September 2023

On September 18–19, AERA participated in the Societies Consortium on Sexual Harassment in STEMM annual convening, “Advancing the Future of STEMM: Transforming the Threat of Gender/Race Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Retrenchment into an Opportunity for Systemic Change.” AERA plays a major leadership role in the consortium, which launched in February 2019.

The meeting highlighted three areas for Societies Consortium members:

• Neutralizing the DEI backlash; catalyzing ecosystem-wide progress toward gender; and intersecting racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEMM.
• Exploring strategies for how societies individually, and through the Consortium, can empower graduate student and early-career leaders of marginalized gender and race to advance a future of STEMM equity, ethics, and excellence.
• Focusing on courageous, transformative, and ethical leadership, and pivoting from principles to policies to concrete and sustainable action.

The meeting was co-chaired by AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine and Billy Williams, executive vice president for ethics, diversity, and inclusion at the American Geophysical Union.

The meeting kicked off with a keynote talk, “Taking Action to Defang Gender/Race DEI Backlash,” given by Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), with moderated conversation with Shirley Malcom, AAAS senior advisor and director, SEA Change.

Several panels also included discussion on actions that STEMM organizations have been taking to work toward a more inclusive STEMM workforce, including collaborations, cultivating leadership in early career professionals, and effective communication strategies. In addition, AERA Past President Na’ilah Suad Nasir (Spencer Foundation) and AERA members Lorelle Espinosa (Sloan Foundation) and Kimberly Griffin (University of Maryland, College Park) highlighted the needed research agenda in a time of legal and political challenges to gender and racial equity.

“The discussions and idea sharing at this convening came at a pivotal moment for the scientific community and the country,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine.  “In light of efforts to target DEI initiatives and the recent Supreme Court decision impacting college admissions, it is even more crucial that researchers and research institutions redouble their efforts to develop an inclusive STEMM workforce.”

Additional information on the Societies Consortium is available on its website: https://societiesconsortium.com/