Beyond Good Intentions: Strategies for Effective Equity Work
In three, interactive sessions, we introduce a framework to help participants analyze and critique common approaches to equity work. Participants will leave with a better understanding of why typical efforts fail and a roadmap to guide more productive efforts.
This cohort is designed for those who are committed to promoting equity in their local environments. While most approaches to promoting equity are grounded in good intentions, they often fall short in effecting substantial change. This shortfall is largely due to a lack of deep engagement with the complex, systemic nature of institutional inequity and an inadequate theory of change. In three, interactive sessions, we introduce a framework to help participants analyze and critique common approaches to equity work. Participants will leave with a better understanding of why typical efforts fail and a roadmap to guide more productive efforts. A key focus of the sessions will be on introspection and dialogue. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own roles in perpetuating inequity and engage in meaningful conversations about strategies for promoting equity at both the departmental and institutional levels. By the end of the series, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges inherent in equity work and leave with ideas to guide their efforts in making a tangible impact in their respective institutions, departments, and research groups.
The cohort sessions will be on Thursdays, March 4, March 11, and March 18, 2027, from 3-4:30 p.m. ET each day.
Core competencies:
- Departmental climate and culture
- Leadership & organizational change
Charles Henderson, Ph.D., is a professor of physics and director of interdisciplinary STEM education at North Carolina State University.
Melissa Dancy, Ph.D., is an associate professor of physics at North Carolina State University.