This GYA working group will continue as a GYA Committee from June 2025 onwards.
The group starts from the commitment that the GYA should work against all systemic bias that results in discrimination (be it due to race, caste, gender, sexuality, culture, age, etc.), and should look into best practices to combat systemic bias. This GYA group works to reiterate trust in fundamental human rights, in the self-respect and worth of the human in academia and other places without discrepancy in any of the above. A compilation of resources to actively combat racism and discrimination in academia is being created.
Despite legal protections of fundamental human rights all over the world, discrimination in various forms remains pervasive, including in academia.
The group looks into how systemic bias, which manifests in institutional practices as well as individual behaviour (i.e., microaggression), can be addressed by the GYA as an organisation internally, but also when interacting with our partner organisations.
The GYA Anti-discrimination Statement was the first output of the group.
This GYA working group had started as a GYA Focus Area in June 2020. At the e-AGM in June 2020, GYA members had discussed a number of topics and decided on three focus areas as priority topics for the GYA in 2020/21. In May 2021, the decision was made to continue with this group for the 2021/22 year, and at the 2022 e-AGM, GYA members again voted to continue this group for the 2022/23 period. It was transformed into a continuous working group in May 2023.
The GYA Anti-discrimination Statement was the first output of the group.
Suggestions for further activities are under development, and include:
As part of the 2024 GYA AGM, group members organised a workshop on “How Might Diverse Minds Come Together to Build a Future People Want? A workshop on foundational values for collaboration and supporting at-risk scholars” together with the GYA At-Risk Scholars group. The workshop introduced participants to the values of mutual respect and active listening, which underlie the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and meaningful collaboration with diverse people. Participants reflected on how such values might inspire their personal approach to intercultural communication and conflict resolution.
In April 2023, the group developed and organised the first-ever Inclusive Leadership workshop for GYA members and alumni, together with facilitators from Inclusive Innovation. The workshop aimed to foster reflection and understanding on how bias works, and allowed participants to practice inclusive leadership skills that can be applied in academia and other contexts. Read more here:
Inclusive Innovation | Fostering Inclusive Leaders: Designing A New Approach to DEI With The GYA
In September 2022, group member Monika Kędra gave a presentation on inclusion, diversity and equity at the GYA online event “Young and Global – A perspective on today’s challenges in science” together. This event was part of the Science Summit of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77). Read more about the session and watch the full presentation here.
In 2021/22, group members contributed to the development of the GYA Code of Professional Conduct, which was then approved by the membership at the Annual General Meeting in June 2022.
From January to September, co-lead Vanessa Schweizer (and GYA Rainbow co-lead Abhijit Majumder) served on the Advisory Board for the Nature-ISC Podcast “Science Diversified“.
From September to December, co-lead Vanessa Schweizer served on the ISC Steering Group for Combating Discrimination in Science.
In November, Episode 1 and Episode 2 of the Global Young Academy podcast “Voices of Young Scientists” were released. They feature GYA members and alumni from around the world discussing the inspiration and creation of the GYA Anti-discrimination Statement, as well as GYA members and alumni reading the GYA Anti-discrimination Statement.
In July 2020, the group published a GYA Anti-discrimination Statement as its first output.
