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Striving to EnsureÌýEquitabilityÌýandÌýInclusivity inÌýFacultyÌýHiringÌý

The Environmental Studies Program (ENVS) at the University of Colorado Boulder is dedicated to integrating the principles of inclusive excellence into its faculty-hiring process.

Below, you will find our Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Faculty Hiring. Whether or not you are serving on a hiring committee for ENVS, we hope you will find this resourceÌýuseful.Ìý

ENVS is committed to redressing disparities in representation in academic professions. An important part of this projectÌýis acknowledgingÌýand working to dismantle systemicÌýwhite supremacy. Please see ourÌýStatement on Condemning Racism.

Underrepresentation andÌýOverrepresentationÌýinÌýAcademic Communities

Inclusive faculty-hiring protocols are intended toÌýaddress structuralÌýinequitiesÌýresulting in the underrepresentation of certain social groupsÌý(read differently as the overrepresentation of certain social groups) in academic workplaces. Social categories considered hereÌýincludeÌýbut are not limited to:

• PeopleÌýwho identify and/or are profiled as BIPOC
• PeopleÌýwho are disabledÌýand/orÌýdifferently abled
• PeopleÌýwho identify and/or are profiled asÌýfemale
• People who identify and/or are profiledÌýasÌýLGBTQIA+Ìý
• People who are socioeconomically disadvantagedÌý
• Members ofÌýsocially marginalized and/or devoutÌýreligious communities Ìý
• People whose physiological attributesÌý(e.g., weight, height, pigmentation, voice, etc.) doÌýnot align with societal standards/ideals
• People who enter the job market at an older-than-typical age
• People whose first language is not English
• People whose nationality/citizenship status is subject to social stigmatization

For a list of social categories protected under CU Boulder's Discrimination and Harassment Policy, please see this link.

It is important to note thatÌýwhere each underrepresentedÌýsocial categoryÌýis concerned,ÌýrepresentationÌývaries across the academyÌýas well as within differentÌýdepartments/programs, colleges/universities, and academic disciplines/fields.Ìý

ENVS faculty-hiring bodiesÌýwill comply with university policy and state and federal law. Ìý

Intersectionality

Members of underrepresentedÌýgroupsÌýdo not encounterÌýdiscrimination in a uniform manner.ÌýHistorical circumstances have, for example, resulted in different expressionsÌýof racism toward—and different experiences of racism by—membersÌýof different groups that have beenÌýracialized "non-white." People with certain manifestations ofÌýphysical and/orÌýneurological differenceÌýexperience greater/lessÌýsocial acceptanceÌýthan people with otherÌýmanifestations ofÌýphysical and/orÌýneurological difference. An individual who enters the job market at the age of forty-fiveÌýmay encounterÌýless age-related discrimination than someoneÌýwho is a decade or two older. These are just a few examples of the myriad ways in which the effects ofÌýinstitutional inequityÌývary in relation to individual members ofÌýunderrepresented groups.

Furthermore, underrepresentedÌýsocial categories are, of course, not mutually exclusive. People who are gendered female do not shareÌýa universalÌýexperience of gendered discrimination. In fact, genderÌýbiases often intersectÌýwith racism to produce compound expressions/experiences of discrimination. Likewise, people who identify as LGBTQIA+ may also be membersÌýofÌýother underrepresented social categories. The same can be said for people who are differently-abled. Again, these are just a few examples of the many ways in which intersectionality shapes self-identification and social profiling.Ìý

In addition, socioeconomic status affects opportunity in powerful and complicated ways. The socioeconomic disadvantageÌýis often a product of historical disparities in access to resources—disparities thatÌýdisproportionately affectÌýmembers ofÌýmarginalized ethnic and/or racializedÌýgroups.Ìý

In other words, social identitiesÌýare layered.ÌýIn the lived experiences of individual applicants, adversity and privilege can intersect and overlap. To counteractÌýsystemic inequities that have resulted in the overrepresentation of privileged social groups in academic professions,Ìýeffective hiring committees mustÌýremain cognizant of this complexity.

The Necessity of Implementing Institutional Safeguards to IncreaseÌýFaculty Diversity

Enhancing equitability and inclusivity inÌýfaculty hiringÌýis not simply a matter of meaning well. At every step in the hiring process, structural advantages/disadvantages and implicit biases threaten to undermine the efforts of even the most well-intentioned hiring committee. Overt discrimination can also come into play. It is therefore incumbent upon hiring authoritiesÌýto adopt protocolsÌýat every stage of the hiring processÌýto counterÌýinstitutional barriers to inclusivity, equitability, and faculty diversification.Ìý

Our Commitment

The Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder has identified strategies that hiring committees can employ to address problems that arise throughout the hiring process. At the top of this page, in our Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Faculty Hiring, you will find protocols for each of the eight phases in the program's faculty-hiring life cycle. Please explore this content to better understand how discrimination and structural inequityÌýaffectÌýfaculty hiring and what the Environmental Studies Program is doing to combat the widespread overrepresentation of privileged perspectives and underrepresentation of socially marginalized groups in academic professions.