Fostering Diversity of Membership and Leadership in Psychology Teaching and Learning Organizations

Abstract

Many organizations dedicated to learning and teaching in the field of psychology struggle with diversifying and widening international representation. The drive for diversification of membership and leadership occurs as such groups increasingly prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In this paper, we offer evidence-based guidance on the benefits of increasing diversity in organizational leadership as well as the means to do so. Further, we share approaches from our organization, the US-based Society for the Teaching of Psychology, to expanding diversity, as well as gaps in equity and inclusion initiatives. We conclude by discussing the importance of all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives more generally within the field of the teaching of psychology and of advancing global psychology via psychology learning and teaching associations.

Introduction

As the field of psychology becomes increasingly diverse, the membership and leadership of psychology professional organizations, including those dedicated to psychology learning and teaching, have also diversified. Structured and purposeful diversity efforts may lag behind diversity represented in the field. These gaps are true with respect to racial and ethnic diversity (e.g., American Psychological Association, 2008), a situation also seen among nonprofit organizations from a range of fields (e.g., Smith, 2015). Moreover, researchers have noted gender disparity among leadership within academic societies in countries around the world, although there has been some improvement in recent years (Gruber et al., 2020; Potvin et al., 2018). Furthermore, other groups are underrepresented, such as international populations, including within our own organization.

There are numerous reasons for such underrepresentation. Eagly and Chin (2010) wrote about the barriers, including implicit and explicit discrimination, faced by members of underrepresented groups who strive to be leaders within their organizations. Such discrimination can impact potential leaders’ willingness to pursue such positions. Similarly, Fassinger and colleagues (2010), writing about sexual minorities in particular, discussed the stigma, both societal and individual but also internalized within the LGBTQ community, that can limit leadership opportunities.

Because of the many barriers faced by those aspiring leaders, organizations must be intentional about diversifying their membership to broaden the pool of future leaders. In this paper, we outline the importance of emphasizing diversity of leadership and membership as well as resources and initiatives within psychology learning and teaching organizations. We use the terms diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in order to describe initiatives within the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP). DEI involves separate but related concepts. The term diversity refers to a variety of demographic differences such as gender, race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation. Equity is achieved by dismantling structural inequities in organizational outcomes and in society as a whole. As an aspect of social justice, equity also involves fairness and justice in the distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges. Lastly, being inclusive means that all voices—including those of individuals with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, and intersecting identities—are represented at all levels of the organization. (Benjamin, 2015; Fuentes et al., 2020).

The authors—a current and former Vice President for Diversity and International Relations for STP—discuss relevant points from the scholarly literature about the benefits and challenges to implementing diversity initiatives. We argue for such efforts from a moral and ethical imperative to work toward more egalitarian organizations. We also offer evidence about the particular benefits of diversity and inclusion with respect to an organization’s goals. We explore ways to increase organizational diversity, particularly at leadership levels. We describe approaches to diversifying leadership within the field of teaching and learning in psychology enacted within our organization, STP, and emphasize the importance of diversification with respect to advancing the field of psychology globally. We draw conclusions based upon the relevance of such activities to the field of psychology learning and teaching.

Throughout, we refer to the case of STP, a US-based freestanding organization, that is also a division of the American Psychological Association (APA). The Society’s mission is to promote excellence in the teaching and learning of psychology through the provision of resources and services, professional development activities, and collaborations with the international psychology learning and teaching community. In 2010, STP restructured to create five vice president positions, including a Vice President for Diversity and International Relations, the role both co-authors have performed. The Vice President for Diversity and International Relations role is intended to promote diversity and international issues in all STP activities. After sharing experiences and recommendations based on the authors’ roles as vice president, we acknowledge and discuss the need to expand our efforts to foster equity and inclusion in the organization.

Importance of Diversification

Psychology learning and teaching organizations continue to diversify as the field itself becomes more diverse. Internationally, psychology programs and instructors teaching in those programs represent far more diverse social categories and demographics than in previous decades. For example, in the United States, the terminal degree for a psychologist is the doctorate; in 2015, about two-thirds of those who received a doctorate in psychology in the previous 10 years were white, and about one-third were from racial or ethnic minority groups, an increase in diversity over previous decades (National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2015). Moreover, psychologists worldwide are increasingly diverse in terms of their citizenship; 80% of the world’s psychologists were in the United States in the 1980s, but US psychologists are now estimated to account for less than a quarter of all psychologists, due to the hugely increasing numbers of psychologists in many countries around the world (Takooshian et al., 2016). In these regards, DEI strategies are necessary for organizations devoted to the teaching of psychology in the 21st century. Professional organizations are faced with the task of not only attracting a more diverse membership, including from an international perspective, but also retaining members in order to cultivate full participation and involvement within the organization.

At the same time, there are implicit pressures against diversification. A more diverse and inclusive group may have a wider range of expectations and approaches, which can be challenging. In the business world, this challenge often leads hiring managers to seek people who are perceived to be a good fit with the existing workplace culture, rather than to do the work to diversify the group (Corritore et al., 2020). Evidence that people from diverse backgrounds tend to have different leadership styles may exacerbate a perception of a lack of fit, even though these different styles may actually benefit an organization (Eagly & Chin, 2010). Related to this, research suggests that organizations may overlook varying leadership styles based on different cultural backgrounds and overly emphasize “what leaders do rather than what they bring to leadership roles” in terms of their identities (Fassinger & Shullman, 2017, p. 936; see also Miville et al., 2017; Pedersen & Pope, 2010; Vasquez, 2017). As a result, groups often expand by adding people who are similar to those involved in the selection process. For example, with respect to gender, research within academic societies has shown that although most organizations have a gender disparity in favor of men, those with more women in leadership positions are more likely to elect additional women as leaders (Potvin et al., 2018). It is imperative that leaders in psychology organizations become aware of biases, develop an explicit goal of diversification of membership and leadership, and regularize the process of diversification through the development of both policies and norms.

The good news is that diversification is not just the right thing to do. Diversity and inclusion initiatives are valuable in that they can help move an organization toward equity, provide role models, and lead to changes in leadership models. French and colleagues (2020) convincingly argue that diverse leadership is an important part of “radical healing” among racially minoritized communities. Diversification can also improve an organization in concrete, measurable ways. Numerous studies have demonstrated that diverse and inclusive teams—including in culture, ethnicity, and gender—show greater success on a range of measures, including accuracy and innovation (Cooke, 2015, Díaz-García et al., 2013; Levine et al., 2014; Nathan & Lee, 2013). In other contexts, diversity and inclusion are correlated with faster decision making, and increases in sales, numbers of customers, and profits (Herring, 2009; Hunt et al., 2015). Research specific to leadership has demonstrated that diversity in gender, age, country of birth, career background, and educational focus is linked to measures of innovation in an organization (e.g., Lorenzo et al., 2018). Although much of this research has been in non-academic settings, such trends have been observed across a range of companies and other organizations. There is no reason to believe that these findings would not apply within higher education generally, and within academic societies more specifically.

Diversity includes but is not limited to characteristics such as race, ethnicity, linguistic differences, gender, sexuality, religion, and other forms of sociocultural identity. Many organizations seek (and achieve) diversity through recruitment practices. Most practices are aimed at attracting members from backgrounds that are different from the existing demographics within the organization; however, efforts to retain individuals from diverse backgrounds are equally important.

Initiatives focused on recruiting members from underrepresented groups can improve an organization’s demographic diversity. Recruitment strategies may include collaborations with similar or related organizations that serve a more demographically diverse membership. For psychology learning and teaching organizations, creating relationships with psychology departments at institutions serving diverse populations can also be an effective outreach strategy. When utilizing recruitment strategies to improve the organization’s demographic diversity, it is important to keep in mind that diversity also requires implementation of strategies for inclusion. New members from underrepresented groups will more likely become long-term members and feel at ease within an organization that welcomes the full involvement of all members, including in the organization’s decision-making process (Leon, 2014).

The Case of STP

Diversity in STP

STP has engaged in several efforts to increase diversity (although there is clearly much more that we need to do). Here, we offer examples of initiatives that have forwarded diversity in four primary areas—structure; leadership; resources and support; and programming and events.

In terms of structure, we noted earlier that both authors have served as the Vice President for Diversity and International Relations. Two committees report to this vice president—the Diversity Committee and the Committee on International Relations. Both committees are involved with numerous diversity and international initiatives, including many that we describe below. At times, this structure of STP means that diversity initiatives are siloed to some degree, but we believe that high-level leadership focused on diversity is important. Indeed, research suggests that a built-in structure, such as a diversity manager or task force, is more successful in increasing diversity within an organization than are other strategies, including affirmative action or diversity training (Dobbin & Kalev, 2015). Some researchers speculate that such structures provide accountability and oversight that can encourage consideration of diversity by all members of an organization. Despite this structure and related improvements in diversity, we have not made strong strides toward equity and inclusion; therefore, we have initiated a 2021 task force to examine the overall structure of the institution with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and offer suggestions for possible changes.

Related to this, STP, under the 2020 leadership of our President, Amy Fineburg, developed a plan to create a process for members to create subgroups within the larger organization for those who share interests or experiences. The groups will focus on the context or the content of teaching. For instance, a group may include instructors from institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and another may focus on teaching of courses about diversity or multicultural topics. These may also take the form of “mentoring networks” to help members of underrepresented groups work toward their professional goals (Neville, 2015). We hope that those groups aimed at particular areas will provide a “home” within the organization for interested members and lead to greater inclusion.

Second, we have worked to promote diversity in leadership positions. Potvin and colleagues have argued that academic societies are better situated to increase the numbers of women in leadership positions and, by extension, increase diversity more generally than academic institutions such as universities (2018). These researchers cite the nature of leadership positions in academic societies; people typically self-select to run, they are elected, and there is high turnover due to the short-term nature of these positions. For all of these reasons, academic societies may be relatively less hidebound and more flexible.

Within STP, we have instituted several measures to increase diversity in leadership. We became more active in encouraging members of underrepresented groups, particularly those already actively involved as members of committees, to consider seeking leadership roles. The editor of STP’s journal, Teaching of Psychology, recently allocated several positions on the editorial board to those with expertise in a particular setting. The editor and the Diversity Committee reviewed applications for four new consulting editors, one each with experience at HBCUs, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges, and in an international setting.

We also changed our language so that most “nominations” for grants, awards, or leadership positions are now “applications.” Even though members were encouraged to self-nominate, we heard concern from members that the word “nomination” made it sound like someone had to put forward their name. There is a long history of discrimination in academia among nominating bodies, particularly for awards. For example, with respect to awards across a range of fields, including science and medicine, research has found that men are more likely to receive nominations than are women with a similar profile and record (Lincoln et al., 2012; Morgan et al., 2017). And an APA report outlined racial and ethnic disparities among the leadership of psychological organizations, most of which rely on nominations and elections (2008). We believed that a shift to the less value-laden term “application” would be more welcoming and increase our applicant pool. Thus far, we have not collected demographic data on applicants across grants, awards, and leadership positions; however, we plan to do so in the future as part of our newly instituted DEI-related assessment initiatives.

In addition, like many other organizations, we developed language that is now, as part of our policies and procedures, attached to all calls for committee members, leaders, awards, and grants: “STP encourages applications from colleagues at all career stages who are from underrepresented groups and have diverse backgrounds and experiences.” STP is just one organization, so this observation is decidedly anecdotal as well as correlational, but we have seen some increased diversity among our leadership in the last 10 years. Our observation is backed by research. A recent study of 202 academic societies around the world found that organizations with a statement affirming the goal of gender equality tended to have a higher proportion of women in their leadership (Potvin et al., 2018).

As we noted, we realize that we need to increase our tracking of demographics of applicants and leaders. With respect to the STP Executive Committee (EC), we have seen an increase in Black, Indigenous, or person of color (BIPOC) leaders. Since the restructuring of the organization in 2010, we dropped from having either two or three BIPOC leaders out of 10 EC members for 3 years, to having no BIPOC leaders for 6 years. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, we again have had two BIPOC leaders. EC members tend to serve for multiple years, so these BIPOC members represent six out of 35 leaders (17%). In the 10 years prior to the restructuring, only one out of 16 leaders (about 6%) was BIPOC. Despite these gains, the current percentage of BIPOC leaders of STP (17%) is lower than the overall percentage of BIPOC members of STP (38%).

With respect to gender, since the 2010 restructuring, either five or six EC members (out of 10) have been women; as of 2019, seven out of 10 EC members have been women. All of these percentages have been close to the 57% of women in the organization. It’s important to add that the restructuring led both to term limits and to limits on how many EC positions someone may hold. Therefore, prior to restructuring, more people held multiple different positions over the years than after the restructuring, leading to broader representation in our leadership more generally.

Third, we strive to provide relevant curriculum resources and support. STP has a long tradition of providing peer-reviewed, practical resources for instructors. Many of these resources target courses with an explicit focus on diversity (e.g., Psychology of Gender, Cultural Psychology). Others are related to the infusion of diversity-related topics across the curriculum or the development of a deeper awareness of diversity that affects our identities as instructors, our interactions with our students, and our pedagogy (http://teachpsych.org/page-1603066#diversity). In 2017, STP launched a project to add international syllabi to Project Syllabus, a peer reviewed compilation of model syllabi for psychology courses which undergo a peer review process prior to publication. Additionally, the Diversity Committee spearheaded a monthly diversity column in the STP newsletter. STP also recently developed an annual teaching award for teachers of psychology engaged in the promotion of DEI. Finally, the editor of our journal, along with the Diversity Committee, appointed guest editors for a special DEI issue in 2021.

Fourth, we worked to enhance diversity with respect to programming and events. For example, we tried to raise awareness of the importance of diversity among invited and keynote speakers. Too often, speakers are invited one by one, without consideration of the diversity of the group as a whole. At times, this has led to a distinct lack of diversity among the high-profile speakers at a conference. We now aim to explicitly consider a conference or panel as a whole. Relatedly, we have increased the amount of funding for awards for international conference travel for any of our awards—that is, if someone applies for, say, the Early Career Travel Grant for an international teaching conference, they will receive a higher level of funding to facilitate the increased expenses they will incur. We also have added an award explicitly for international conference travel for someone from the United States or Canada to travel outside of those countries, or for someone from outside of the United States or Canada to travel to teaching conferences in the United States or Canada (http://teachpsych.org/grants/InternationalTravel.php). In this way, we hope to expand our members’ opportunities to network.

Related to this, we have expanded our support of international conferences. In 2016, we created a new position, a Director of International Programming. The Director’s goal is to organize sponsorships of international teaching conferences, such as the pre-conference Teaching Institute at the International Convention of Psychological Science. The Director then represents STP at that conference to recruit new members. STP offers free one-year memberships to new members who sign up at the conference. Unfortunately, STP’s retention of the members who joined at conferences has been less than we hoped. For example, for 2019, for those teaching at international institutions, only one out of 32 renewed for 2020; for those who signed up at an international conference but teach at a US institution, 19 out of 34 renewed. Despite this, our international membership has increased slightly in recent years, from 6.8% in 2013 to 7.5% in 2020 (out of about 3,500 members in 2020). Moreover, attendance by STP leaders at international conferences has strengthened connections between STP and similar organizations internationally (e.g., the European Society for Psychology Learning and Teaching and Australian Psychology Learning and Teaching).

The Need to Address Equity and Inclusion

Most of STP’s DEI initiatives thus far have related most directly to diversity. Equity and inclusion both denote a step beyond demographic diversity, and one that STP’s initiatives have historically addressed in mostly an indirect way. Equity refers to fairness with respect to access to opportunities and resources, and inclusion involves actively developing a culture in which everyone feels that they belong. Systemic inequities exist across the field of psychology as well as within STP. According to a 2017 APA report, 62% of STP members identified as white. In the same report, 84% of STP Fellows, a competitive and prestigious status within the organization, identified as white. In terms of leadership, in its 75-year history, STP has only ever had two Presidents of the organization who were BIPOC, both since the Vice President for Diversity and International Relations position was created. Moreover, in STP’s history, only 10.8% of candidates for and 14.8% of elected members of STP’s Executive Committee have been BIPOC members. These types of systemic inequities must be addressed in addition to recruiting and retaining diverse members and leaders at all levels of the organization, as well as to foster a climate of inclusion more generally within STP.

In summer 2020, STP’s Executive Committee approved a statement on addressing systemic racism and inequity in STP (http://teachpsych.org/Addressing-Systemic-Racism). The process of creating the statement was a journey from an initial draft that was performative and defensive in nature, contrary to our stated intentions, to one that was described by the APA (which must approve our statements) as “strong and compelling.” The necessary shift, outlined by current STP president Amy Fineburg (http://teachpsych.org/President-Letter-Blog/9202650), was directly due to frank and constructive feedback from the Diversity Committee, led by Teceta Tormala.

Now that STP has been explicit about our DEI-related goals through our statement, we must actively foster change. One possible way to address such inequities would be to develop resources targeted at members of underrepresented groups. These resources might include mechanisms aimed at leadership development specifically for members of underrepresented groups (Renninger et al., 2015). For example, several US organizations have developed initiatives aimed at recruiting and training diverse leaders, including APA’s Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology, the Society of Counseling Psychologist’s Leadership Academy, and the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) National Mental Health Leadership Mentoring Program (Hewitt et al., 2017; Kearney et al., 2018; Phillips et al., 2017).

Inclusive practices seek to ensure that all members are able to fully contribute to the organization. Developing the organization’s capacity for inclusion can be differentiated from simply achieving a demographically diverse membership. In inclusive organizations, all members are able to both access the organization’s benefits and resources as well as involve themselves in the organization’s ongoing development. In general, inclusivity denotes a member’s ability to add valuable insights and influence the decision-making process of an organization (Roberson, 2006). Inclusion strategies are systemic changes that take time, and represent change at the organizational, interpersonal, and individual levels of an organization (Daya, 2014).

The distinctions between diversity and inclusion are important. In some cases, organizations achieve demographic diversity without taking the required and necessary steps to promote inclusion. For instance, some institutions may have historically deprived people from underrepresented groups of membership. Another possibility is that changes in the demographic composition of an organization may evolve due to changes in the profession rather than concerted efforts on the part of the organization to promote diversity. In such cases, inclusive practices can be especially beneficial. In these cases, organizations can be assertive about including members from diverse groups in the development and decision-making processes.

For equity and inclusion, purposeful and well-thought-out strategies are important predictors of success. Leon (2014) describes several additional strategies for promoting equity and inclusion in organizations. Relevant strategies for psychology learning and teaching organizations include education efforts, communication initiatives, organizational accountability, and research activities.

Equity and inclusion in STP

STP's diversity strategies outlined above—related to structure, leadership, resources and support, and programming and events—are most directly related to increasing demographic diversity. In some cases, they also increase inclusion and equity. For example, diversity among our leadership—whether as chairs of various committees, Executive Committee members, or consulting editors for the journal—leads to a wider range of voices in decision-making. As another example, increases in funds for international travel leads to more diversity at conferences, but also hopefully increases a sense of belonging among non-US members and equitable remuneration, given the greater expense of overseas travel. And interest subgroups (e.g., for those at HBCUs, those teaching courses relate to diversity) might increase a sense of inclusion among members.

Equity and inclusion, however, have not been explicit organizational goals for STP, but rather side benefits of policies aimed at increasing diversity. STP now needs to think more directly about how to increase inclusion and equity—to, in the words of Neville (2015), “identify practices that create silence and inequality” (p. 168). We need to act out our Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP. We need to ask and answer questions about whether our members from all backgrounds have access to all opportunities within the organization (equity) and whether they feel that they truly belong to STP (inclusion). We may discover that there is equity and inclusion in some areas, but we will be able to highlight where we fall short across the organization. These questions necessitate a program of assessment of both what we’ve been doing and any outcomes that arise from changes we implement. We’ll now explore assessment related to DEI in organizations.

Becoming aware of the organization’s current state of diversity, equity, and inclusion is one of the first steps to building an effective strategy for equity and inclusion. Gathering this type of institutional research will help the organization understand (1) the nature of diversity within the organization, and (2) appropriate areas of focus for inclusion initiatives. Collecting information about the demographic constitution can be useful to the organization. Other strategies include focus groups or targeted interviews with members from underrepresented groups. Overall, achieving a full picture of the organization’s strengths and areas for improvement in terms of diversity and inclusion is an important first step. Adequate DEI measures are designed to help the organization measure success in specific areas. For instance, if the organization agrees to achieve certain DEI goals within a specific timeframe (e.g., 2 years, 5 years, 10 years), it is important that measures for success have already been identified and are implemented at the end of the assessment period. In this way, the organization is able to evaluate its progress and subsequently develop new plans or goals as required. This type of DEI accountability can be accomplished through strategic planning and development within the organization.

Using educational initiatives within an organization in order to promote equity and inclusion may involve a number of different activities. For instance, the organization may foster dialogue among or between different groups within the organization, such as between organizational leadership and specific committees working on equity and inclusion strategies. Another useful strategy includes training or workshops designed to help membership understand DEI and why each are important components within the organization. Other education strategies include consultation and coaching events, and other formats, aimed at promoting DEI.

Assessment and awareness: The case of STP

Within STP, we are just beginning this type of work. Our goals include a review of the organization by its leaders, and most importantly by the members of the Executive Committee. The organization has developed an assessment tool that each vice president will utilize in order to assess organizational gaps in DEI in the area of the organization that they lead. The outcomes of that review will drive the types of focus groups and surveys that will follow, which will in turn drive the kinds of initiatives that STP will take forward, including, but not limited to, training and workshops as described above. A review of outcomes based on the DEI assessment tool will be included in the annual report submitted by each vice president for their respective areas of leadership. An additional member assessment is currently underway. In 2019, one of the organization’s presidential initiatives included expansion of outreach to underrepresented groups. In this initiative, committee chairs from both member relations and diversity worked together to survey the membership about issues relevant to diversity. The results of the survey will be disseminated to the membership as well as the executive committee. Ultimately, the organization will consider restructuring to create meaningful and inclusive spaces for members from diverse groups and communities (Fineburg, 2019).

Communication about equity and inclusion within the organization is also an important aspect of successful initiatives. As the organization develops policies, resources, and activities for diversity and inclusion, it is important that the information be disseminated to all members. Distribution of the organization’s mission, vision, and values about DEI is a worthwhile communication strategy. Using these strategies, members are made aware of priorities around diversity and inclusion as well as specific DEI initiatives. In particular, ensuring that all organizational members—including those who belong to underrepresented group—are aware of ongoing initiatives is a vital aspect of an effective diversity and inclusion communication strategy. Finally, communication strategies that incorporate institutions or organizations that share similar goals can be useful within the field of psychology learning and teaching. Partnerships between psychology learning and teaching organizations as well as teaching of psychology networks may serve to elevate voices of peers from a diversity of backgrounds and populations.

Communication: The case of STP

Within STP, it is noteworthy that the Diversity Committee has developed a regular column in our organization’s newsletter. It is a shortcoming of the organization, however, that we have left this work to the Diversity Committee. Leaders from across the organization must all contribute to DEI-related communication.

STP could also benefit from collaborations that further DEI communication in teaching and learning. For example, STP is a sponsor of the excellent podcast PsychSessions (psychsessionspodcast.libsyn.com), in which one of the co-hosts recently conducted a series of interviews with experts on DEI topics. It would be helpful for STP to seek out similar partnerships that further our goals related to these areas as well as support initiatives that are doing this important work.

The ultimate goal of DEI efforts is an organizational climate of inclusion (Guillaume, et al., 2014). A psychology learning and teaching organization with a climate of inclusion seeks a diverse membership consisting of individuals representing a multitude of sociocultural groups. Such an organization incorporates a variety of programming and resources that are useful and meaningful to various member groups. An inclusive organization supports its diverse membership through proactive activities designed to promote full participation within the organization. Activities may include focus groups, town halls, or specific roles within the organization designed to express the voices and opinions of members. The organization is open to change and transition at multiple levels, including both leadership and membership. The organization welcomes a diversity of members, ideas, priorities, strategies and organizational initiatives. A climate of inclusion is best promoted when the top-level management of an organization is supportive of DEI. This support might include the development of specific diversity management policies and procedures that promote inclusion. In particular, the capacity to address any of the concerns brought forth by members from underrepresented groups is seen as a useful strategy.

Creating a climate of inclusion within an organization is not without its challenges. Overall, organizations tend to be disrupted by change or implementation of structures and policies that seek to change the status quo. The process of building strategies to promote DEI will likely be met with resistance. There are a number of ways to deal with resistance occurring at any level of the change process. Useful strategies for dealing with such resistance include strategies aimed at educating the membership about the benefits of DEI within the organization. Helping members understand the reasons for implementation of certain actions in order to develop an inclusive climate can also be useful for the organization.

Conclusion

We have argued that psychology organizations can benefit from a more diverse membership and leadership and can draw from social science research to increase DEI. Our organization, STP, has taken several steps to foster diversity, including with respect to our international members. However, more work is needed within STP to address inequities and foster inclusion efforts. The organization plans to undertake a formal assessment of organizational demographics and collect insights from members of underrepresented groups. Additionally, the need to develop equity and inclusion training modules for organizational leaders persists. Our future goals include promoting equity and inclusion while we continue ongoing diversity initiatives. The authors also acknowledge that STP’s work toward DEI takes place within the context of ongoing social and political events related to DEI. It will be important that STP leadership keeps this sociopolitical context in mind as organization goals are planned and developed.

Numerous challenges remain and progress is slow; yet, STP has made some steps forward with respect to diversity of our membership, leadership, teaching resources, journal editorial board, award winners, and high-profile speakers at our conferences. We hope that, consistent with research that a diverse leadership fosters increased inclusion and diversity, STP will move closer toward full representation of the diverse, talented people who comprise our field.