonging
• communication
• discrimination
• hiring

Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions at Work (PDF)

This article provides definitions of behaviors at work considered microaggressions, the negative impacts on individuals at work who are subjected to this behavior, and recommendations for behaviors that leaders can adopt to respond when they see this behavior.

(May 2022, HBR)

• microaggressions
• leading by example
• communication
• bias
• discrimination

How to Intervene When You Witness a Microaggression (PDF)

This article covers definitions of microaggressions that people can face at work, especially women, focused on the findings of two studies.  It includes information from the study and presents recommendations for ways to intervene and interrupt this behavior.

(September 2022, HBR)

• microaggressions
• bias
• sexism
• discrimination

• marginalization
• racial equity
• salary
• wage gap
• communication
• leadership
• racism
• microaggressions
• allyship
• coaching
• advocating for diversity in the workplace
• fostering DEI
• workplace culture

Calling Out Racism, Supporting a Black Manager, and Other Questions with Michelle Silverthorn (PDF)

Readers of the “Ask a Manager” column, posing questions about DEI topics which are answered by Michelle Silverthorn - Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Founder & CEO of Inclusion Nation. Topics revolve about how to have conversations in the workplace including how to support underrepresented people, how to stop harmful language, and diversity in hiring.

(January 2022, Ask a Manager)

• DEI in the workplace
• advice about DEI situations
• supporting DEI
• supporting underrepresented colleagues
• advocating for diversity in the workplace
• fostering DEI
• workplace culture

How to Identify — and Fix — Pay Inequality at Your Company (PDF)

Employee salaries are the largest part of any company’s budget. Pay inequality happens in many places, paying women and people of color less than white men. Companies should perform a Pay Equity Audit (PEA) on a regular basis, then adjust compensation accordingly in order to help alleviate inequalities in pay. The audit involves gathering clean data related to job titles, grades and duties, then analyzing this data with education, experience, and training. This audit will need to happen periodically, to avoid pay discrepancies later with staff turnover. Performing a PEA is “culturally imperative” and is becoming something to do in order to avoid litigation with new state laws.

 (November 2020 - HBR)

• gender wage gap
• race wage gap
• wage differentials
• equal pay for equal work
• gender inequality
• race inequality

What Are Pronouns and Why They Matter

This page presents the concept of pronouns and why it is important to respect and use them.  It outlines behaviors that are important like not guessing at pronouns, and the harm that is done by ignoring them.

(June 2022 - Pronouns.org)

• pronouns
• inclusion
• ally ship
• communication

Best Practices for Using Pronouns in the Workplace

Pronouns are an important part of a person’s identity. Using pronouns can help with a feeling of inclusion and belonging for everyone. This resource can help one understand why and how to use pronouns as well as what to do when you misgender someone.

(April 2021 - ADP)

• pronouns
• inclusion
• ally ship
• communication
• mental health

Why Pronouns Matter

Pronouns are an important part of a person’s identity. Using pronouns can help with a feeling of inclusion and belonging for everyone. This resource can help one understand why and how to use pronouns as well as what to do when you misgender someone.

(October 2022 - NEA Today)

• pronouns
• inclusion
• ally ship
• communication
• mental health

General Principles for Reducing Bias (PDF)

This article provides four principles for reducing bias when talking about people and their personal characteristics.  It is supported by the inclusive language guide also from the American Psychological Association.

(July 2022 - American Psychological Association)

• inclusive language
• inclusion
• harmful language
• reducing bias
• implicit prejudice
• communication

Inclusive Language Guide - Second edition (PDF)

This is the American Psychological Association authored and curated language guide for writing, speaking, and educating.  It contains sections with explanations of terms related to inclusion as well as harmful language and contemporary alternatives to those harmful terms.

*Note this guide is long, but provides useful information on terms to avoid, why they should be avoided, and suggestions for alternative language.

(2023 - American Psychological Association)

• inclusive language
• harmful language
• communication
• microaggressions
• tactics
• glossary

Systemic Racism in Higher Education

This letter to Science is a call for faculty and staff of higher education to meaningfully engage in activities focused on ending systemic racism in higher ed. It provides a number of cited references to show the inequality faced by black, indigenous, and people of color. Further, it calls specifically for those members of higher education who are not BIPOC to do the work, as they hold the power.

(Sept 2020 - Science)

• call to action
• systemic racism