Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Our Mission and Values
The Department of Psychology at Tufts University views the creation and maintenance of a diverse and inclusive environment to be essential to rigorous thought, informed analysis, and scholarly excellence. Diversity presents itself in many different forms including (but not limited to): disability status, gender identity & expression, nationality or place of origin, political affiliation, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and unique work or life experience. Inclusion reflects a department climate that consciously values the heterogeneity of experiences, perspectives, and identities of a diverse community. As it is for any organization, realizing these goals of diversity and inclusion is a continuing challenge. We actively pursue these ideals for all members of our undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral, faculty, and staff communities through our recruitment, teaching, and research efforts, with particular emphases as follows:
- To encourage and support a diverse representation of undergraduate and graduate students in our courses and programs of study.
- To diversify the faculty, staff, and graduate student body through targeted recruitment efforts and to increase the accessibility of graduate study to historically underrepresented groups.
- To use theory and evidence to develop and expand initiatives that support and enrich the experience of prospective and current undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds.
- To advance diversity and inclusion through community building, education, and open dialogue for the undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral scholar, faculty, and staff community within Psychology and across the university.
We Value Mutual Respect Statement on Anti-Racism Ways to Support All Students
EDI Committee
The department's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee is charged with promoting our publicly stated departmental principles that we value mutual respect and equal opportunity and that the creation and maintenance of a diverse and inclusive environment is essential to rigorous thought, informed analysis, and scholarly excellence. The committee was established in June 2020 with a primary impetus being the acknowledgment that our department needs to be more explicit and proactive in our efforts to combat anti-Black racism. The committee's responsibilities include: asking questions and recommending potential answers regarding our department's commitment to being a safe and supporting environment for all groups and individuals; the assessment and remediation of anti-Black racism and all forms of bias in our department; developing concrete steps to increase the representation in our department of underrepresented racial minorities and other marginalized groups; strategizing as to how our department can establish and perpetuate a commitment to anti-racism at the level of the university and general society. The Committee is constituted of faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students. If you would like to know a bit more about the committee's activities and process, please visit our site.
EDI Announcements
March 2, 2022
Graduate Climate Interviews Report 2020-2021
In Spring 2021 the EDI Committee secured an outside expert to conduct interviews with current and former graduate students of color to get their sense of the department climate for graduate education and research. A report of the findings was presented to and reviewed by the EDI committee during Summer 2021, and presented to the department faculty in Fall 2021. With permission of the (anonymous) respondents, the full report is available here. The report includes several anecdotes reflecting challenges and opportunities for growth and improvement. Read more.