GRAD Guide to Diversity Statements

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Table of Contents

What is a Diversity Statement? P 3

Considerations before writing P 3

How do you craft your statement? P 4

Refining your Draft (things to avoid) P 6

Resources P 6

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It is a statement addressing past and/or potential

contributions to diversity through teaching, research,

and/or service. It is also a reflection of the values that

you hold in relationship to principles of diversity.

Increasingly, institutions of higher learning have

requested such statements for applications to PhD

programs, Postdoctoral positions and Faculty

appointments.

What is a Diversity Statement?

• Your understanding of diversity and inclusion (not stated literally)

• Your experiences that have shaped your understanding and values

• How you will create an inclusive community and/or classroom

• Consider the number of words/pages you are allowed

• Research the institutional commitment and values around diversity and

equity

• Do they have an institutional diversity statement?

• What programs and resources have they committed to diversity and

equity?

• Do their values align with yours?

• How could you contribute to the current initiatives or perhaps serve to

enhance their resources?

Considerations Before Writing

Worksheet: Statement on Diversity

What is your own philosophy and experience regarding diversity in higher education? You should

be able to articulate this clearly and concisely, but you do not need to write it out explicitly in your

statement. Instead, tell a compelling story about your experience with diversity and the ways in

which you might draw on that experience in your work as a scholar and educator.

Where to Begin? Know Yourself

Our identities can derive from the traits, characteristics, social categories, and life roles that make

up who we are, through our own as well as others’ perspectives. Importantly, our identities

influence what we see in the world around us and how we interact with it. Take a moment to

consider what identities you carry and how they come to bear on your work. Similarly, consider the

identities that are held by the people with whom you interact in your work.

▪ List your core identities, or those that are typically salient across most areas of your life.

▪ Consider your interactions with others at the University of Chicago. Consider your

interactions with others in this context whose identities are different from your own.

Describe a moment when an interaction with a person with a different identity led to a

reconsideration of inferences you may have made previously.

▪ Consider your interactions with others at the University of Chicago. Describe a specific time

you participated in an activity that was intended to increase the success of students from

underrepresented groups. If you have not had a chance to do this, describe a program you

know and why it is considered effective.

▪ Consider how your identity may help you empathize or connect with others whose

identities do not match your own.

Unpack your experiences and your ideas

We may or may not see how our identities influence our work or potential ideas of how to

engage diversity. Consider the questions below to understand some of the work you may have

already done or want to do in the future. Questions are from:

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/developing-and-writing-a-diversity-statement

Research & Scholarship

• Does your research/scholarship directly address issues of diversity, inclusion, or equity? If so, how?

• Does your research/scholarship address issues specific to marginalized groups? If so, describe the connection.

• Has your research/scholarship been shared with the community or public in a way that promotes access to

scholarship?

Mentorship

• Have you worked with any students in a mentorship or advisory capacity who are from marginalized

groups? If so, how did you help them identify and overcome barriers to success? Think about your

experience with research mentorship, teaching or tutoring, academic advising, and community

mentorship.

• If you plan to train undergraduates and/or graduate students in your future role, what efforts will you

make to recruit and retain students from marginalized and underrepresented groups?

Teaching

• How do you plan to serve a student body that is diverse in a multitude of ways? Think not just race,

ethnicity, and SES, but about age, religion, academic preparedness, disability, gender expression, or

other differences.

• How does your approach to course design take into account considerations of diversity? You may wish

to reflect on using a range of assessments, preventing bias in grading, diversifying course content, using

inclusive language in the syllabus and classroom, or utilizing student feedback to improve classroom

culture or tone. Try to generate at least one specific example of how your decision affects student’s

learning in your course.

• What do you do as a teacher that creates a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere? How do you ensure

that students in your class feel a sense of belonging?

• Does your discipline lend itself to dialogue about diversity? If so, how do you incorporate this dialogue

into your courses? Describe the impact of doing so on student learning and engagement.

• How do you ensure that your course readings and sources reflect diverse perspectives?

Service

• Have you participated in any service activities (e.g. university committees, symposiums, workshops,

volunteer work in the community) whose goals relate to diversity, inclusion, and equity? If so, describe

your experience. What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What skills did you build in the

process?

Drafting Your Statement

1. Start by telling the reader something about who you are. You might name an

important identity or identities, or your role within your family, or something that

makes you personally unique. Connect this to how you described your above.

2. Next, find a way to explain your strengths and experiences as they relate to diversity.

Perhaps tell a story about how difference or inequity manifests itself in your field and

the ways you may have helped struggling students succeed, participated in diversity

related programs or leadership opportunities, or shaped your research to include social

diversity.

3. Note something about the institution, the people with whom you will interact and how.

What contributions do you plan to make?

4. Finally, connect the ways you are willing to enhance diversity or achieve equity at the

institution to which your are applying, using very specific, concrete examples related

to your learning, teaching, research, or service and leadership.

Put all of these pieces together, and you’ve got a rough draft of a diversity statement. Be sure to ask your peers, faculty, and/or advisers at your institution review the

statement and then revise accordingly until you have a compelling, coherent, and concise narrative (typically one full page, single-spaced).

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• What is the utility of your story? Did you learn

something that will be reflected in your classroom? Is

this just a story about being around marginalized

people?

• Should I disclose elements of my personal identity?

• Limit use of census information unless it is truly relevant

to what you learned as a part of the experience.

Ex. I worked in a school that was predominantly

Black and low-income.

Was Black and/or low-income relevant? Is so,

retain the descriptors. If not, remove the

descriptors.

• Do not to create a narrative of self-congratulations for

being around people that are different from you.

• What initiatives and values of the institution align with

your values and experiences?

• Have you answered all of the questions in the prompt?

• Is there duplication in your teaching statement (faculty)?

Refining your Draft

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Diversity Statement Resources

Statement Advising and Review:

UChicagoGRAD Diversity and Inclusion, Dana Bozeman

Inclusive Pedagogy Education:

Chicago Center for Teaching (CCT), Cheryl Richardson

Writing Resources:

Little Red School House

The Writing Center

Service Opportunity and Education:

Civic Engagement, University Community Service Center

(UCSC)

UChicago Resources

Online Resources Resources

How to write a diversity statement:

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/01/25/how-

write-effective-diversity-statement-job-candidate-opinion

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/developing-

and-writing-a-diversity-statement/

Diversity Statement Examples:

https://physicalsciences.ucsd.edu/_files/examples-

submitted-diversity-statements.pdf