Crafting a Diversity Statement
A diversity statement may be required for applications to jobs or graduate/professional school. It is a type of autobiographical, personal essay that outlines past experiences and values around diversity, equity, inclusion, and your commitment to social justice. Sometimes a prompt or question is provided, but not always.
Common Terms
Diversity: A representation of differences relating to social identity categories such as gender identity, racial identity, socioeconomic class, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, and socioeconomic background.
Equity: The concept of providing individualized types of support to different people/groups in order to help them address the unique challenges related to oppression.
Inclusion: The concept that a community benefits from when all people are intentionally included and their needs are met.
Equality: The concept that all individuals should be treated the same and given the same opportunities in equal measure regardless of identities held or oppression faced.
Social Justice: The concept that oppression is intersectional and systemic with the goal to remove barriers to access and success rather than exclusively providing supports for individuals to “overcome” oppression.
How to Write a Diversity Statement
Reflect: Think about your personal experiences, identities, and values. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- What values do you hold? How do those impact the way you interact and engage with other people and environments?
- Do you hold historically underrepresented identities?
- How do and have your identities impacted you and your lived experiences?
- Do you hold privileged identities? How has that impacted you and your experiences?
- How do you actively engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Share: The goal is to answer the following through specific, authentic examples in a narrative/storytelling format:
- Your personal story as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion (see definitions above)
- Connect personal experiences that promoted your commitment to inclusion
- Outline your plans for contributing to and investing to DEI in the future and in the new role
Review & Edit: Take some time away from your writing and come back.
- Does this essay seem like an authentic reflection of you, your values, your actions, and your plans for the future?
- Does the essay read clearly?
- Are there clear themes throughout the essay?
What to Include
Describe how your experiences have contributed to personal and professional development.
Example: “When I first shared with my friend group that my pronouns changed, I remember how liberating and simultaneously scary that experience was. The response from them was so kind, I realized that I wanted to provide a space for others where they also felt comfortable being their authentic selves around me.”
Example: “When I first started college, I realized that I grew up with more money than I realized. My parents would send me money if I needed help with books or groceries, but my roommate worked multiple jobs to pay for tuition and necessities. I realized that even though I did not consider myself wealthy, I did not have to worry as much as my roommate who had to balance so many things in addition to school.”
Share your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Example: “In my second year at the university I was in a research lab. I noticed that the professor consistently selected students who visually present as white men for all in-class discussion, including myself. After class, I brought up to the professor privately what I observed. While the professor was initially defensive, it led to a very honest discussion. In the classes afterwards there was noticeable effort to include the other students that were previously overlooked. While it might have been a small change to some, it reminded me that the small steps are still impactful.”
Example: “As a student leader of a club, I often helped put on events for club members. For our annual networking lunch with alumni, and I noticed that half of our club members did not attend or were not eating the food provided. Someone brought to my attention that majority of our club identified as Muslim, and we planned this event during Ramadan. I spent time researching Ramadan and learning more about religious holidays. Since then, I made sure to consider dietary restrictions for catering and avoid events on religious holidays. Inclusivity is important to me, so it was vital for me to recognize barriers to attendance and be open to making changes to traditions to make everyone feel welcome. “
Discuss how you will apply principles of DEI to the role or program.
Example: “On your organization’s website, I saw that you have Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for various identities, and hold a specific day for staff to focus on their own personal growth on the topics of DEI each year. I am excited to participate in the ERGs that relate to my identity as a veteran. I also plan to use the development day to research current literature on allyship best practices in the workplace, which I will use in the office.”
