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• Diversity Statements

Though an increasing number of faculty search committees now ask candidates to submit diversity statements, guidance about how to compose an effective statement—indeed, even about what they are and why they can be valuable to institutions and candidates’ own professional development—remains scarce. You may think that diversity statements require you to locate diversity within your own social identities. You can, of course, note how your identities and life experiences motivate your commitment to diversity. However, beyond your motivation, universities and colleges want to know what you have accomplished in your career to this point and how you will contribute to their goal of making their institutions more inclusive and equitable. The most compelling diversity statements offer your definitions of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB) and demonstrate how your research, teaching, and service actualize your EDIB goals.

Schedule a consultation on your diversity statement (Harvard FAS affiliates only) Download our "Composing Your Diversity Statement" worksheet

What is a Diversity Statement?

A diversity statement is a polished, narrative statement, typically 1–2 pages in length, that describes one's accomplishments, goals, and process to advance excellence in diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging as a teacher and a researcher in higher education.

The Building Blocks of a Diversity Statement

The following categories are core components of diversity statements. Effective diversity statements will address each of the following areas and answer some, if not all, of the associated questions.

• Defining your values
• Demonstrating your competency
• Evidencing EDIB in your research, teaching, and service
• Proposing future action

Equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB) are defined in multiple ways across and within institutions. The mission for this component of your statement is to define how you understand these terms and identify your EDIB priorities.

• How do you define equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (EDIB)?
• What animates your approach to EDIB work in higher education?
• How do the principles of EDIB relate to your values, approaches, and goals as a scholar and teacher?

> Download a copy of our "Composing Your Diversity Statement" worksheet

EDIB practices, in part, emerge from scholarship that researches the following: (1) the benefits and significance of diversity in higher education; (2) the obstacles and oppression that people who hold marginalized social identities face in higher education; (3) the processes for creating research and learning environments that benefit everyone. The mission for this component of your statement is to highlight your awareness of these conversations and show where your EDIB practices engage with them.

• How do you regularly account for and address your privilege, bias, and EDIB learning edges?
• Can you demonstrate knowledge of key EDIB terms (e.g., equality vs. equity; anti-Blackness; race vs. ethnicity; non-binary; DACA; neurodivergent and neurotypical)
• Do you know how the following operate in the academy: implicit bias, different forms of privilege, (settler-)colonialism, systemic and interpersonal racism, homophobia, heteropatriarchy, and ableism? Can you identify how those factors currently and historically impact marginalized populations in your discipline?

EDIB refers to values, goals, processes, assessments, and outcomes. The mission for this component of your diversity statement is to provide examples of your processes and assessments for attaining your EDIB goals in your research, teaching, and service.

• How does your research promote or advance equity and inclusion?
• How does your research engage with and advance the well-being of socially marginalized communities?
• How does your research acknowledge or interrogate power and privilege?

• What strategies do you use to respond to the needs of students who are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, nationality, sexual identity, ability, and religion?
• How do you facilitate challenging conversations on race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, nationality, sexual identity, ability, and religion? What are the benefits and outcomes of your approach?
• What EDIB theories and approaches do you draw from when teaching (e.g., critical inclusive pedagogy, anti-racist pedagogy, decolonial pedagogy, feminist pedagogy, universal design for learning, active learning)?
• How do you account for the power dynamics in the classroom, including your own positionality and authority?
• How do you design course assessments with EDIB in mind?
• How have you solicited feedback about your EDIB pedagogy from students? What did you learn? How did you incorporate their feedback, and what were the outcomes?

• How have you engaged in or led EDIB campus initiatives or programming? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What skills or knowledge did you build in the process?
• Have you engaged in or led other EDIB service beyond your institution? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What skills or knowledge did you build in the process?
• How has your past participation in EDIB service or activities prepared you to successfully take on your next position?
• How do you measure the success of your EDIB work?

Your diversity statement should not only showcase the EDIB work you have already accomplished but show how you integrate feedback and assess institutional needs to plan your future EDIB goals.

• How do you plan to continue advancing inclusive excellence, diversity, or equity in your research, teaching, and service?
• How do you solicit and respond to EDIB feedback from a range of academic communities?
• How do your future EDIB goals align with your target institution's EDIB mission and needs?

Some Final Tips and Advice

Some don’ts

Don’t (over)rely on self-disclosure. While you may choose to disclose the social identities you hold while narrating what motivates your commitment to EDIB work, your diversity statement should focus on the work you have done and will do to create diverse, inclusive, and equitable spaces of higher education. A diversity statement is about your commitment to furthering EDIB within the context of institutions of higher education, not about cataloguing everything virtuous you’ve ever done to prove that you’re an ally to a marginalized group. Also, never feel compelled to emotionally bleed for a search committee. Keep in mind that some diversity statement prompts may let you know what they prefer in terms of self-disclosure. For example, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s published guidelines to writing a diversity statement emphasize their desire for candidates who share the institution’s commitment to inclusive excellence, “regardless of personal demographic characteristics.”

Beware of false equivalencies. A personally challenging circumstance or series of events is not equivalent to holding a marginalized social identity throughout your lifetime. Similarly, the experiences of having one socially marginalized identity are not the same as the experiences of having a different marginalized social identity.

Don’t use “diversity” to refer to a BIPOC individual or a homogenous BIPOC community. Diversity does not mean a BIPOC individual or a homogenous BIPOC community. Diversity refers to the condition when individuals or communities from different backgrounds, cultures, frames of reference, social identities, or perspectives come together in a social context. It does not refer to a person (including yourself) or a homogenous community who experiences marginalization.

Don’t tailor every statement. Your diversity statement should demonstrate how you have and would effectively plan to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across contexts, with clear EDIB objectives, expected outcomes, and forms of assessment. Your cover letter is the place for you to tailor your EDIB discussion, possibly referencing institutional contexts and departmental missions while describing specific initiatives you could plan and mentioning potential collaborations with centers and committees.

Learn more about the EDIB challenges and goals of institutions. Before you draft your diversity statement, take time to research a range of websites from the institutional offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the universities, colleges, and departments to which you may apply. Note any recurring EDIB challenges and goals, and consider how your experiences and skills might address their needs and further their initiatives.

Show your process. Avoid only stating your belief in EDIB principles without showing methods for attaining your EDIB goals. Additionally, you can also demonstrate how your process reflects your EDIB principles. For example, if decolonizing your pedagogy is your EDIB goal, your process to achieve this may be to revise the readings on your syllabus to include voices outside of the traditional canon. To make the process align with your decolonial approach, you might solicit feedback from students on the readings and curriculum rather than unilaterally selecting the required readings yourself.

State your outcomes and lessons learned. The strongest diversity statements show what you accomplished with your initiatives and how you learned from feedback. Be mindful to state any skills or knowledge you acquired.

Connect your EDIB practices with evidence. Evidencing the effectiveness of your EDIB practices can come from your own assessments and can also be bolstered by the research of scholars who have qualitatively or quantitatively assessed the EDIB practices you utilize.

For more information...

Why I'm a Convert to Diversity Statements (Inside Higher Ed)

The Effective Diversity Statement (Inside Higher Ed)

Demystifying the Diversity Statement (Inside Higher Ed)

Framework for Diversity Research & Scholarship (National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan)

Sara P. Bombaci and Liba Pejchar, "Advancing Equity in Faculty Hiring with Diversity Statements"

Becoming an Anti-Racist, Equity-Minded Educator (Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning)

Guidelines for Writing Your Diversity Statement (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

• Designing Your Course
• In the Classroom
• Getting Feedback
• Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
• Advising and Mentoring
• Teaching Portfolios
• Teaching Statements
• Teaching as an Aspect of Promotion and Tenure
• Teaching Awards
• Teaching Remotely
• Tools and Platforms
• The Science of Learning
• Bok Publications
• Other Resources Around Campus

How to Write an Effective Diversity Statement for Graduate School

By ProFellow Founder, Dr. Vicki Johnson

I mentor many graduate school applicants in my Fully Funded Course and Mentorship Program who are seeking to enter fully funded PhD and master’s programs. A trend I have seen in recent years is the request for a required or optional “diversity statement” as part of the graduate school application. This essay is distinct from the personal statement, which is a document that describes your personal and academic background, your goals and your motivations for graduate study. The diversity statement typically prompts you to respond to questions about how you will contribute to the diversity of the student population. When graduate schools say “diversity”, they mean characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, academic and professional backgrounds, political beliefs, and geographic region, to name a few.

Why graduate schools ask for a Diversity Statement

The purpose of a diversity statement is to help universities form a student body that includes people of different demographic backgrounds and experiences – particularly one that is more inclusive of people from groups that have faced institutionalized discrimination and oppression. It is also a measure used to uphold the institution’s mission to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion, which may be a relatively new value set that was established in response to social injustice in academia and wider society.

Before preparing your diversity statement, it can be helpful to understand the history and meaning of the university’s mission statement and values. Often, universities don’t want only to achieve a more diverse student body; they also want to select students who themselves are committed to addressing inequity and forms of historical and institutional discrimination, no matter what background they come from.

Because of this, it’s important to take the diversity statement just as seriously as the other components of your application. The diversity statement gives admissions committees a window into what you will uniquely bring to the university beyond your academic work and how you will engage in the university’s mission to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in society as a student and alumnus.

How to address Diversity Statement questions

Questions about diversity can be overwhelming. However, they all boil down to two objectives: 1) demonstrate the diversity you would bring to the student body and 2) explain how you address diversity, equity, and inclusion in your own life.

For the first part, you’ll want to discuss the diversity that you would add in the traditional sense, such as race, gender, socio-economic background, and identity. Diversity can also be expressed through your personal experiences, such as being a first-generation college student or an international student, having a military or service background, being a part of a religious minority, losing a parent at a young age, having a disability, being a single parent, having a medical diagnosis, or having a unique upbringing. Don’t assume that you have nothing to bring in terms of diversity – think about what unique experiences you have had, and you will almost certainly find something to highlight.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that your diversity statement is not a place to detail traumatizing experiences of discrimination and injustice. Instead, it is a place to discuss what you learned from these experiences and how those experiences have influenced and inspired your own social impact work. Application committees are seeking to understand the worldview you hold and identify if that worldview is aligned with their values and mission. Frame your personal experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion with this in mind so that the application committee feels inspired by your story , rather than wondering if you’ll be committed to helping them further their mission of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.

The second part of the diversity statement is showing how you are actively creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society through professional and personal pursuits. Here are a few questions you can speak to:

• Where do you volunteer?
• Who do you mentor, professionally or casually?
• What are you doing to promote policies that create greater equity and access to opportunities at school and work and in your community?
• What issues have you fundraised or advocated for?

The best diversity statements use specific examples to show a personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Demonstrate your compassion for those suffering injustice – and then show how that compassion informs your research, teaching, professional work, activism, and community involvement.

Final tip: Educate yourself

As you write your diversity statement, be sure to acknowledge your privilege if you have benefited from advantages beyond your control – whether that is white privilege , socio-economic privilege, educational privilege or other types of privilege. Privilege can be described as “benefits that belong to people because they fit into a specific social group or have certain dimensions to their identity.” If you feel ignorant to concepts of privilege, now is a good time to educate yourself ! This piece of your application is an exercise to test if you understand the true costs and impacts of social inequity in the world.

Applying to graduate school and seeking funding opportunities? Get our FREE Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards here!

Dr. Vicki Johnson is Founder and CEO of ProFellow, the world’s leading online resource for professional and academic fellowships. She is a four-time fellow, top Ph.D. scholar, Fulbright recipient and an award-winning social entrepreneur. She is the Creator and Director of  Fully Funded , an award-winning online course and mentorship program for graduate school applicants seeking to find and win full funding. 

© ProFellow, LLC / Vicki Johnson 2021, all rights reserved.

Related Posts:

• Register Now: Personal Statement Bootcamp with Dr. Vicki Johnson
• 5 Myths About Grad School Personal Statements
• What Makes a Great Personal Statement?
• How to a Write Personal Statement for Graduate School
• #6: Prepare a Compelling Personal Statement

Dr. Vicki Johnson , Fully Funded , Graduate School Application Tips , Personal Statement Tips

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How to write a Diversity Statement & Samples

What is a diversity statement in higher education.

• When do you need a diversity statement?

How to write a good Diversity Statement?

Diversity statement writing tips, how long should a diversity statement be, how to write a diversity statement if you are white, adapting your diversity statement to job application.

There are two types of diversity statements that are regularly used, and they are very different in terms of who is writing it, and how it is being used.

The first type of diversity statement is in relation to different types of applications in the higher education context; while the second type of Diversity Statement is in relation to the type of “diversity position” an organization position herself in the context of equity, diversity, and inclusion .

In this article, we are focusing on the first type of diversity statement which is related to the higher education sector .

Creating a diverse environment is not a top-down process, it is an environment that is co-created by the people who participate in it. In an academic environment, the people are the students, faculties, staff, senior administrators, and also the principal. In order to hire or add new members to the community, the institution typically prefers to hire or recruit new members who appreciate diversity and inclusion. A diversity statement is a form of an artifact that allows the new member to express their view on diversity.

The most common situation that you need to write a diversity statement includes:

Undergraduate and Graduate admissions Diversity Statement

Top tier schools have more student applicants than they need, so they get to be picky and select only the ones that fit their target student profile. Diversity and Inclusion views of the student have become an important factor to gauge the quality of students, such as in Law school.

Fellowship, Grants, and Awards Diversity Statement

When a graduate student wants to apply for a fellowship, it is common that a diversity statement is required as part of the application package. A fellowship provides financial support to graduate students to pursue graduate studies without associated teaching or research responsibilities (as they are in a teaching or research assistantship). Fellowships are generally merit-based  internal or external awards to support a student in a full-time course of study. 

Similarly, a diversity statement is often required for a grant application. Grants are need-based awards that do not need to be repaid as long as the student maintains eligibility. For certain funds, disbursement is dependent on enrollment status. Grants tend to be need-based and are available to students based on criteria such as family income. Federal and state government are the primary sources of grants, The Pell Grant is a well-known federal grant program. State-funded grants ordinarily go to students pursuing an education in that state.

Postdoctoral and Faculty Position Job Application Diversity Statement

Faculty job postings are increasingly asking for diversity statements, in addition to research and teaching statements. Diversity statements have become an integral part of the materials submitted as part of an application for employment. They are just as important as the resume, cover letter and writing sample. A diversity statement is a personal essay that is a depiction of your past experiences and explains how these experiences have contributed to your personal and professional growth. It allows the applicant the opportunity to explain to a search committee the distinct qualities and commitment s/he can bring to the table.

Promotion to Tenure position with a diversity statement

It has become more popular to list a diversity statement as a requirement for tenure promotion in higher education.  A  tenured  post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances , such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Tenure is a means of defending the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for the society in the long run if scholars are free to hold and examine a variety of views . A tenure assignment is an important process because it can seldom be reversed once assigned, knowing the point of view of a tenure candidate is becoming an important factor in tenure assignments.

You can write a diversity statement using a systematic approach.

• Research on the requirement
• Know your values
• Describe your experience
• Detail your future plan
• Draft, Revise, Revise, and Revise

Define your views on Diversity and Inclusion

When you write your diversity statement, you are to write what you believe. You shouldn’t write something that you don’t believe and otherwise, you are making a false statement or making a false representation of yourself. There are some questions that can help you to start.

• What do equity, diversity, and inclusion mean to you ?
• What quality of your personal experience inform your academia experience y?
• Why do you think diversity and inclusion are important and the benefits of diversity ?
• Why is diversity important to you or the classes you teach?
• in your new role of student, faculty, professor, how do you think you can help with diversity and inclusion
• Describe your values regarding diversity, inclusion, and equity in your professional life ?
• Why do you think DEI is important in Higher ed? How about in your domain?
• How do you work to ensure your classes are inclusive and welcoming to all students?
• Do you belong to any types of diversity ?
• Do you do any service or work with diverse or underrepresented populations? If so, what?
• Did you have any challenges with your gender identities ?
• Does your research connect to diversity efforts or our understanding of diverse populations? If so, how?
• Are you personally diverse in any way that might be relevant to your work? For example, were you a first-generation student, or were you a woman in STEM who aims to expands opportunities for these populations?
• What would you like to do in future departments related to diversity and equity?

After you have a good idea of how you define diversity and what diversity means to you, you can start by writing them down.

Another way to learn more about diversity is to learn what are the trending news in diversity in the workplace . You can learn the latest development of diversity and inclusion in different sectors or in the corporate world.

Describe your Diversity experience

After you draft out your beliefs and your point of views, now is your time to describe your personal experience about diversity. You can write about initiatives or actions that you have taken to promote diversity and inclusion. If you are part of a diverse group, talk about your experience and how it has impacted you.

If you have participated in any social or professional groups that promote diversity and inclusion, write about why you have decided to join such a group and the impact it has on you, and on the community.

Describe your future plan around Diversity and Inclusion

Write, review, and revise your diversity statement.

Draft, review, revise, having someone to proofread for you. I think you know what I mean.

Here are some tips on writing a diversity statement in academic or job application purposes.

Use Concrete Examples in Diversity Statements

Use actual, real examples in your life. Whether it is a mistake you realize you have made before, or you are a victim of discriminations. Tell your story with examples that the reader may be able to relate to.

Tell your own Story

Be sure you are telling your story, not generically as a group or just things you think the readers want to hear. Speak as yourself and tell your own story why you believe diversity and inclusion are important in your expected role, and how it can impact the institution or future team if diversity. If you don’t have tons of experience, then say it that you look forward to the opportunities to learn more. You don’t need to know everything, but it is an opportunity to be open-minded.

Don’t limit to your future role, think about Outreach

When you talk about your future plan to promote diversity, think about outreach, rather than reactive plans only. An example could be (if time permits), you want to join and participate in future diversity and inclusion initiatives in the new workplace. Or, how on your own, promote awareness of diversity.

Do Not Contradict yourself

Well, yes and do not contradict yourself. It is important to be admitted or get a new job, but be sure that you are telling the truth and it is really what you believe in, or what you have experienced personally.

Have a strong commitment with your diversity statement

First, check if there is a requirement of length to the diversity statement. Some applications require more serious thoughts and answers, and they need 2-3 pages to know you.

In general, I would recommend anything between 100-150 words would be enough to share your belief, experience, and future plan about diversity. It is an important topic, but a lot can be said within 150 words or 3 paragraphs.

A white person can experience diversity or even discrimination as well. Diversity doesn’t limit to a racial diversity only, it could be gender, age, and disability. You can think of the perspectives that you have experienced diversity discrimination or any other experience that you have witnessed diversity discrimination.

It is more important to show your awareness of the needs and impact of having a diverse environment and your beliefs or values on how to improve the situation.

In addition, a white person can be a champion or a leader in diversity and inclusion as well. In many cases, there are advantages in doing so.

It is not yet a popular ask for diversity statements in a job application , however, it is never a bad thing to summarize and put it on your application or resume to reflect who you are. Companies value team working and they embrace diversity in culture, work habits, age, skills, and gender. Knowing that you are ready and have experience with a diverse working environment is going to be a plus for your job application. Why not right?

What is a Diversity Statement?

The first type of diversity statement is in relation to different types of applications in the higher education context; while the second type of Diversity Statement is in relation to the type of “diversity position ” an organization position herself in the context of equity, diversity, and inclusion. more on How to write a diversity statement?

How to Write a Diversity Statement if You Are White?

A white person can experience diversity or even discrimination as well. Diversity doesn’t limit to a racial diversity only, it could be gender, age, and disability. More on this at Writing a Diversity Statement

There is not hard answer to the question. First, you should follow the requirement guidelines. Some institution may need 250 words, while some may need a 5 page essay.

More importantly, is the content. You should try the best to communicate the what, how, and your ideas to make diversity and inclusion a part of your focus in future work. Read more at How to write a great diversity statement ?

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Center for Teaching

Developing and writing a diversity statement.

What is a diversity statement, and what purpose does it serve?

What topics might be included in a diversity statement.

• Getting Started

Writing Prompts

Adapting your statement for a job application, additional resources.

Increasingly, institutions of higher education are becoming more intentional and programmatic about their efforts to embrace principles of inclusion, equity, justice, and diversity throughout campus life. As they do so, they are more focused on finding faculty who have experiences and competencies that can contribute to these efforts. Consequently, universities and colleges frequently are requesting that job applicants address how they can contribute to a culture of inclusion and equity within the campus community in the form of a “diversity statement.”

Sometimes, a job ad will request that applicants address diversity in the cover letter or the teaching statement, but a request for a separate diversity statement is becoming more common. From the perspective of some universities, the purpose of such documents is to demonstrate that the applicant has commitments and capacities to contribute to the institution’s projects of inclusion and equity via their work, including scholarship, teaching, service, mentoring, and advising. Asking faculty applicants to speak to inclusive excellence in their application materials or during the interview process shows a university’s commitment to inclusion and ensures that new faculty share that commitment (2018). The document is also an opportunity for applicants to highlight their understanding of the barriers faced by under-represented or marginalized groups, as well as their own experiences meeting the needs of a diverse population of students, staff, and peers. For example, The University of California at San Diego requests a separate “Contributions to Diversity” statement from all faculty applicants, and its published guidelines suggest describing “your past efforts, as well as future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.” (2.1.18, https://facultydiversity.ucsd.edu/_files/c2d-guidelines.pdf ).

The wording that universities and colleges use in framing the request for a diversity statement varies widely. Below are a few examples from job ads posted in the 2017-2018 academic year.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (public liberal arts college, faculty posting in Psychology):

Applicants should submit a statement explaining how their teaching at the College will contribute to a culture of inclusion and campus diversity .

Denison University (private liberal arts university in Ohio, faculty posting in Anthropology):

A description of how the applicant would contribute to the development of a diverse and inclusive learning community at Denison through her/his teaching, research, and/or service .

Angelo State (public university in Texas, faculty posting in Engineering):

The required Other Document should be no longer than 2 pages and should discuss how the candidate would help achieve Angelo State University’s goal to attract and graduate more women, Hispanic, and students from other underrepresented groups .

Georgia College and State University (public liberal arts college, faculty posting in Psychology)

Qualified candidates should submit a research statement, and a diversity statement (describing how you incorporate diversity into your teaching, research, and/or service). Teaching, research, and diversity statements should be limited to two single-spaced pages.

Franklin & Marshall College (private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, Visiting Assistant Professor Position in Psychology)

Pursuant to the college’s vision for cultivating a diverse and inclusive community, the search committee will ask all applicants to address how their past and/or potential contributions might serve to advance F&M’s commitment to teaching and mentoring young people from a variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews th at arise from differences of culture and circumstance.

Since the diversity statement is an emerging genre in the context of faculty job applications, there are few set guidelines on what must be included. Keeping in mind that the purpose of the statement is to demonstrate a commitment to fostering diversity, the following elements may be appropriate:

• Statement of values as they relate to your understanding and commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and/or justice in higher education.
• Examples of experiences that demonstrate your commitment to fostering the success of underrepresented students, staff, and peers, and supporting a diversity of perspectives in the classroom, lab, campus, or community.
• Future plans for continuing to advance inclusive excellence, diversity, or equity in your research, teaching, and service.

Getting started

• What are your values regarding diversity, inclusion, and equity in your professional life? Why do you think diversity is valuable in higher education settings? How about in your discipline specifically?
• What kinds of student, staff, or faculty diversity are you thinking of as you answer this question, and are there other ways in which diversity manifests in campus communities that might be valuable to consider?
• What elements of your own identity inform your teaching, research, or scholarship in a tangible way?

It is worth noting that diversity statements are fundamentally about your values, commitments, and capabilities, and not necessarily your identity and the ways it shapes your work. If you choose to disclose your identity in a diversity statement, you should be aware of some issues.

Should You Self-Disclose Elements of Your Personal Identity?

Note that some people wish to share elements of their personal background in their actual statement, and many do not. Reflecting on your own frame of reference can be useful regardless. Some degree of transparency may help readers contextualize the experiences and approaches you detail in your statement. For example, you may wish to share that you grew up in a bilingual household or that you attended graduate school as an international student, if either has influenced your approach to mentorship or teaching. A 2014 study investigated the content of 191 cover letters for faculty positions in which applicants were specifically asked to address diversity and inclusion; less than a quarter of applicants self-disclosed some aspect of their personal identity (Schmaling, Trevino, Lind, Blume, & Baker, 2014). Despite the low percentage of applicants who chose to self-disclose and despite the authors’ note that they could not determine which applications advanced as a function of the applicants’ choice to self-disclose, they write that “self-disclosing one’s diversity may reconceptualize membership in a previously stigmatized group as an advantage, particularly if the self-identification reinforces a coherent academic and professional identity (Schmaling et al., 2014, p. 10)..”

However, be advised that there is risk in disclosing details that may carry stigma or induce subtle biases on the part of readers. For example, some research confirms that biases toward African Americans and women influence evaluation of written application materials (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000; Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman, 2012), specifically when the application is not exceptionally weak or exceptionally strong (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000). The potential benefit of self-disclosing one’s mental health history or sexual orientation, for example, should be carefully weighed against the risk. To be sure, an excellent statement can be written without sharing elements of personal identity, and some universities that request statements are beginning to highlight this. The University of San Diego’s published guidelines to writing a diversity statement, for example, emphasize their desire to identify candidates who share the institution’s commitment to inclusive excellence, “regardless of personal demographic characteristics.”

The following prompts are meant to help you identify areas of strength to highlight in your diversity statement. For each of the following areas, think about your past experience and what you plan to do in the future. You don’t need to answer every question, as all may not apply.

Research and Scholarship

• Does your research/scholarship directly address issues of diversity, inclusion, or equity? If so, how?
• Does your research/scholarship address issues specific to marginalized groups? If so, describe the connection.
• Has your research/scholarship been shared with the community or public in a way that promotes access to scholarship?
• Has your scholarship involved collaboration with diverse groups of colleagues or commentators?

Mentorship and Advising

• Have you worked with any students in a mentorship or advisory capacity who are from marginalized groups? If so, how did you help them identify and overcome barriers to success? Think about your experience with research mentorship, teaching or tutoring, academic advising, and community mentorship.
• If you plan to train undergraduates and/or graduate students in your future role, what efforts will you make to recruit and retain students from marginalized and underrepresented groups?
• How do you plan to serve a student body that is diverse in a multitude of ways? Think not just race, ethnicity, and SES, but about age, religion, academic preparedness, disability, gender expression, or other differences.
• How does your approach to course design take into account considerations of diversity? You may wish to reflect on using a range of assessments, preventing bias in grading, diversifying course content, using inclusive language in the syllabus and classroom, or utilizing student feedback to improve classroom culture or tone. Try to generate at least one specific example of how your decision affects student’s learning in your course. (Note: One prominent example of inclusive syllabus language is diversity statements within syllabi; see examples from Brown University , Yale Center for Teaching and Learning , and The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University )
• What do you do as a teacher that creates a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere? How do you ensure that students in your class feel a sense of belonging?
• How does your approach to facilitating discussion (and/or structuring active learning activities) take into account considerations of positionality, power, and/or diversity? You may wish to reflect on using semi-structured discussion techniques, online access points for student participation, classroom seating arrangements, or other ways in which you create opportunities for student engagement. Try to generate at least one specific example of how your pedagogical choice facilitates student engagement in a particular course.
• Does your discipline lend itself to dialogue about diversity? If so, how do you incorporate this dialogue into your courses? Describe the impact of doing so on student learning and engagement.
• How do you ensure that your course readings and sources reflect diverse perspectives? Have you had any experience diversifying/decolonizing content for your courses, and if so, what has been the impact on student learning?
• Have you participated in any service activities (e.g. university committees, symposiums, workshops, volunteer work in the community) whose goals relate to diversity, inclusion, and equity? If so, describe your experience. What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What skills did you build in the process?
• If you have engaged in diversity-related service, how will you incorporate your experience into the job for which you are applying? (Note: here is where – having done your research on the school to which you are applying – you might consider referencing an existing diversity-related initiative to which you could contribute or which you could expand)

After you have developed a statement that reflects your strengths and experiences related to diversity, inclusion, and equity, you may wish to tailor it for individual job applications. Be sure to do your homework about diversity-related programs and resources at the schools to which you are applying, and consider including how you plan to contribute to or expand existing programs at that institution. For example, if you have been particularly active in social justice initiatives and are applying to a school with no existing programs addressing race, power and privilege in higher education, it may be appropriate to propose a program modelled on something you’ve already done. However, you do not need to propose a new diversity-related program to write an effective diversity statement. Perhaps you envision your contribution as serving on faculty committees related to diversifying curriculum in your department or advising LGBT-student groups or research initiatives. Be honest about where you are and how you can contribute.

• Golash-Boza, T. (2016). “ The Effective Diversity Statement .” Inside Higher Ed.
• University of California: Contributions to Diversity
• Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Aversive racism and selection decisions: 1989 and 1999.   Psychological Science, 11 (4), 315-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00262
• Schmaling, K. B., Trevino, A. Y., Lind, J. R., Blume, A. W., & Baker, D. L. (2015). Diversity statements: How faculty applicants address diversity.   Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 8 (4), 213-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038549
• Moss-Racusin, C., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J., & Handelsman, J. (2012). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students.   PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (41), 16474-16479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211286109

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Career Center

Writing a Diversity Statement

A Diversity Statement may be required for some graduate and professional school applications, as part of the primary application process or as part of the supplemental or secondary application questions. This can be a great way to stand out and to emphasize aspects of your qualifications that may not be as evident through other parts of your application. It can be an opportunity to highlight unique strengths, experiences, and perspectives you bring, and also to show how you value the diversity that others bring to the program, your chosen field or profession, and to our global society.

The main purpose s of a diversity statement are to demonstrate how you will contribute to the diversity of the program and/or the profession, and to acknowledge your identities and views on topics like diversity, inclusion, and institutional racism. It is your opportunity to discuss what about you may be unique from other applicants. It is also an opportunity to discuss how you will genuinely contribute to creating an atmosphere of inclusion in your program, your career, and communities in general. It is important to be genuine and express your life experiences and beliefs related to diversity. Be sure to check your program/institution of interest for any prompts or specific questions they want you to address. 

Writing a Diversity Statement can be a challenging, thought-provoking, and often rewarding experience. Often students have questions on where to even start, what to include, or what they feel comfortable disclosing. We are here to support you through this process! You can meet with a career counselor at any stage of the process from discussing ideas or questions you have, all the way up to polishing your final document for submission. You can also submit your draft(s) for online review . 

It is important to address any specific questions provided by your program. If the statement question is not specifically defined for you, generally speaking here are some areas to explore/consider:

+ Potential topics to address in a diversity statement

• family background
• unique perspectives or experiences
• multilingual abilities
• geographic diversity (urban, rural, international)
• authentic community involvement and contributions
• non-traditional characteristics for a field/profession
• special talents, strengths, skills, qualities
• international work, schooling, or travel
• socioeconomic factors
• first-generation college student
• hardships you have overcome
• any other unique contribution to the program and/or profession

+ General tips & suggestions

• Personalize it through your own views, experiences, and examples
• Make your diversity statement distinctive from your personal statement
• Focus on your life and not solely your academic or research interests
• Acknowledge your privileged and/or marginalized identities and intersectionality of identities 
• Write about topics through the lens of your personal knowledge or experience
• If you don’t have personal experience on a topic, reflect on why
• Demonstrate learning and growth, taking ownership of past mistakes if needed
• Tell your story

+ Some possible diversity statement prompts

• Describe how you would add diversity to the program.
• Describe your experience with diversity and diverse populations.
• How has your background influenced your worldviews?
• How will you contribute to a culture of inclusion?
• Describe your thoughts on systemic racism.

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How do I write a diversity statement?

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Many graduate school programs require or give the option to include a diversity statement in your graduate school application. Including an optional diversity statement can make you a more competitive applicant and offer an opportunity for you to stand out through your individuality, experiences, and potential contributions to the program.

One common misconception is that diversity statements are only written by applicants who identify as a member of an underrepresented group. Anybody can write a diversity statement. Within, you will want to communicate how you can contribute to the program and your views on topics like diversity, inclusion, and institutional racism. Reviewing the program and school’s student demographics, program features, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives can be a great place to start.

Be sure to address any specific questions or prompts the program’s application provides. The diversity statement is an opportunity to highlight new information about you, your identity, your personal and/or academic background and experiences, and how you can contribute to the program.

When there is little to no guidance given on what content to include, you can address these topics:

• Your background (family, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors)
• Lessons you’ve learned from unique experiences (how you have applied them or will apply them in the future)
• First-generation college student
• International work, school, or travel
• Community engagement
• Hardships you have overcome

Sample diversity statement prompts:

• How will you contribute to the program’s or school’s diversity?
• What experience have you had that set you apart from peers or the culture of the school?
• How has your background influenced your worldview?
• How will you contribute to a culture of inclusion?
• Describe your thoughts on systemic racism

Whether you need help getting started, are wondering what information you should disclose, or need someone to review your final draft, Greene Center career advisors are available to meet with you to brainstorm and discuss your diversity statement.

• Your Job Search
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• Academic Job Market

Diversity Statement & Considerations

The diversity statement is a document frequently requested in academic job searches across all disciplines and institution types. The form of the requested content can vary widely, from a stand-alone statement to components and themes presented across the application documents included in your portfolio. When requested as a stand-alone statement, the document should be no less than one page, and no more than two.

The purpose of your diversity statement content remains the same—to communicate how diversity impacts:

• Your own development as a researcher, educator, colleague, and community leader
• Others’ development and learning through your research, teaching, mentorship, and service

While statements are strong when built on the writer’s story, there is no expectation of identity disclosure. Rather, think of ways to highlight experiences you have that help you empathize with students and/or colleagues facing challenges in pursuit of their goals.

If you are uncomfortable disclosing examples of privilege and/or oppression from your personal life, think about studies or statistics that you can cite to ground your approaches and philosophy.

Example Postings

Consider the following examples of academic job postings that require content focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion:

From a small, liberal-arts college:

At our institution, we strive to make our campus a respectful, engaged community that embraces difference, with all the complexity and individuality each person brings. With your application materials provide a separate, one-page statement on inclusion that addresses how your teaching, scholarship, mentorship, and/or community service demonstrate a commitment to and/or evidence of engaging with issues of diversity and inclusion.

From a large, R1 public institution:

Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae, statement of research and teaching interests, and three letters of reference which address teaching qualifications.

We particularly seek candidates who will significantly contribute to the diversity and equity of our program, and who have experience working diverse and underserved populations, and have demonstrated a commitment to improving the diversity of academic communities. The College views inclusiveness and excellence as interconnected in the work of its faculty.

Note, the liberal arts school requests a dedicated statement addressing issues of diversity and inclusion in relation to specific aspects of the applicant’s work as a future faculty member. In contrast, the R1 outlines considerations to be communicated throughout the applicant’s CV, research, and teaching interests.

Content Considerations

As you develop your tailored content, determine how the job-seeking institution defines diversity, equity, and inclusion. Look through the job call and the institution’s website; they might have a statement of values or future-looking vision. In addition to the call itself, reflect on the following:

• Is the institution mission-driven?
• Are there explicit priorities expressed at a departmental or institutional level?
• Are there specific student populations the institution serves?
• In what kind of department is the position located?

Remember, you are creating a narrative for committees. Strive to connect the department’s priorities with the impact diversity and inclusion have on your scholarly identity. For example:

• What is the connection to diversity across your research, teaching, and service?
• How do your research, teaching, and service benefit your students, community, and/or field?
• How have you considered and fostered inclusivity in your teaching?
• What is your approach to mentorship and how are you inclusive and equitable in those practices?

Keep in mind, search committees are looking for a genuine commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion – not just in your past work, but in your future as a prospective member of their community.

Maintain Authenticity

The most important part of either a dedicated diversity statement or diversity-focused content throughout your materials is to be authentic. Do not claim experiences you have not had but focus on those you know. Avoid writing a generic, “one size fits all” pitch; committees are invested in speaking with candidates who share their commitment and will read your documents carefully.

As with all of your application materials, try to have multiple sets of eyes on your content before submitting your statement. Be sure to engage with programs hosted by Northwestern’s Graduate Writing Place and Searle Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning for more guidance on developing your diversity statement.

Postdocs can make appointments for individualized feedback with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs .

How to approach the diversity statement

What is a diversity statement.

Diversity statements are becoming common as part of graduate school applications and even for some professional positions. A diversity statement is typically a one-page statement and is similar in structure to a personal statement but focuses on the candidate’s skills, experiences, and/or willingness to engage in diversity and equity initiatives.

What should I write about?

If you have experienced obstacles relevant to diversity and equity, tell about your experiences. If you are from a privileged background, you can acknowledge your privilege. Use your experiences of discrimination or privilege to demonstrate your awareness of current conversations, especially academic conversations, related to diversity and equity.

A potential way to conceive of the diversity statement is to address the following three areas: 1) your values related to diversity and equity; 2) your experiences working with diverse populations; 3) what you plan to do in the future to support issues of diversity and equity.

What are common diversity and equity issues?

Race, gender, ability, social class, and sexual orientation are all common issues related to diversity and equity. Discussions of issues like these are effective in a diversity statement because they demonstrate your awareness and connect to the concerns of most academic institutions and businesses.

Avoid comparisons that equate diversity or equity experiences

Avoid equating issues of gender with issues of race. Both of these concerns are related to diversity and equity, but equating them or making them parallel diminishes the unique concerns related to each and shows that you are not aware of the complexity of issues of diversity and equity.

Demonstrate a commitment to diversity and equity

Even if you do not feel you have experienced a lot of issues personally, or you have acknowledge your privilege but still have more room to write, you can describe what you would do to support diversity and equity initiatives. This is also an opportunity to customize your statement to the school and context to which you are applying. For example, if you are applying to a school in the South, what you would do to support equity may look different than if you are applying to a school in the Northwest.

Do your research

• Research the demographics of the school to which you are applying.
• Look for diversity statements on the school or company website.
• Read news articles, research articles, etc. to familiarize yourself with the conversations relevant to the school or business.

Golash-Boza, T. (2016, Jun. 10). The effective diversity statement. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/10/how-write-effective-diversity-statement-essay

University of Nebraska-Lincoln. (2019). Writing a diversity statement. Retrieved from https://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/connections/writing-diversity-statement

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Crafting an Effective Diversity Statement and Cover Letter

In Spring 2019, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA), Core Programs in the Graduate School, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D) co-sponsored an interactive workshop led by the UW Postdoc Diversity Alliance, Crafting an Effective Diversity Statement and Cover Letter . A panel of four speakers — Rickey Hall, vice president and university diversity officer, OMA&D; Evangelina Shreeve, director, STEM Education and Outreach, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Butch de Castro, professor and associate dean, School of Nursing; and Cynthia del Rosario, diversity, equity and access officer, Information School — shared insights on topics related to diversity statements and the job application process. We are summarizing the highlights from the panel discussion, including strategies to create effective diversity statements.

Diversity not only includes demographic characteristics like gender, race, and ethnicity; it includes all dimensions of one’s identity, such as first-generation status, economic background, immigration status and more. Some characteristics are more salient and visible than others. Inclusion means that diverse voices are included in the decision-making process. There are distinct differences between equality and equity. Equity involves giving people what they need to be as successful as non-minoritized groups; conversely, equality is to treat everyone the same. Diversity is extremely important in the science community, where different perspectives are and should be highly valued. Organizations that value diversity and inclusion strive to provide a space where all members are respected. If a system or structure perpetuates inequity and inequality, we should encourage one another to challenge this system or structure. While we are making strides to address diversity, equity, & inclusion (DEI) in academia, there is a lot of work ahead of us.

Diversity Statements need to be personalized: they are a reflection of your positionality, and a place where you demonstrate your passion and compassion. You can give examples about how to bring diverse perspectives into your inclusive teaching. While some organizations do not require diversity statements as part of the job application, you are encouraged to provide examples of how you uniquely prioritize DEI elsewhere in your application materials. For example, documents required by government jobs are standard. To distinguish your voice and highlight why you are the right person for a particular position, you can consider framing your cover letter (and all the other application materials) from your diversity perspective when appropriate. Use specific examples from your personal experiences. Think whether your research, teaching or public service addressed any diversity issues. Your statement works the best when you have an understanding of the diversity mission and the holistic strategic plan for your dream organization. If you haven’t had any experience with diversity, propose a plan on how you are going to be more involved when you get hired. Also consider asking your reference letter writers to address how you contributed to diversity. Authenticity is the key: be sure to let your true self come through in your application materials.

Diversity work is important. As Ricky Hall said,  “Let’s hold ourselves and our colleagues accountable. We lead by engaging.”  Good luck with preparing your application materials. And know that your efforts to improve the climate and culture at the UW and beyond are appreciated.

Free PDF: The 4 questions every SOP must answer → Master’s or PhD

Diversity Statement 101: An Essay Guide for Champions

• By Jordan Dotson
• Updated: March 1, 2023

The Diversity Statement, and its close cousins the Personal History and Personal Contributions essays, might be the hardest part of graduate applications. The prompts are so vague and open-ended. They often make applicants shudder.

What am I supposed to write about?

What if I’m not a minority?

Is it okay if I write about my illness and how this lowered my GPA?

For many students who belong to underrepresented populations, these essays often seem patronizing. “How dare you use my identity to pad your demographic stats,” they think. And they’re not entirely wrong. There is a degree of stat-padding involved, though the intentions are noble.

For other students, those who have dealt with physical illness or personal tragedies during their undergrad careers, these essays are an opportunity to show what they’re truly capable of. “I am not defined by my tragedies,” they say, “but how I overcame them.”

For other students, those who sailed through their youth without calamity, these essays can be daunting. They read that word “diversity” and think it doesn’t apply to them. They focus on the apparent socio-political narrative, without recognizing how they’ve positively contributed to communities in which they belong.

For all of these students, the Diversity Statement can be a tricky monster.

Luckily, the Diversity Statement is still an act of storytelling. And as the timeless lessons of narrative structure teach us, all monsters can be conquered by a champion.

This is the key to your Diversity Statement and other personal essays: you must become a champion.

It’s not the story of how difficult or disadvantaged your life has been. It’s not a pity party or an excuse for your (perceived) failures. It’s the story of how you took the resources you’ve been given, and became a champion who makes the world (and university campuses) a better place to live.

Let’s find the champion in you, friend.

What Does “Diversity” Mean?

If you want to succeed with your grad applications, your diversity statement will have little to do with race, gender, religion, or sexuality labels . Instead, it will have everything to do with the ways you’ve chosen, as an individual, to make the world better.

This is why these essays are sometimes called “Personal Contribution” statements. They’re about how you grew and changed and succeeded and made your community different .

Think that simply being a Buddhist orphan will help you get into grad school? Wrong. (Though it might help you get into a monastery.)

But what if you’re a Buddhist orphan who’s taught meditation on campus for three years, who sweeps the steps of Los Angeles’s Hsi Lai Temple every summer, and who mentors other orphans in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, all while earning a 3.7 GPA in Neuroscience and working two years in a lab researching the effects of mindfulness on depression?

One of these is different from the other.

One says, “This is who I am.”

The other says, “This is what I do.”

The funny thing is, the impact of this story has little to do with our fictional student’s demographic label. Instead, it has everything to do with what she’s accomplished. As a thought exercise, imagine that instead of a Buddhist orphan from Los Angeles, she’s a white, heterosexual son of Baptist doctors from Austin, Texas.

This doctors’ son surely has a story. Perhaps it was an impactful teacher. Perhaps his parents resented him for it. But either way, this young man became a certified meditation teacher, worked in his community for years, mentored disadvantaged children, and studied hard while conducting meaningful research.

As long as the stories are heartfelt and real (and not the gimmick of a child of privilege seeking an advantage), the admissions committee will recognize it. They’ll know one thing for certain about either student: they’ll make a beautifully positive impact on a new graduate campus.

Just remember this:

If you want to write about identity labels in your Diversity Statement, it’s not about whether you are diverse. It’s about whether you’ve contributed to a more diverse world.

The Adversity Elephant in the Room

Students with “adversity stories” often get ridiculously good admissions results…but only if they’ve truly excelled in school. Why?

Consider two NYU classmates. Both have 3.8 GPAs and equal GRE scores. Both have published Political Science papers and submit excellent LORs. Both have years of volunteer work in public advocacy. Both apply to the same grad schools.

One, however, comes from an upper class NYC family. She went to a ritzy private high school. Her father is a Columbia professor and her mother an investment banker. The other student was a political asylee from Egypt. As a child, she saw family members murdered at gunpoint. She fled to America with her siblings, never saw her father again, lived in poverty, and learned English in public school.

Yet, both students achieved the same results. Different inputs, exact same output. Both are magnificent scholars. Both will get into grad school and succeed. One, however, had to work a lot harder to get those results, and for this, she will be rewarded.

When we talk about diversity, it’s not our applicant’s label as an immigrant first-generation college student that makes her special. It’s that she succeeded when all the odds were against her. We know that both of these students will succeed. But one of them, we know, is absolutely invincible.

Now, if our political asylee friend had a 3.4 GPA and no publications, would she get the same admissions results? Almost certainly not. She’ll still get admitted, but not at the most rigorous and competitive programs, or at least not all of them. In this case, the inputs are different, but so are the outputs. The NYC girl starts to look more capable of succeeding in intense graduate-level work.

It’s a complex issue with lots of nuance, and admissions committees take great pains to consider the true potential of every applicant. For this, we should be thankful for the opportunity to tell our story in a Diversity Statement or Personal History. But in the end, it’s a matter of how our “story” compares to the stories of others with similar academic success.

The “Upward Trending GPA” Trap

Many applicants use the Diversity Statement or Personal History to explain obstacles in their pasts that led to less-than-perfect academic performance. Perhaps they dealt with mental illness for one bleak semester. Perhaps they’re a member of the LGBT in an antagonistic religious community. Perhaps they grew up with abusive parents or a misogynist lab colleague made their life a living hell.

Often, when these applicants seek help online, they receive heartwarming advice:

Own your story. It’s who you are and doesn’t reflect your future. But be sure to show the upward trend in your GPA over time. This shows you have overcome those obstacles.

While this advice is correct, many students focus on the first part and make mistakes with the second.

For applicants who maybe have a modest 3.2 GPA, it’s tempting to blame adversity for our lack of success. “This doesn’t reflect my true potential,” they imply . “If I wasn’t a victim, I’d have achieved so much more.” Then they promise that they’ll do better if admitted to the utopia of graduate school.

Yet, this is only a promise. It provides no proof that the future will be different. While admissions committees will certainly sympathize with these candidates, we can’t ignore reality: grad schools aren’t charity organizations. This is still a student with a lower GPA who hasn’t yet proven that he can succeed in the greater challenges of grad school. After all, the GPA is the only verifiable info in the essay.

By using your adversity to justify a lower GPA, you force the reader to focus on the GPA as the final result. You make them double-check your transcripts to see how bad it really is.

Instead of showing yourself to be a champion, you’ve shown yourself to be someone who needs to be saved. In this case, the grad school is the hero, and you’re begging them to save your life.

It’s not a good look.

Thus, the key to being a champion is to never focus on the bad stuff at all . Seriously. Never describe it in any detail. Never paint yourself as a victim. Instead, tell the story of how adversity transformed you into someone who’s made a real and verifiable contribution to the world .

Compare the following two students:

“During sophomore year, I chose to abandon my orthodox Muslim upbringing. The struggle was unbearable, I separated from my family, and depression caused me to earn a 2.4 GPA for two semesters. However, I am proud to have made this decision. Now, I am confident that my GPA does not define who I am, and I feel ready and eager to achieve my full potential.”

“As someone who faced the trauma of severing ties with a deeply orthodox family, I am proud to have spent so many weekends volunteering with Recovering from Religion. In the last three years, I have spent countless hours with young women like me. We have shed tears together. We have provided counseling, academic tutoring, and job placement services. Today, as I graduate on the Dean’s List, I do so alongside an army of strong women who have taken back their lives and found faith in one another.”

One of these students is a champion. The other seems like she might be a tad overconfident.

As one dear friend of mine put it on Reddit , people love Batman for his crime-fighting skills, not because of how much it sucks to be an orphan.

Pro Tip:  Leave the GPA stuff in your SOP. But even there, only mention your much higher major GPA or the GPA from your final, better semesters. As professional salespeople teach us: “Never give them a reason to say ‘no.’”

But isn’t this just an essay about volunteer work?

No. Not always.

For students who’ve gone through difficult episodes that lowered their academic performance, they don’t need years of volunteer work to prove themselves a champion. Instead, they need to focus on the results of their transformation , and how it’s made them a better scholar.

(You know all heroes must go through a transformation, right?)

Once, I worked with an uber-successful Engineering applicant. He was admitted to multiple top master’s programs despite a period during undergrad when he was hospitalized due to serious mental illness and saw a massive drop in his GPA.

We know that mental illness is a “ Kiss of Death ” in grad applications, right? We also know that cataclysmic grades are usually the ultimate kiss of death. So, how did this student succeed?

In his Personal History, the student was very careful in describing his issue. It wasn’t a “mental illness,” but a “personal health challenge.” When he mentioned this, he didn’t give it more than a few words . He didn’t want the committee focusing on his problem, nor on the two bad semesters it caused. Instead, he wanted them focusing on what came after.

He said this temporary setback allowed him to concentrate on what he could control …his academic career. He described the rigorous time-management methods he learned. He described the egregious amount of time he spent in his professors’ office hours. He explained how he developed the habit of referencing course materials against other textbooks, often unassigned, and how this led him to the curious discovery of his thesis topic. Most importantly, he pointed out how these skills made him a Dean’s List student for his final four semesters, with a perfect 4.0 in Engineering courses .

In the end, he wasn’t a student recovering from a traumatic episode. He’d already recovered. Now, he was a 4.0 engineer who was obviously ready to succeed even further. His traumatic episode didn’t make him a victim. It was an early chapter in the story of how he transformed into a champion.

The 3 Sections of a Champion Diversity Statement

• Inciting Event or Status Quo (1 paragraph)
• Gradual Journey Forward and Transformation (2-4 paragraphs)
• Living as a Champion Today (1 paragraph)

The key to becoming a champion is to show your transformation occurring gradually over time. This never happens immediately. There is never one fierce decision to change.

If a student says, “the day my father died was the day I decided to become a cancer researcher,” then we don’t believe them. It’s childish. No one can just decide to become a cancer researcher. That takes a thousand small self-discoveries and decisions over years. First they must decide to study medicine. Then they take a cancer-focused class with an inspiring teacher. Then they discover a talent for biostatistics. Then they join a lab where they begin to realize they can truly be a professional researcher.

This slow, gradual transformation is the real story of your essay. By encapsulating this journey in a frame narrative, one that provides a theme for the story and ends by emphasizing your successes and preparedness for the future, you craft an essay that will resonate deeply in the minds of the admissions reader.

1. Inciting Event or Status Quo (1 paragraph)

In this brief, one-paragraph section, you establish the world in which you’ve transformed (and perhaps helped others transform as well). You might describe a tragedy in your life. You might describe the difficulties of growing up in an immigrant family, with parents who never went to college. You might not have experienced major difficulties yourself, but perhaps you’ve witnessed the difficulties others faced, and did what you could to make things better. In a professional, straightforward, mature, unemotional, and completely non-melodramatic tone , you describe that world here.

Appalachia is a beautiful place, though not everyone agrees. This is something I often discussed with my father, a coal miner in Eastern Kentucky, after my mother died. Where we maintain a quiet pride in our landscape and culture, the world outside often paints a different picture. They point to the opioid epidemic. They call our people hostile and uneducated. And in some ways, they are correct. Like many locales throughout the nation, the twenty-five million inhabitants of Appalachia have their own problems. Yet, these problems do not reflect the world in which I was raised.

2. Gradual Journey Forward and Transformation (2-4 paragraphs)

This section will make up the bulk of your essay. Even though I hate “autobiography” SOPs , this longer section of your Diversity Statement will show a chronological journey through time. For most students, this is easy. You don’t need to worry about fancy structures or writing techniques. You just tell your story, all the while remembering the overarching theme. In the example above, we know that the author is going to tell us a story about growing up in rural Kentucky, and how the difficulties gave him strengths that make him a scholar with incredible potential today.

When I left home to attend Georgetown University, I often felt dismayed by how freely my educated classmates mimicked my accent, mouthed a banjo melody, or asked if I grew up in a trailer. (I did.) Occasionally, a classmate with a proclivity for hiking would speak beautifully of the Appalachian Trail, a sentiment I share, though the AT lies three hours away in Virginia. No one ever mentioned the way hundreds of people will stand for hours at the church steps on a hot Saturday, waiting to pay respects to the wife of a fellow miner who has died. No one knew that in my high school, African-American, Latino, Indian, Filipino, Native American, and Korean students roam the halls (as well as one Californian who was the true fish out of water). Few knew that the banjo evolved from the stringed West African akonting.

In many ways, these misunderstandings inspired me to work even harder these past three years, though hard work has never been a problem for me. After spending two summers toiling full-time in the same coal mine as my father, Biostatistics final exams, lab work, and waiting tables on weekends are a pleasure. In fact, it sometimes makes me feel guilty. While I collect tips or compare effects of FLASH radiation therapy, I know my father is ignoring his bad back and arthritic knees, on the night shift, but will still rise to attend church in the morning. What have I done compared to this?

3. Living as a Champion Today (1 paragraph)

In this final section, we arrive at “the point” of your Diversity Statement: that everything you’ve done in life, all you’ve been through, has made you a better candidate for graduate school. You aren’t lamenting the difficulties of your life. You aren’t simply labelling yourself as a member of a disadvantaged community. You’re proving that all this has made you better. Here, you might describe community service and how you’ve given back to the world. But, most importantly, you’ll state why these efforts will help you succeed in your master’s or PhD.

Yet as difficult as these realities can be, I know that they will only make me a better student and lab partner at Harvard. I have been fortunate to work as a community ambassador for cancer awareness in both Eastern Kentucky and Northern Virginia. The people with whom I work come from a range of backgrounds, but all share the same struggle, the same one that killed my own mother eight years ago. None of them ever care about my accent. They only appreciate that I am there to serve, just as I will in the classrooms and laboratories at Harvard. Today, I am certain of my readiness to stand alongside researchers of any culture or social class, in pursuit of the scientific goals that most benefit the community around us. In doing this, I will honor my mother, my father, my university, and the land in which I was raised.

A Note on Tone

As I said earlier, you will write in a professional, straightforward, mature, unemotional, and completely non-melodramatic tone . This isn’t a creative writing exercise. It’s not a screenplay. It’s an exercise in clarity and honesty. Don’t paint pictures of the difficult scenes in your life. By telling the story straight, you’ll sound more confident – more like a graduate scholar.

A Note on Time

If the Statement of Purpose is about the future , the Diversity Statement is about the past .

Most universities only want to know what you’ll accomplish in the future. They only ask for an SOP, which is 100% academic, a logical argument for why you’ll make a great chemist, data scientist, or financial engineer.

But those universities who ask for a Diversity Statement or Personal History…they do want to know about your past. This helps them contextualize your future. By seeing how well you understand yourself, they can better determine how valuable you’ll be as a member of their community.

When considering how these two essays work together, think of them like this:

Conclusion on the Diversity Statement

Whatever we call them – Diversity Statements or Personal Contributions – these essays are tricky for everyone. As you begin writing yours, please don’t think you need to fit into some kind of precut mold. Don’t think that grad schools only seek students who fill a demographic quota. Instead, see this as an opportunity to let your individuality and contributions shine. You aren’t beholden to identity labels or the community in which you grew up. You aren’t a failure because of a few dark days, nor are you less attractive as a scholar because your life has been comparatively smooth.

We all have issues to work out. We all have an identity formed in the crucible of our unique experiences. What matters is only that you changed, grew, evolved, transformed, and have now become someone who’s capable of making a wonderful impact on the world. Someone who’s willing to be a champion. Even if your efforts are quiet, even if the best you can do is remain open-hearted and respectful to everyone you encounter in the classroom or lab, you can be on the side of the champions, and there will be a spot in grad school for you.

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Center for Career Development

Diversity Statements

The purpose of this guide is to provide a foundation for thinking about your own diversity statement(s). This guide is general and does not provide discipline- or position-specific guidance.   The Center for Career Development offers one-on-one appointments to review and discuss your diversity statement. We also encourage you to reach out to recent faculty hires in your department or discipline to discuss their diversity statements as they are most likely to have good examples of what committees may find compelling.

What is a diversity statement and what is its purpose?

In recent years, many colleges and universities started prioritizing diversifying their faculty, staff and student bodies. Institutions are interested in hiring faculty with lived experiences, competencies, or insights that can foster an inclusive environment. Your diversity statement is the first way a committee will assess your ability to navigate these topics.   A diversity statement outlines how a candidate will contribute to an institution's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). It's an opportunity for you to highlight the ways you would advance an institution's DEI work. It's also a chance for you to discuss your understanding of the varied experiences of people from minoritized and/or underrepresented groups. You can also outline your lived experiences or your experiences meeting the needs of a diverse group during your graduate training and beyond. It is also appropriate to outline a vision of how you, as a faculty member, would make contributions to DEI in the future.   Your statement will likely have at least some of these elements:

• A statement of your perspective or values: Articulate your understanding of DEI within higher education
• Personal examples or experience: Provide evidence of your commitment to DEI by describing what you've done in the past
• Future plans: Explain what you will do as a faculty member to advance DEI

What topics might I cover?

Diversity statements vary widely in terms of what people choose to highlight depending on their own identities, experiences and backgrounds. You should include content that you think addresses how you have approached diversity in the past or may approach it in your new position. The following list is intended to serve as a starting point and is not exhaustive.

As with any piece of writing, it's helpful for a reader if you provide a framework. To orient your reader, you may want to discuss difficulties people from certain backgrounds face in your field.

You may also want to discuss your lived experiences navigating some of those very difficulties. However, for legal, personal or political reasons, you may choose not to include information about your identity. Either approach is fine.

If you are conducting research that focuses on people of diverse backgrounds or that offers theoretical or practical insights into underserved groups, be sure to highlight that in your diversity statement. It should also appear in your research statement.

You could also discuss ways you are going to support students of diverse backgrounds who may work with you as research assistants or thesis students.

If you have teaching experience, you may consider discussing how you incorporate DEI in your courses. For example, you could discuss inclusive teaching practices or how you have approached teaching diverse groups.

Mentorship is another form of teaching, so if you have experience working with students from minoritized or under-represented backgrounds, you can also highlight that.

It is also acceptable to generate ideas about how you would approach teaching as a new faculty member through the lens of DEI. Topics you include in your diversity statement related to teaching should complement what you talk about in your teaching statement.

If you hold positions within your department, on campus, or your professional associations related to DEI, you can discuss how those will shape your approach as a faculty member.

You can also discuss any outreach you may do in the community, especially related to marginalized groups.

Getting started

Writing a diversity statement is like writing other academic job materials (e.g., teaching or research statements). Because of that, many of the steps for a successful diversity statement are similar to other documents.

It may seem obvious, but ask yourself, “What do I mean by DEI? What does the institution mean?” These questions are critical to writing a coherent statement.

Using the topics listed above , you can also ask yourself more specific questions related to your ideas about diversity. Beck (2018) provides a useful list of questions you may want to consider as writing prompts.

Consider your audience

As with most writing, you are creating your diversity statement for someone to read. Keep this audience in mind as you craft your document.

Your statement will be read by a committee of faculty members, but the exact composition will vary depending on the type of institution you're applying to. Consider what faculty will want to or expect to see in your statement ( see topics above ).

Select your examples

Diversity statements are typically only about a page long. You may have a range of experiences you would like to discuss or cover. Be thoughtful about which examples you choose.

Each example you choose should highlight a competency, perspective, or experience you have that demonstrates your commitment to DEI.

The Writing Center , Center for Career Development, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center and your faculty mentor(s) are good resources to discuss your examples.

Revise and refine

As with all writing, your first draft of your diversity statement won't be your last or your best.

Have trusted advisers, mentors, and/or friends read over your statement to help make sure you're articulating your points as clearly as possible.

Should I tailor my diversity statement?

Once you have a general draft you feel comfortable with, you should make sure to research a specific institution or department's programs, efforts and policies related to DEI. When possible, align your statement with what is already happening to demonstrate that you've done your research. This will also allow you to provide more specific evidence about why you are the best candidate for their open position.

Example diversity statement

This statement was used by a candidate during a faculty job search as a fifth-year Ph.D. student. He received a faculty offer at a small liberal arts college in a psychology department.

My commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion stems from my own experiences as an undergraduate at Princeton University. As a lower-income queer student from a single-parent household, I felt out of place at Princeton to begin with. Coming from a public high school in Kentucky, I was terrified of falling behind academically.

Because of this fear, I was reluctant to try new fields, and I actively avoided asking for help from staff and faculty. During my first two years of college, I rarely felt that my professors were creating environments where my experiences were understood or valued. At my lowest, I considered transferring.

Eventually, though, I found my footing on campus through my work as a Residential College Adviser. In this role, I had the opportunity to advise a diverse group of first-year undergraduates. I was able to see the struggles that all of my advisees faced on campus, some of which overlapped with my own.

I became acutely aware of the need for universities to acknowledge the unique adversity facing each of its students. In addition, as an advisor I learned how critical it is to make it clear to students that you value the unique perspectives they each bring. These lessons are foundational to how I mentor and teach, and I will continue to emphasize equitable and inclusive treatment of students as a faculty member. 

As a PhD student, I have taken on several roles related to equity, diversity, and inclusion. I was elected by my peers to serve as the liaison between graduate students and faculty in my department. This role involved collecting anecdotes and experiences from PhD students about a range of issues including microaggressions, advisor conflict, and financial strain.

In one extreme case, several PhD students in my department did not receive a paycheck one month. In response, I drafted a letter based on students' accounts of this financial hardship and sent it to the dean of my academic college. Eventually, the issue was resolved. I enjoyed using my position to support students. I think it is especially important that those with institutional influence or privilege use that status to enact change and advocate for those without the same level of access to power. 

I also served on my department's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee. On the EDI committee, I contributed to discussions about how to promote equity and diversity in our department. I suggested that the department host a training from a member of the university's LGBTQIA center focusing on supporting queer students.

This training was well-attended and well-received by members of my department. In all of my past roles, my goal has always been to improve the experiences of people of all backgrounds. I am very interested in pursuing similar opportunities when possible at X university or college.

My goal as an instructor and mentor is to increase accessibility and promote inclusivity. In my teaching, I strive to highlight the importance of students' unique experiences and of diversity more broadly. In my Psychology of Language course, for example, I often talked openly with students about homogeneity in psycholinguistic research both in terms of who conducts studies and which samples are recruited.

I also dedicated an entire class session to talking about DEI. I assigned a recent paper about how the field could become more equitable. My students seemed to appreciate my approach. In my course evaluations, students rated whether I created an “inclusive classroom” at a 4.78 out of 5, higher than both my department and college's averages.

In my work as a writing tutor in the university's Writing Studio, I often encounter issues of equity and inclusion.  In one case, for example, a student wrote a moving essay that focused on their gender identity and disability. This student was hesitant to divulge such personal information in an academic application. To belay their fears, I talked with the student about the fact that their unique experiences informed who they were and what they were hoping to do.

The student was passionate about promoting queer and marginalized voices, and they eventually chose to include information about their own identity. I am eager to continue working with students from diverse backgrounds at X college/university. I am passionate about ensuring that people from all backgrounds are able to thrive, especially in their academic endeavors.

Related links

• Advancing Equity in Faculty Hiring with Diversity Statements
• Breaking Down Diversity Statements
• Developing and Writing a Diversity Statement
• Writing an Effective Diversity Statement
• Write Your Diversity Statement in Four Steps

Diversity Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a diversity statement in preparation for an academic job. Although it is geared toward academic jobs, much of the advice throughout this handout can be used to construct diversity statements for other fields. Overall, this handout offers insights into the form and construction of an effective diversity statement.

What is a diversity statement?

The diversity statement is a relatively new addition to the job application portfolio. It tends to be a one- to two-page document that explains your experiences with and commitments to diverse populations of students. A university that seeks this statement from applicants is typically concerned with ensuring that faculty hires are familiar with its diverse student populations and willing to support students in line with the university’s mission statement. A successful diversity statement talks about your background and how you will create a diverse and inclusive learning environment for all students.

What is diversity?

There is no universal definition that all institutions use for diversity. This lack of definition can be frustrating. You may find yourself at a loss for how to talk about a concept that is not defined. However, there are still clues, usually provided by the institution. You can ask:

• Does the university have a diversity statement on its website?
• Does the university have a diversity and inclusion office? If so, what is its mission statement?
• How has the university’s alumni magazine discussed the current student population?
• Does the office of institutional research publish public reports about diverse populations?

However, not having a definition can be freeing. It allows you to really consider your commitments to students and examine what diversity could mean. For example, if you are considering a college or university set in the mountains, it may mean a student population that identifies as Appalachian. Conversely, schools in North Carolina might be concerned with the enrollment and matriculation of Indigenous students. In other words, how diversity is interpreted depends largely on the institution, its location, and its current student population. Ask yourself:

• Have you worked with first-generation students? International students? Students from underrepresented minority groups?
• Have you worked with students from rural or urban environments?
• Are you familiar with students from the South, Northeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest?
• Have you worked with students who identify as neuroatypical?
• Have you worked with students who identify as LGBTQIA+?
• Are you familiar with students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds?
• Have you worked with non-traditional students?

This list of questions is not meant to be comprehensive but to help you think about how you consider diversity as a future instructor at a university. If you happen to have little to no experience working with diverse populations of students, do not fear. There are strategies, which will be addressed below.

Before you start writing

Bear in mind that writing this statement will require you to be flexible in both how you define diversity, as we discussed above, and how you have encountered diversity throughout your career. Below are some strategies for demystifying the expectations for diversity statements.

Consult models

Because the diversity statement is a new addition to the application portfolio, you may find that your usual mentors are unable to give you more direct guidance in its composition. However, it does not mean that you do not have options. You might:

• Reach out to colleagues and friends in the early stages of their career and ask them about their experiences writing diversity statements.
• Ask your university’s career services if they have any examples.
• Try to find examples from successful job candidates.
• Ask people who have recently served on hiring committees.

All of these suggestions can help demystify the process of writing a diversity statement. You also might want to reflect on how diversity is discussed on your current or most recent campus, and compare it to how diversity is discussed at the potential new campus.

In order to tailor a diversity statement to a specific institution, you need to think about the concerns of your audience and how your approach to diversity fits into the broader mission of the university and the department. In essence, this essay allows you to communicate how you will potentially serve the students at your new university in a way that is slightly different than your teaching statement and job application letter. Below are some questions you might consider:

• How has the university approached diversity recently?
• Does the university have a diversity and inclusion office?
• How has the university defined diversity in the past? How are they defining it now?
• What populations does the university serve?
• Are there any populations on the rise or in decline in the university or university system?
• Is the university in the midst of any diversity initiatives? If so, what are they?
• Whom does the department serve?
• Do certain student populations take more courses in the department than others?
• Is the department involved with any diversity initiatives?

These questions can help you consider the institution’s commitments and make clear the populations of students with whom you will be interacting. Moreover, they can help you understand your audience and anticipate what information might be most pertinent or interesting to them. After all, part of the goal in writing this statement is presenting yourself as capable and competent in teaching and interacting with the students whom the university serves.

Writing a draft

Because diversity statements continue to evolve, there is no set form. The lack of a standard form allows for creative freedom—hopefully a positive. As such, this section will provide a variety of considerations and strategies to compose a diversity statement.

Organization

You have many options for crafting your statement to emphasize the aspects of diversity most important to you. Below are a few examples of different organizational strategies:

Think of your statement as a narrative (past, present, future). This strategy allows you to build upon past experiences to point towards future development. You might consider these questions:

• How have your previous experiences informed your understanding of diversity?
• How do you currently approach diversity and inclusion in and outside the classroom?
• How do you think your current practices will translate to a new environment?
• If you have had little interaction with students from diverse backgrounds, how have you learned about diverse student populations? How might you make your classroom inclusive?
• How might you apply the knowledge you have learned in the future?

This approach can help you think about how your approach to diversity has changed over time and demonstrate your ability to adapt to new environments.

Structure your statement around your commitments to diversity. This strategy asks you to prioritize your commitments and expand upon them based on your past and current experiences, as well as your future goals. You might consider these questions:

• How have you made your classroom accessible and inclusive?
• How have you invested in diversity or inclusion in the past?
• Have you worked with specific groups of students or student organizations?
• Have you integrated your commitments into your research? If so, how?
• Have you integrated your commitments into your teaching? If so, how?
• How does your research inform your teaching?
• How have you or will you make the classroom inviting to a variety of students?

This approach ultimately helps you think about how diversity is an integral part of who you are as a researcher and instructor. It can help demonstrate how you connect your work inside and outside the classroom.

Narrow your focus to teaching. This strategy focuses on practical application of diversity in the classroom. It asks you to think about how you may have shifted your teaching to serve different groups of students. You might consider these questions:

• How do you foster diverse student perspectives?
• How have you integrated diverse perspectives in your teaching?
• How have you approached controversial topics, such as religion or politics, in the classroom? How did you include all students in these types of discussions?
• How does your course material reflect contributions from diverse perspectives?
• How have you modified class discussions and course materials to include all your students?
• How have you in the past and how will you in the future continue to encourage students to think about the effects of racial, cultural, gender, socioeconomic, and other differences?

This approach can characterize what is distinctive about your teaching and how it serves students, as well as how it expands their view of diversity.

Make it autobiographical. This strategy focuses on you as an individual, and it should explain how diversity has impacted your career. In this essay, some applicants might choose to self-identify. Others may instead choose to focus on their pedagogical experience with diverse populations over their career.

Talk about your own experiences as a member of an underrepresented group.

• Discuss how you have grown to understand diversity over your education and instructional experiences.
• Discuss how you have been impacted by diversity throughout your academic career, directly or indirectly.

Possible pitfalls

Not being specific. Make sure that when you talk about a certain strategy or a certain group of students that you provide a concrete example. The diversity statement is not simply a list of all the work you have done working with diverse student populations or a restatement of your CV, but it should highlight the most important aspects of how you have approached diversity in the past and include a reflection on those actions. To avoid falling into this trap of listing, you need to think about your specific experiences as evidence. This list is not exhaustive, but it will help you consider the type of examples that a reader might expect in a diversity statement:

• Specific topics you covered in class and student reactions.
• Specific assignments and students’ reactions.
• Specific strategies you have used to include all students in the classroom.
• Specific anecdotes and comments from students.
• Examples from course evaluations.
• Specific events or initiatives you participated in and their success.

Not telling the truth. Above all, be honest! If you have not had experiences with diverse groups of students or you are not a member of an underrepresented group, then you can talk about how you would approach working with students from diverse groups and backgrounds. You can mention that you have researched or studied pedagogy working with diverse groups of students. You can offer examples of techniques or classroom strategies that you would use or think would be helpful for the institution that you are applying for.

Forgetting to revise. Remember your first draft is not your last draft. For some, the revision process is the most difficult part of writing. However, sometimes the best way to tackle indecision about a draft is to receive feedback from a variety of different readers. Outside readers can help you see any shortcomings, point out places where you might need more information, and affirm that you have done a complete job. You can ask: your advisor, your mentor/s, colleagues, and other early-career scholars. For more information about the revision process, see our Editing and Proofreading handout or Proofreading video for some strategies.

Ignoring your audience. Make sure that you address the needs of the department and university. Neglecting to consider the short term and long term goals of the university or the needs of the student population at the institution makes you appear at best unprepared or ill-informed and at worst obtuse.

Not doing yourself justice. The statement should not be an exhaustive list of all the times you worked with diverse populations, a treatise on the ideal classroom, or the appropriation of a student’s or a student group’s experiences as your own. Nor should your statement fail to offer some personal reflections on your experiences in teaching or possibly outside of the classroom. The statement should share your thoughts and recognize the rewards, challenges, and difficulties of making course material and research relevant to diverse student and faculty populations.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Bryce, Leah. n.d. “Making Sense of the Diversity Statement.” Chronicle Vitae . Accessed April 4, 2014. https://chroniclevitae.com/groups/diversity-in-hiring/making-sense-of-the-diversity-statement .

Flaherty, Colleen. 2018. “Breaking Down Diversity Statement.” Inside Higher Ed , November 19, 2018. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/19/new-paper-explores-what-faculty-candidates-include-their-diversity-equity-and .

Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2016. “The Effective Diversity Statement.” Inside Higher Ed , June 10, 2016. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/10/how-write-effective-diversity-statement-essay .

Kelsky, Karen. 2015. “What Is a Diversity Statement, Anyway?” In The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job , 185–90. New York: Three Rivers Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Writing an Effective Diversity Statement

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The diversity statement asks graduate school applicants to identify and discuss their demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. While a diversity statement is not required for all graduate school applications, it is becoming increasingly common. Prompts can vary widely across institutions and can change yearly. They are not always available on a program’s website and are often encountered once you have opened an application for that school. Below are a few examples of prompts from recent years. Notice the difference and similarities in what applicants are being asked to address.  

• UC Santa Cruz is interested in a diverse and inclusive graduate student population. In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree. (2022)
• Supporting the development of a diverse student body is central to the University of Minnesota’s mission. This mission is enacted by the inclusion of academically excellent students with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and/or a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Please write a statement that identifies the distinctive characteristics and/or life experiences, such as successfully overcoming obstacles or hardships, that you would bring to your graduate program and how that could contribute to the education and enhanced perspective of fellow students at the University of Minnesota. (2022)
• Yale Chemistry is dedicated to attracting qualified students with diverse backgrounds and experiences. In 300 words or less, applicants should briefly describe their perspectives on diversity, why it is important, and how they have contributed to or will contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion. (2022)
• Applicants may submit a statement with their application, briefly describing how their academic interests, background, or life experiences would advance Princeton’s commitment to diversity within the Graduate School and to training individuals in an increasingly diverse society. Please submit a succinct statement of no more than 500 words. (2022)

  A helpful starting point is to consider definitions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Dafina-Lazarus Stewart’s definitions are particularly useful because they disentangle the nuances of the language:  

  “ Diversity celebrates increases in numbers that still reflect minoritized status on campus and incremental growth. Equity celebrates reductions in harm, revisions to abusive systems and increases in supports for people’s life changes as reported by those who have been targeted. Inclusion celebrates awards for initiatives and credits itself for having a diverse candidate pool. Justice celebrates getting rid of practices and policies that were having disparate impacts on minoritized groups” (Stewart, 2017).  

  Brainstorming Questions  

• What are your experiences with diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice? How have you contributed to these initiatives? How have you created, maintained, or prompted diverse/equitable/inclusive spaces and communities?  
• What experiences come to your mind? Some examples include extra-curriculars, clubs, coursework, campaigns, work, research, volunteer activities, mentoring activities, etc.  
• Why were these experiences meaningful? What did you learn from them? How did they extend your understanding of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice?   
• Are there aspects of your identity that inform your approach to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice? What would you be comfortable sharing with an admissions committee?  
•   Are there aspects of your identity, or life experiences you’ve had, that help you approach academic work in an uncommon way?  
•  D oes the prompt encourage you to think about your future engagements in diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice? If so, what do you want to include? How will you engage in such work as a graduate student, in your research, outreach, or beyond graduate school?  
•   Do your responses answer the prompt?   
•   Should you zero in on one or more of these experiences? Or will you take a more comprehensive approach in discussing your experiences? In deciding which approach to take in organizing your diversity statement, refer back to the prompt and the other materials in your application.  

Additional Resources    

• Arizona State University Graduate College
• Stewart, Dafina-Lazarus. (30 Mar 2017). Language of Appeasement . Inside Higher Ed.
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Office of Graduate Studies
• University of Minnesota Career Services

This resource was developed in collaboration with Grinnell College’s Writing, Reading, and Speaking Center

Grad15: How to write a diversity statement for your job search

Crafting a diversity statement.

Many graduate students preparing for career entry understand the importance of a well-crafted teaching philosophy or research statement. In last week’s Grad15 mini-webinar, Graduate Student Support Resources director Amanda Athey shared some tips and strategies on creating another piece in your job-hunting arsenal: the diversity statement.

Diversity statements are a relatively new phenomenon. They are commonly associated with job advertisements for faculty positions in higher education. However, one might also come across them for administrative positions in higher education, positions at non-profits, and within government or corporate hiring sectors. 

Why do institutions or organizations ask for a diversity statement? 

Coming across a position requesting a diversity statement is a good indication that the hiring party is committed to and recognizes the importance of inclusion and equity. A diverse workforce correlates to increased team creativity, productivity and problem-solving. Within higher education, recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented communities hinges upon having a diverse and culturally-competent faculty and staff.

Even if a hiring committee does not specifically ask for a diversity statement as part of the application process, applicants should expect to be asked some questions about their engagement with equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging when they reach the interview phase of a job search.  

There is no single best model for developing your own diversity statement, just as there is no single way to craft a personal statement or cover letter -- these are highly individualized items. Karla Morales, Director of the Office for Multicultural Advancement with the University of Arizona, offers examples for use within academia. 

In considering your own statement (or preparing your own thoughts on diversity and inclusion for interview talking points), we suggest three steps for developing one that responds to the position and hiring organization.  

Step 1: Create a template based on your personal understanding and awareness of diversity. 

Make sure to dedicate some time to reflecting on your views. This diversity statement guide from Utica College, provides some good prompts:  

• How do you handle diverse perspectives and abilities in the classroom?
• How have you encouraged students to engage with diversity outside of the classroom? 
• How have you supported fellow faculty/staff/students in their own contributions to or struggles with diversity?
• How do you address issues of diversity and equity in your research and writing?
• Does your topic inherently relate to social justice or improving access among underrepresented groups; you are developing a technology, system, or process that can be used to benefit such groups in the future.  
• How do you create an environment of inclusion in your lab and among your colleagues? 
• How have you incorporated diversity into the classroom and how is that approach unique? 

Step 2: Research diversity at the hiring organization. 

Try to research the organization. Who do they hire? Who do they serve? What kinds of diversity committees or structures do they have in place?  Your research might include perusal of the organization’s website and social media (including LinkedIn profiles for members of their leadership teams), or connecting with their current (or past) employees.

Step 3: Customize your template to reflect what is sought from that hiring organization. 

Thread together your personal reflections with the hiring organization’s goals to create a statement that addresses the particular contributions that you can make to that organization or institution. 

It is important to decide for yourself how much personal information you want to share. There are pros and cons to doing so. This article by the Harvard Business Review briefly articulates some. If you decide to disclose detailed demographic information about your background, remember that context is the key. Make sure to frame it in terms of your personal engagement with or your understanding of diversity. Most institutions will be seeking candidates who demonstrate their commitment to being inclusive, regardless of personal background.   

To view a recording of this Grad15 mini-webinar, visit the GradConnect Community Network on Canvas. Visit our website to see upcoming Grad15 webinars . 

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Diversity statements for faculty job applications

The purpose of a diversity statement.

The purpose of a diversity statement is to communicate how you have contributed, or will contribute, to diversity, equity, and inclusion work in your academic life. In order to write an effective diversity statement for academic applications, it is helpful to be familiar with the types of diversity goals and initiatives that different academic institutions have. Many universities have specific websites that focus on their diversity initiatives, which can be helpful in figuring out their priorities. For example, here is Penn’s page: https://www.upenn.edu/life-at-penn/diversity .

We recommend using some of the language you see in these pages to describe your own perspectives on diversity, since sharing common themes can make your statement more relevant to the search committee. Some schools that request diversity statements also provide clear instructions on how these should be written, and it makes sense to follow these directions carefully. This is especially important now, as many schools are changing the way they talk about diversity in response to legislative or institutional changes.

Are Diversity Statements Required for All Faculty Jobs?

If you’ve been following the news, you may be wondering whether diversity statements are still a requirement for faculty job applications. The short answer is: it depends. Recent changes in state legislation and institutional policies have led some schools to phase out this document, while other schools continue to ask for them. Given this variation across institutions and departments, it is a good idea to still be prepared to write a diversity statement for the schools that request it. For institutions that don’t require a separate diversity statement, you may choose to discuss your experiences with diversity in your cover letter, teaching statement, and/or research statement. In each case, be sure to research the school to which you’re applying so that you’re aware of their current policies and approaches to diversity and can demonstrate an alignment with those approaches in your materials.

Timeline: Getting Started with Your Diversity Statement

In general terms, a diversity statement should include past experiences and activities, and also future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. As you are thinking about your statement, keep the following questions in mind, as these can help you to structure what you are writing about:

• What does diversity mean to you, and why is this important?
• Do you understand the university’s diversity goals?
• What have been some of your experiences either being part of a non-majority group or interacting with diverse populations?
• How has your thinking about diversity actively influenced your teaching, research, and/or scholarship?
• What role have diversity issues played in your past university service, and what role will they play in the future?
• What role do you believe that advising and mentoring play in working with diverse populations?
• Does your engagement with diversity help students prepare for careers in a global society?

Your experiences working with diverse populations will themselves be diverse, and there is no one type of experience that will be sought by search committees. You may not have substantial past activities. In this case, it is a good idea to focus on future plans. As long as you are making an honest attempt to consider your role in meeting each institution’s diversity goals, then you are on the right track. Think about your past experiences and future goals as they relate to these approaches:

• Service experience with underrepresented groups, including outreach, tutoring, or other types of programs addressing topics relevant to groups such as women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities. This might include being involved in a committee or group focused on diversity, equity, climate, and/or inclusion
• Teaching, advising, or mentoring underrepresented or underserved groups
• Teaching approaches that focus on different learning styles and that can accommodate different learning abilities
• Being aware of challenges faced by historically underrepresented populations
• Community involvement beyond the university
• Research activities that specifically contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Future activities you might pursue in context of how they might fit into a research area, department, campus, or national context, listing any ongoing campus initiatives of particular relevance you have found from your research into the institution’s diversity efforts

Take a look at some of the examples in the document below to see how others have articulated their thoughts around diversity.

Additional Resources

For further tips, tricks, and strategies for writing a diversity statement, see the resources below:

• The PhD Career Training Platform is an eLearning platform with on-demand, self-paced modules that allow PhDs and postdocs to make informed decisions about their career path and learn successful job search strategies from other PhDs. Select the University of Pennsylvania from the  drop-down menu, log in using your University ID, and click the “Faculty Careers” tab to learn more about application documents for a faculty job search.
• Diversity Statements: What They Are and How They’re Used
• The Effective Diversity Statement
• 5 Don’ts in Writing Your DEI Statement
• Talking about DEI in Your Diversity Statement and Teaching Materials (video)

Explore other application documents:

Diversity statements: what to avoid and what to include

Diversity statements are increasingly important for faculty, both when teaching online and applying for jobs. Pardis Mahdavi and Scott Brooks outline what to avoid and what to include when drafting a diversity statement

Pardis Mahdavi

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Search committees at colleges and universities increasingly require candidates applying for faculty or leadership positions to submit diversity statements. And in the post-Covid online world, where interviews are truncated at best, we are increasingly reliant on applicants’ written materials.

Universities across the US are now considering making diversity statements required for all faculty. Many institutions ask faculty to post diversity statements online for students to read before or during their course to demonstrate the institution’s and the individual’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Some universities even offer incentives such as merit raises for those willing to do so.

A well-constructed diversity statement is especially important for online instructors who need to provide a carefully considered response to the additional layer of challenges that many students face when studying remotely.

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Here, we lay out some “red flags” to avoid and key frameworks to embed when writing a diversity statement.

What to avoid – red flags

Common mistakes or pitfalls when writing a diversity statement fall into three major categories:

• Diversity by proxy
• Personal stories of redemption
• The exceptionalist argument.

1. Diversity by proxy

Diversity by proxy is when candidates borrow from the success of others, an organisation or programme. Candidates speak specifically about their department’s student demographics or a programme for students of colour that they direct, are part of or appreciate.

Example 1: “_____ (university’s name) is one of the most diverse campuses in the country. We are ____% white, ____% Latin, ____% Asian/Pacific Islander, ____% African American.”

Example 2: Candidates might mention success and claim some responsibility, implicitly or explicitly. “I’m a faculty mentor for the McNair Scholars programme and we have had wonderful, bright students who just need intense mentorship.”

Example 3: The message of “I support success for people of colour” can be followed by surprise and self-congratulation. “We have students who do very well, one or two have even gone on to graduate school at very good schools! One of my students, from Chicago, a first-generation student from a single-parent household, is a first-year PhD student at Berkeley.”

We called this “diversity by proxy” because the candidate’s example relies on numbers that tell us about where they are and not who they are or what they have done. Secondly, they are borrowing identity, status and achievement by linking themselves to the success stories of students of colour or faculty. In this way, they give undue credit to themselves as a saviour.

2. Personal stories of redemption

Candidates write of personal experiences that have occurred outside of the academy and are meant to reflect their appreciation for diversity and inclusion and their dissatisfaction with racism.

Example 1: They may write about an event that solidified their understanding of privilege: “I grew up in a small town where there was only one Indian family and one of the girls from that family became a close friend. And then, in the sixth grade, everything changed. She and I both auditioned for the school play, Annie , and it was clear that another girl got the lead because she was white and looked the part. But my friend was clearly better than everyone else. I felt bad for her but there was nothing I could do. And that is why I really feel so strongly about racism and exclusion and do what I can to help students of colour.”

Example 2: They may also talk about how they work with and learn so much from their colleagues of colour and students of colour. The focus is on their feeling and how they assuage their feelings of social injustice by their engagement, but does this lead to fighting structural issues found in the academy?

The playing field is never level, and so what do they do for those who they do not deem “clearly better”? 

3. The exceptionalist argument

Candidates write that they are in favour of diversity and inclusion but have not been in a position to fight against exclusionary practices.

Example 1: “Diversity is important but I can’t do it because my discipline is based on dead white men.”

Example 2: Or “I believe in diversity, but I have not been in a leadership position where I might make decisions. I would be supportive if there were some people of colour.”

The exceptionalist argument suggests that impact can only be made from certain positions, thereby exonerating most people who do not go against the grain. This obscures the roles that all faculty play in maintaining the status quo and contributing in small and large ways to discriminatory practices and negative outcomes for faculty, staff and students of colour.

Bias can lead to mis-assessing students, even creating unequal learning conditions. A student may be characterised as “low achieving” when they may need greater encouragement or when they come from a high school with fewer resources. In committee work, colleagues may use different adjectives to describe the quality of work of women colleagues and colleagues of colour.  

Are you interested in diversity issues? Check out our EDI channel, which is dedicated to advice and insight about equity, diversity and inclusion from academics around the world

What to include – key frameworks

Some white colleagues ask: “Can white candidates write something that would be acceptable?” This is a valid question. We say: “Of course they can. And some people of colour will write poor statements.” A good statement could come in countless forms. While some may feel that they cannot write from a position of experience, this is absolutely not the case. Their experiences are different.

We identify four elements found in strong diversity statements:

• Diversity as a strategy
• Evidence of addressing structural challenges
• Recognition and underscoring of the invisible labour done by faculty and staff of colour
• Demonstrated enlightened mentoring. 

1. Diversity as a strategy

Creating a plan, rather than simply doing an action, moves people beyond reacting and shows an understanding of intersectionality and the matrices of oppression.

For online teachers, it is especially important to consider the contours of their students’ lives. The strongest statements are ones where they see that there are interlocking issues – food insecurity is connected to student learning, impression management with professors, matriculation and well-being. For example, an online teaching candidate may have buttressed student support with financial and social support and mentoring and even made changes to policies that excluded certain people or groups based on criteria that are unnecessary. The strongest statements are those where candidates articulate how diversity is used centrally in re-thinking budget, curriculum and access.

2. Evidence of addressing structural challenges

Strong diversity statements include examples of candidates advocating for structural changes. They show that they recognise and make systemic changes to address this. Candidates can write about “white space” and how they have educated others and implemented new practices that go against the status quo. They may have found systemic holes and problems that have disparate effects on women of colour. They may have counteracted systemic and institutionalised practices. For instance, strong candidates mention noticing varying language, such as different adjectives, in the evaluations of faculty, staff and students of colour. 

3. Recognition or underscoring of invisible labour 

Supporting faculty and staff of colour must be multifaceted. It is widely known and acknowledged that faculty of colour have different experiences – they are counted on to take on certain services because they are a person of colour; students of colour look to them more than to white colleagues; and they face student racism. 

4. Demonstrated enlightened mentoring

Mentors who are “woke” to and address structural challenges, who use diversity as a strategy, and who recognise or underscore the invisible labour and challenges of faculty, staff and students of colour will mentor in ways that have longer term impacts and that mitigate exclusion and discriminatory practices.  Mentoring is especially difficult in the online world, but candidates who write about ways they have overcome this demonstrate strong commitments to the work of the framework we call JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion).

The JEDI framework is about more than one or two actions, and goes beyond a checklist. Thus, posting a diversity statement online is, in and of itself, not “enough”. However, this is an important part of systemic change when faculty post diversity statements, and these become an integral part of performance reviews and promotion. We are elevating the importance of JEDI work, and taking a step in the right direction of the structural changes needed for social transformation.

Pardis Mahdavi is dean of social sciences at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and directs the School of Social Transformation, and Scott Brooks is an associate professor with the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, both at Arizona State University .

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How to Write a Diversity Statement

A diversity statement gives you the chance to show that you understand the barriers that underrepresented groups face. It’s also a way to tell if an institution is committed to diversity and equity.

The hiring committee will use your statement to determine whether you have the skills, experience, and willingness to contribute to a culture of inclusion.

Why it Matters

Diversity, inclusion, and equity are important concepts in our highly interconnected world.

While diversity speaks to the presence of differences between people or groups in a given setting, inclusion ensures that people of different backgrounds feel valued and receive a seat at the table. Equity ensures that everyone is a full participant, with acknowledgment of the advantages and barriers that exist for different people. For participants to feel that they belong in a given setting, their contributions and perspectives must be welcomed and encouraged.

Social scientist Scott Page has examined how groups of people with diverse perspectives are more innovative and better at problem-solving . His work demonstrates that cognitive differences and differences in identity lead to better performance and improved results. Economist Richard Freeman, meanwhile, has demonstrated that ethnically diverse groups of scientific collaborators receive greater numbers of citations .

You may have recognized the importance of cognitive diversity in your own field, be it from interdisciplinary forays or the impact of bringing new perspectives to bear on an issue.

If a hiring committee requires a diversity statement, it informs you that there is an existing conversation happening in that department around cognitive diversity and the importance of supporting underrepresented groups.

When considering how to write a diversity statement, you’ll want to think through your personal history and professional involvement. Use that experience to effectively communicate your attentiveness to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Consider Your Story

Think about obstacles you have overcome to get to where you are. Acknowledge, too, ways in which you may be privileged.

This is an opportunity to recognize and communicate how you empathize with those who confront challenges. Do not, however, create false parallels between your experiences and the challenges of marginalized groups you are not a part of.

Build from your personal experience overcoming challenges to think about how you would contribute to departmental culture. There may be committees and professional societies you can be involved in, and ways you can extend opportunities to students.

If you do not have first-hand experience of marginalization or underrepresentation, approach that honestly. You can demonstrate how your education and contributions seek to support inclusion efforts.

If you need more experience working with diversity, find ways to get involved and become familiar with the conversation. Your diversity statement could discuss the research and data on the impact of diversity.

Research & Define the Issue

A diversity statement should speak to commonly accepted understandings of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, equal employment opportunity laws provide protection from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. Consider, too, socioeconomic and first-generation status.

Equally important is your ability to understand intersectionality (e.g. a person can be both a woman and minoritized). Remember the importance of appropriate language as well as context.  For example, a group may be large in population but underrepresented in a given setting due to structural barriers. We refer to such a group as minoritized, rather than as a minority group, to highlight the systemic inequality that creates underrepresentation.

Your diversity statement will need to be tailored to each institution to which you apply. Review how the institution defines its commitment to diversity (for example, the UL Lafayette Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence ) and how the institution has implemented those plans. Find out what initiatives the institution offers, and identify how you would contribute and become involved.

Finally, define what diversity means in your discipline. You may be able to look at the ways in which major conferences and prominent organizations in your field approach diversity and inclusion efforts. Get Specific Your diversity statement should describe how your research, teaching, and service have contributed to a culture of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Rather than enumerating your efforts, however, focus on showing how you have helped people from underrepresented and/or diverse backgrounds succeed. Remember that actions speak volumes.

Hone in on your commitment toward achieving equity and enhancing diversity, and specify how you will continue to be an ally and advocate.

Keep Learning

The conversation and research around diversity, inclusion, and equity continue to evolve, so take the time to track down resources that will keep you informed. Scott Page ’s work, as mentioned, provides a deep dive into the impact of diversity.

The Modern Languages Association’s webinar on how to write a diversity statement offers further tips on communicating your professional and personal experiences effectively.

On campus, you can look into Project ALLIES , which works to foster a campus climate in which all members of the University community, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, may feel safe, supported, respected, and affirmed. The University also offers a Courageous Conversations workshop series on diversity and inclusion issues.

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Diversity Statement

The Department of Psychology at Stanford University is devoted to training scientists who will work to advance theory and to create knowledge that helps us address real-world problems.

Diversity Statement & Resources

Accomplishing this mission requires a broad range of perspectives and backgrounds. Diversity enriches both our department and the science of psychology.  We strive to cultivate an inclusive community that values diverse questions, viewpoints, approaches, and participant samples to foster ingenuity, challenge biases, and promote intellectual growth. 

Therefore, it is important to us to attract individuals with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, including research assistants, undergraduate majors, PhD students, faculty, and staff. The Department seeks applicants from all races and ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and religions.

Within the Psychology Department, our efforts to promote diversity are led by our Diversity Committee, a group of graduate students and faculty who coordinate and oversee continuing efforts to build our community. This commitment to diversity is part of a broader effort at Stanford that includes resources such as fellowship programs, social and cultural affinity groups, and funding opportunities.

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The Effective Diversity Statement

By  Tanya Golash-Boza

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Inside Higher Ed

Faculty job postings are increasingly asking for diversity statements, in addition to research and teaching statements. According to the University of California at San Diego website , “the purpose of the statement is to identify candidates who have professional skills, experience and/or willingness to engage in activities that would enhance campus diversity and equity efforts ” (emphasis added). In general, these statements are an opportunity for applicants to explain to a search committee the distinct experiences and commitment they bring to the table.

So, how do you write an effective diversity statement? If you are a job candidate who actually cares about diversity and equity, how do you convey that commitment to a search committee? (Note that if you do not care about diversity and equity and do not want to be in a department that does, don’t waste your time crafting a strong diversity statement -- and you need not read any farther in this essay.)

My first piece of advice is: do not write a throwaway diversity statement. Some job applicants think that writing a diversity statement that shows they actually care about diversity and equity may be too political. Thus, they write a blasé statement about, for example, how they encourage students to come to class in pajamas if they feel comfortable. That is not an effective strategy, because it does not show a genuine commitment to diversity and equity.

Of course, it is true that many faculty members overtly reject campus efforts to enhance diversity and equity. However, it is also true that search committee members who do not care about diversity do not read diversity statements. Just like search committee members who do not care about teaching gloss over teaching statements, those who do not care about diversity gloss over diversity statements. So, don’t bother writing a statement directed at faculty members who do not care about diversity. Write one for those faculty members who will take the time to read your statement carefully.

I can assure you that many faculty members truly care about diversity and equity and will read your statement closely. I have been in the room when the diversity statement of every single finalist for a job search was scrutinized. The candidates who submitted strong statements wrote about their experiences teaching first-generation college students, their involvement with LGBTQ student groups, their experiences teaching in inner-city high schools and their awareness of how systemic inequalities affect students’ ability to excel. Applicants mentioned their teaching and activism and highlighted their commitment to diversity and equity in higher education.

Here are seven additional suggestions to consider as you write your diversity statement.

• Tell your story. If you have overcome obstacles to get to where you are, point those out. If, in contrast, you are privileged, acknowledge that. If you grew up walking uphill to school carrying two 20-pound sacks of rice on your back, by all means, tell that story. If you were raised with a silver spoon in your mouth, acknowledge your privilege. Either way, use your story to explain how you can empathize with students who confront challenges on their way to achieving their educational goals.
• Focus on commonly accepted understandings of diversity and equity. Concentrate on issues such as race, gender, social class and sexual orientation. Don’t try to tone down your statement by writing about how it is hard to be a Kansan in Missouri, for example. Instead, write about racial oppression, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or some other commonly recognized form of oppression.
• Avoid false parallels. By that I mean do not equate the exclusion you faced due to being a Kansan in Missouri with the exclusion an African-American faces at a primarily white institution. You do not have to be an African-American to have insight into the challenges they face, but if you do not have experiential knowledge of racism, then do not claim it. Instead, focus on writing about what you do know. If you feel comfortable getting personal, you can write about your own experiences of privilege or oppression. But you don’t have to get personal; you can cite statistics or studies to make your points.
• Write about specific things you have done to help students from underrepresented backgrounds succeed. If you have never done anything to help anyone, then go out and do something. Sign up to be a tutor at an underperforming school, build a house with Habitat for Humanity or incorporate antiracist pedagogy into your teaching. In addition to having a rewarding experience, you can write about it in your diversity statement.
• Highlight any programs for underrepresented students you’ve participated in. If you have had any involvement with such programs (e.g., McNair Scholars Program), describe that involvement in your statement. This involvement can either be as a former participant or as a mentor or adviser to someone who has participated. These kinds of specific examples show that you understand what effective programs look like and how they work.
• Write about your commitment to working toward achieving equity and enhancing diversity. Describe specific ways you are willing to contribute. You can mention your willingness to contribute to pre-existing programs on the campus or you can express interest in creating new programs based on models at other campuses.
• Modify your statement based on where you are sending it. Your statement for a land-grant institution in the rural South should not be the exact same one you send to an elite institution in urban California. Look up the demographics of the institution to which you are applying and mention those demographics in your statement. For example, if the university you are applying to is a Hispanic-serving institution, you should be aware of that. Or if it has a well-known scholarship program for underrepresented minorities, you should mention that program.

Diversity statements are a relatively new addition to the job application packet. Thus, search committees are still developing assessment tools for such statements, and many campuses lack clear guidelines. Nevertheless, you can use this novelty to your advantage by writing a stellar statement that emphasizes your record of contributions to diversity and equity as well as your commitment to future efforts

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