Ensuring All Feel Welcome

SIOP Administrative Office

SIOP Committees and Leaders Work to Promote Diversity, Justice, and Equality

Through its efforts to promote the research and practice of I-O psychology, SIOP brings individuals, groups, and organizations together to understand and promote diversity, justice, and equality both nationally and internationally, within organizations and beyond.  SIOP supports our current committee work to this end and welcomes member involvement.

One example of these efforts is the Committee for Ethnic and Minority Affairs (CEMA), chaired by Kisha Jones, working proactively with the SIOP policing initiative, led by Amy Grubb, to incorporate key diversity considerations into local, state, and federal policing practices (e.g., training, selection, recruiting). The policing initiative was spearheaded by then-president-elect Jim Outtz and SIOP's government relations firm Lewis-Burke. “Evidence-Based Solutions to Policing Reform: Organizational Psychology Applications to Promote Safety and Effectiveness” was a resource released in January 2016 as a way for SIOP to urge federal, state, and local decision makers to apply industrial and organizational psychology’s data-driven methods to enhance various elements of policing reform. This guidance identifies effective, scientifically-based solutions to many of the challenges facing police departments across the United States. You can read all the policing resources on SIOP’s government relations page.  

Another example is the newly-initiated SIOP Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN), chaired by Mindy Bergman, with multiple projects underway concerning efforts and support of women in organizations and the profession of I-O psychology. Approved at the January 2017 SIOP Executive Board meeting, the WIN Committee is meant to be a place where SIOP members work together to make sure women are better included in all workplaces and workspaces. Male allies are more than welcome; people who don’t identify as male or female are completely welcome as well. The goals as outlined in the Executive Board proposal for the group include:

• Work with SIOP media team to create at least two news stories, based on research from WIN members about gendered issues in the workplace
• Write one TIP article about the creation of WIN
• Create WIN Facebook group for members to share ideas and ask questions
• Present information about WIN at SIOP 2018
• Hold a WIN networking event for SIOP 2018
• Develop longer-term goals for WIN, with input from SIOP members and the Membership Services officer

Members are invited get involved by participating in the WIN Facebook group community and attend upcoming WIN events.

In addition, the LGBT Committee, chaired by Ismael Diaz, has been quite active, including an extensive list of presentations and programming at the SIOP Annual Conference this past spring. The committee raised money for the Dru Project, and hosted two events, a social hour and a happy hour, at the conference as well. Both events were packed with of members of the LGBT community in addition to allies and supporters. The LGBT Committee also published a comprehensive summary in the January 2017 issue of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist(TIP) detailing policy and legislation that affects the LGBT community in the workplace.

You can read an illuminating feature article by Bharati B. Belwalkar, Charles P. R. Scott, and Lisa S. Moore, that highlights work from the CEMA, LGBT, and WIN committees as well as details how the authors became involved with these committees in the most recent issue of TIP, titled “SIOP’s New Frontiers Include Everybody.”

Another example of SIOP’s commitment to diversity, justice, and equality can be seen at the international level, with SIOP forging ahead on humanitarian
employment and well-being projects with groups such as the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP, Division 1, Work and Organizational Psychology; Gary Latham, president), the Alliance for Organizational Psychology (AOP; Donald Truxillo, Liaison), and the United Nations (UN) Committee, chaired by Julie Olson-Buchanan. 

SIOP plays a special role as an official nongovernmental organization (NGO) with consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The SIOP-UN committee organizes all of SIOP’s UN-related efforts, including projects in support of the UN Sustainability Goals, and the submission of (requested) statements on issues pertinent to work and organizations (e.g., the aging workforce, living wages, humanitarian work psychology, and the economic empowerment of underrepresented women and girls). As part of this work, SIOP has also become an official United Nations Global Compact participant. This means we have formally signed on to 10 humanitarian/sustainability principles surrounding human rights, labor, environment, and anticorruption. You can read more about the UN Committee’s work on SIOP’s Prosocial Page.

Your volunteer efforts in working with SIOP are always welcome and needed! Some of the ways you can contribute to these efforts include:

• Express your interest in working with SIOP’s committees.  Although the open call for volunteers occurred earlier this summer, many chairs have not yet finalized their rosters, and there will always be calls in the future. Members are encouraged to indicate their interest and availability as a volunteer by signing up through the SIOP Volunteer System.
• Stay up to date on committee work and SIOP’s initiatives. You can do your part by staying current on local and federal legislation and news that affects diversity and equality, especially related to I-O psychology and the workplace. SIOP publications such as TIP, Newsbriefs, and website pages such as the Pro-social I-O and Government Relations pages offer numerous updates and articles to that end.
• Join SIOP’s registries. You can offer your information and expertise as an interested member by joining the Corporate Social Responsibility, Pro-Social, and Humanitarian I-O Psychology, or Health, Safety, and Wellbeing registry by visiting your my.SIOP profile and opting in to them.
• Donate or nominate to support research and work that promotes diversity, justice, and equality. SIOP and the SIOP Foundation offer numerous funding opportunities for research in these areas each year, such as the James L. Outtz Grant for Student Research on Diversity and the Hebl Grant for Reducing Gender Inequalities in the Workplace. You can contribute by nominating a deserving colleague or student for these awards or by making a donation to their funds.

SIOP appreciates your involvement in all these activities that bring its core values to life!