The SPSSI Diversity Committee supports the inclusion and professional development of diverse and underrepresented scholars, as well as scholarly work on diversity, inclusion, and equity issues. As such, the Committee oversees the selection of diversity travel award recipients for the SPSSI conference, organizes special group meetings at conferences (e.g., SPSSI and APA), and looks to develop other initiatives to support diversity within SPSSI. Below are the activities undertaken by the Committee thus far, this academic year:

SPSSI Conference Travel Awards
The Diversity Graduate Student Travel Award offers up to twelve (12) awards, in the amount of $500.00, to underrepresented SPSSI graduate students, for travel to the annual summer conference. The Undergraduate Conference Travel Funding Program awards up to five (5) conference registration waivers to undergraduate students, where preference may be given to students from underrepresented groups. This year, our committee reviewed 150 applications (86 Graduate, and 64 Undergraduate), from both domestic and international students. We consider many factors in selecting the awardees, including level of financial need and presentation details such as diversity focus, acceptance, and number, as each applicant receives three (3) independent reviews of their materials.

Mentoring Event
During the SPSSI conference on Saturday June 28th, we will host a Mentoring Event, in coordination with the Graduate Student Committee, where seven (7) table topics such as “conducting policy-relevant research”, “working at a teaching focused institution”, and “strategies and resources for social justice teaching and doing DEI/B work in the current political climate” will be discussed and addressed by two (2) mentors at each table. This event has traditionally been a wonderful opportunity to have personal and informal conversations around pertinent member-driven themes regarding our professional spaces.

Interactive Discussion
Finally, our committee will be hosting an Interactive Discussion at the SPSSI conference on the prominence of equity in the current political climate. Together, with participants, we aim to explore the meaning of equity, the challenges and barriers to achieving it, as well as ways to address public misunderstanding of equity initiatives. We will look to facilitate conversations as psychologists employed in different institutions across research, practice, and policy areas related to education and sociolegal rights for the disenfranchised. We welcome all who wish to share the challenges faced at their respective organizations of education and work, to foster strategies for continuing social justice work. Pragmatically, we will seek actionable takeaways - to empower attendees, to advocate for and implement equitable solutions.

Please consider joining our Committee, to help support representation of not only culturally diverse communities, but also the research, practice, and advocacy related to these communities.

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