DEI resources Archives

New CSCCE tip sheet highlights 12 guiding questions to improve the accessibility of your next virtual event

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed virtual events. Connecting online suddenly became the only way to convene groups large and small, for short meetings or multi-day conferences, and community managers often found themselves developing new meeting formats or learning to use new platforms and tools.

Fast forward to June 2023, and a lot has changed. Platforms have evolved (and sometimes dissolved), event organizers have mastered their own suites of engagement tools, and, as participants, we’re more seasoned (although “you’re on mute!” remains a frequent refrain in Zoom meetings!).

We’ve also gained a much deeper appreciation for what it means to host a truly accessible online event. While online events opened up spaces to many people who’d previously been excluded (e.g., through reduced registration, travel, or childcare costs), for others, it made it even harder to participate.

In a new resource we’ve been working on with community members Rebecca Carpenter, Sara Kobillka, Casey Wright, Yanina Bellini Saibene, and Hao Ye, we offer 12 guiding questions to help you think about the ways that you could improve the accessibility of your community events. And in this blog post, we share our three top tips.

DOWNLOAD THE TIP SHEET HERE

Inclusive language to support community building in STEM: A new “active glossary” grows from CSCCE collaboration

In October of 2021, CSCCE’s Lou Woodley and Katie Pratt hosted a session at the Inclusive SciComm Symposium to talk about inclusive language. As a result of that session, and several follow-up co-working sessions with participants and members of the CSCCE community of practice, today we’re releasing a new “active glossary” to support community managers as they work to build inclusive and welcoming communities in STEM.

You can read more about the session at the Inclusive SciComm Symposium here. In this post, we focus on the glossary itself, the process we employed to create it, and our plans for a larger glossary on all aspects of STEM community management.

DEI Special Interest Group call recap: Facilitating discussions around DEI

The Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion special interest group organises a series of interactive seminars on issues facing community managers who want to build equitable and diverse cultures in their communities and networks.

This guest blog post, written by Kate Baker and Emily Lescak, recaps the group’s 27 April 2021 seminar, in which 55 people from a range of countries discussed challenges and good practices in facilitating conversations around DEI.

The event consisted of a panel discussion, chaired by Janice McNamara, with panelists Arne Bakker, Yanina Bellini Saibene, Angie Bamgbose, and Vanessa Boon. The discussion was followed by a breakout session to explore the topics in more depth. Here is an overview of the questions discussed.

New virtual events resource alert! A DEI tip sheet and a new section of our Virtual Events Guidebook

This week we published two new free resources to help you with planning and delivering successful virtual meetings and events: a DEI tip sheet and the next part of our Virtual Events Guidebook. In this post, we tell you a little more about how these resources came to be, and ask you what you’d like to co-create with us next year.

DEI Tip Sheet: Captioning, subtitles, and transcription for virtual meetings and events

One of our recent Community Tools Trials focused on how to caption online events, making them more accessible to participants with hearing impairments, varying language fluency, or commitments that require them to multi-task. We discussed a variety of use cases, including captioning live events without incurring major time or financial costs and how to edit transcripts when an AI didn’t understand jargon or a speakers’ accent. This hour-long session, involving several knowledgeable members of our community of practice, highlighted that there was no one, easy-to-use guide available to help community managers or meeting facilitators choose between the tools or methods currently available. And so we created one!

April’s community call – Exploring diversity, equity and inclusion

Our next CSCCE Community Call is on Wednesday 22nd April at 2pm Eastern. Join us to discuss running inclusive online events and find out more about the CEFP 2019 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Project Team’s work.

This month we’ll include a breakout style activity as well as presentations during the first hour of the call, and then a 30 minute open discussion for anyone to share their thoughts and experiences.

*Join us for April’s community call on diversity, equity and inclusion considerations as a scientific community engagement manager. Image credit: CSCCE*

Address your bias, call BS, and broaden your networks: Interview with Monica Feliu-Mojer

As the CEFP 2017 cohort’s final installment in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) series, we interview Monica Feliu-Mojer, an award-winning PhD scientist-turned-communicator who leads communications and outreach for Ciencia … Continue reading “Address your bias, call BS, and broaden your networks: Interview with Monica Feliu-Mojer”

As the CEFP 2017 cohort’s final installment in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) series, we interview Monica Feliu-Mojer, an award-winning PhD scientist-turned-communicator who leads communications and outreach for Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), a global community of more than 10,000 scientists, students, educators, and allies transforming science education in Puerto Rico, democratizing science, and training young scientific leaders. Monica also works with the non-profit iBiology, leading science communication trainings and producing video stories that explore the intersection of the culture, identity, and research of underrepresented scientists.

Check it out: Monica is guest-editing a special issue on “Inclusive Science Communication in Theory and Practice” for Frontiers in Communications with Erika Check Hayden, Thomas Hayden and Raychelle Burks, inviting research papers, case studies and essays.

“Use books, not people” & other advice from a community building research librarian

Today we continue our series of regular posts for science community managers interested in diversity, equity and inclusion. This installment features an interview conducted by Rosanna Volchok, the New York … Continue reading ““Use books, not people” & other advice from a community building research librarian”

Additional series coordinators are Jennifer Davison, Urban@UW, University of Washington, Josh Knackert, UW-Madison Neuroscience Training Program, and Marsha Lucas, Society for Developmental Biology. You can find all of the posts in the series here.

Curating diverse content that represents your community

Today we continue our series of regular posts on the Trellis blog for science community managers interested in diversity, equity and inclusion. This installment was authored by Marsha Lucas, Society for Developmental Biology, Melissa Varga, UCS Science Network Community Manager and Partnerships Coordinator, and Josh Knackert, UW-Madison Neuroscience Training Program. Additional series coordinators are Jennifer Davison, Urban@UW, University of Washington, and Rosanna Volchok, The New York Academy of Sciences. You can find all of the posts in the series here.

For the scientific community manager who values diversity, equity, and inclusion, seeking out diverse content and diverse content creators is of utmost importance. Your content strategy, whether for written (e.g., blog posts, discussion threads), visual (e.g., videos, social media posts), or in-person gatherings (e.g., journal clubs, conferences), is an expression of what your community values.

Create a space for your community's stories to be told. Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/microphone-performance-stage-2574511/ — Create a space for your community’s stories to be told.
Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/microphone-performance-stage-2574511/

Here are five tips for broadening your community content.

Resource rabbit hole: Part I

Today we continue our series of regular posts for science community managers interested in diversity, equity and inclusion. This installment was authored by Josh Knackert, UW-Madison Neuroscience Training Program. Additional series … Continue reading “Resource rabbit hole: Part I”

Today we continue our series of regular posts for science community managers interested in diversity, equity and inclusion. This installment was authored by Josh Knackert, UW-Madison Neuroscience Training Program.

Additional series coordinators are Jennifer Davison, Urban@UW, University of Washington, Marsha Lucas, Society for Developmental Biology and Rosanna Volchok, The New York Academy of Sciences. You can find all of the posts in the series here.

Through our roles as community managers, and especially during our preparation for this series, we came across lots of great resources, examples, and tools. We will intermittently highlight these in a recurring segment we’re calling the Resource Rabbit Hole. While our posts are never meant to be a deep dive, we certainly like to encourage readers and collaborators to learn as much as they can about these topics. We hope these posts will help you delve further into areas that you find especially interesting. Also, feel free to share your favorite resources with us at info@www.cscce.org.

What resources have you found useful? Image Credit: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5307228 — What resources have you found useful?
Image Credit: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5307228

Co-intentional Co-mmunications: Strategies for creating true inclusive communities

Today we continue our series of regular posts on the Trellis blog for science community managers interested in diversity, equity and inclusion. This installment is an invited guest post from Yasmin Marrero, Program Assistant, Global STEM Alliance, The New York Academy of Sciences. Series coordinators are Jennifer Davison, Urban@UW, University of Washington, Marsha Lucas, Society for Developmental Biology, Josh Knackert UW-Madison Neuroscience Training Program, and Rosanna Volchok, The New York Academy of Sciences. You can find all of the posts in the series here.

As a first-generation Latina and neuroscientist by training, I have been in few spaces where I could talk freely of my emotions and my experiences without fear of exclusion or misalignment from my community—allowed to be my whole self. More often, I was in communities where I was only able to be seen and valued by things related to my work, forcing me to disconnect and inhibit other parts of myself. It was in the communities where I could be my whole self and coexist with others that my work truly transformed: my creativity thrived, my research enhanced, my connections and relationships flourished.

How are you creating inclusive communities? Image credit: Taomeister https://www.flickr.com/photos/taomeister/36417528694/in/photostream/ — How are you creating inclusive communities?
Image credit: Taomeister
https://www.flickr.com/photos/taomeister/36417528694/in/photostream/