Equity and Justice Committee
Our mission is to advocate for and support policies and procedures within the NC State Department of Psychology that promote equity, inclusion, and social justice.
Vision
We envision a diverse, just, equitable Psychology Department where all feel respected and included, and experience a clear sense of belonging. We envision a department that is committed to respecting and promoting diversity and inclusivity as an ongoing action; recognizes and challenges existing power structures; empowers students, faculty, and staff from historically marginalized groups to have an equal voice in decision-making processes within the department; and engages in ongoing reflection, growth, and development related to equity, inclusion and social justice.
Values
The committee believes that it is vital to support all members of the department who face oppression because of race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexuality, socioeconomic status, marital status, and language. We do so by holding dear the values of:
- Belonging: We aim to foster a community in which all members feel safe, valued, heard, connected, and accepted.
- Well-being: We know that we cannot thrive as a community without attention to all members’ well-being, including psychological, emotional, physical, social, and economic well-being.
- Accountability: We strive to be attuned and responsive to the needs and priorities of all members of the Psychology Department, particularly members who face systemic oppression. We do so by practicing personal and collective reflexivity (e.g., examining our positionalities in this work; continuing to educate ourselves), being transparent about our actions and plans, actively soliciting feedback, and setting realistic and timely goals.
- Transparency: We believe that accountability cannot exist without transparency. We practice transparency in our work by sharing topics covered in our monthly meetings, communicating about our actions and goals, and aiming to uncover departmental-level processes and procedures.
- Intersectionality: We recognize that systems of oppression often intersect to create compounded patterns of exclusion and disadvantage. We aim to address this complexity of inequity through our work.
Strategic Priorities
NC State University provides a list of goals within a Strategic Plan. Our work falls under Goal 4: Champion a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and well-being in all we do.
NC State believes that institutionalized inequality and racism is unacceptable in our nation and state, and on campus. We commit to creating systemic and sustainable change across the university that improves our campus culture and empowers NC State to be a truly inclusive, safe and supportive environment for all. As an institution, we must ensure an equitable, accessible and welcoming environment so that all members of the Wolfpack community – specifically those in under-served populations – feel safe, respected, valued, protected, and a sense of belonging in every corner of campus. We will work to ensure diverse perspectives are embraced at all levels, in all processes, and through all decisions. We will work to promote the health and well-being of our campus community. We seek to invest our minds and our hearts at the individual level, and our capacity and resources at the institutional level, in order to bring about and sustain needed change in a way that champions equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and well-being at NC State.
In addition, the Psychology Department Equity and Justice Committee has adopted the following strategic priorities:
- Gathering quantitative and qualitative data from our graduate students and faculty;
- Identifying and building awareness of existing inequities within the department;
- Advocating for meaningful changes to address these inequities at the departmental and college level; and
- Providing relevant opportunities for students, staff, and faculty to grow in their own understanding of equity, inclusion, and social justice.