Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Publishing

When developing an open textbook publishing program, librarians and project managers have opportunities to build diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into their core values and daily practices. When creating or revising open textbook projects, authors have opportunities to integrate diversity, equity and inclusion practices into their content and process. Both at the programmatic and project levels, these opportunities are critical in building relationships with students, and in making their educational experience more meaningful.

We'll discuss ways to take action in the next section. First, let's begin with definitions. 

Diversity

Diversity refers to having a range of people across gender identities, racial backgrounds, geographic locations, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, ability, sexual orientation, and other characteristics represented and participating in a community. Diversity has to do with whose perspectives are being heard, who gets to make decisions, who gets to meaningfully engage at all levels of the community, and more. 

Equity

There are systemic barriers people face based on their gender identity, race, geographic location, class, age, ability, sexual orientation and other factors. Equity recognizes that people need a variety of resources and support to overcome these barriers and succeed. Open textbooks designed with an equity mindset reduce barriers and facilitate a deeper engagement with the course material.

Inclusion

Inclusion is about making a resource, location or event welcoming and inviting, so that people from different backgrounds feel that they belong. Inclusive design means that you're creating a lot of different ways for people to participate in an experience and make a decision. 

Definitions adapted from Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: Learnings & Next Steps. Links to an external site.
 (CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.). An Opencon Report On Conference Planning. Version 1 - Released July 10, 2017.

Diversity includes different perspectives; equity offers fair access; inclusion means decision making ability

Image credits (L-R): Detail of Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2017 in Stockholm Group Photo Links to an external site. from Wikimedia Commons Links to an external site. by Jonatan Svensson Glad Links to an external site., (CC BY SA 4.0 Links to an external site.). Illustrations by Heather Caprette (CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.). Gears Links to an external site. within the illustration "Inclusion" were originally created by Loïc Poivet (CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.).

 Systemic and Sustainable DEI

Many editorial processes will intersect with diversity and inclusion (for example, peer review practices, accessibility standards, and staffing), so library publishers will want to be mindful when developing any publishing policy or process. One way to keep DEI at the core of your program is to have a diversity statement and/or policy. It is valuable to have something that clearly articulates how your program prioritizes diversity.

  • Diversity statements provide transparency around organizational practices.
  • Diversity policies set standards that the program will meet.

If your institution has a diversity statement or policy, be sure your library policies are aligned with it so that you can have campus support. In addition, note that not every organization is amenable to departments or units creating their own diversity policies or statements. 

Stakeholders

If you are able to create a diversity statement or policy, it's important to identify stakeholders at the start so that you can involve them in the development process. It's also likely that there are people on your campus who are already working on diversity and inclusion initiatives, some of whom are charged with helping the campus ensure their policies are fair and equitable. These people are likely helpful resources.

Before you write a diversity policy consider the following questions:

  • What organizations, departments, and committees on or off your campus will be affected by your policy?
  • How will you engage these stakeholders?
  • Are there other groups on your campus that are working on similar initiatives? 

You may want to ask related campus groups or committees to inform your publishing policy. 

Diversity Policy Example

In addition to developing a statement based on your campus context, you may also want to consider the potentially global reach of your policy and publications. Here's an example from the Illinois Open Publishing Network Links to an external site. that reflects both local and global audiences:

The Illinois Open Publishing Network (IOPN) is committed to an environment that welcomes, values, respects and supports the differences and contributions of all members and partners at the University of Illinois and in the global community. IOPN actively cultivates partnerships, author relationships, and a portfolio of scholarly works that reflect the diversity of scholarly communities at Illinois and around the world. IOPN provides openly accessible educational and research resources for publishing tools, principles for scholarly communications, and outputs of research scholarship. IOPN is dedicated to facilitating an inclusive scholarly dialogue grounded in respect and appreciation for all individuals and seeks to increase the voices of less represented scholars in the scholarly community. As an open access publisher, IOPN seeks to ensure that all communities have the broadest access to knowledge and research scholarship produced by IOPN authors through accessible digital platforms and discoverable works.