Diversity and Inclusion Task Force Delivers Its Final Report
The AAS Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion in Astronomy Graduate Education has completed its final report, and the AAS Board of Trustees has voted to accept it. The Task Force will be presenting its findings at a plenary to be held at the AAS 233rd meeting in Seattle, on Tuesday, 8 January 2019, 11:40 am-12:30 pm, Room 6E.
The report begins with an Executive Summary which highlights the recommendations of the Task Force both to departments and to the AAS (see below). The remainder of the report has sections on each of the categories of recommendations with details about each recommendation, including both practical steps a department can take to implement the recommendation, as well as providing the research basis for each recommendation. The Appendices (pages 32-74) provide substantially more details and resources that departments can dive into to help them implement the recommendations, as well as additional useful information.
We believe this structure will allow departments to quickly grasp the main points of the report while also providing enough specific detail and resources to make this a useful handbook for change. Additional features we have included to make the report very user-friendly:
- The Table of Contents has live hyperlinks to move to any section of the report. There is a “Back to Table of Contents” link on the bottom of every page, making it easy to return to the top to explore a new section
- We have also included many live hyperlinks to outside resources that departments (and the AAS) might find useful
I hope you find the report informative and practical. As you will note when you read the report, we and the AAS are anxious to start recruiting “early adopters” of these recommendations, so if you are already to implement some or all of these recommendations, or are interested in starting to do so now, please let us (both myself and the AAS leadership) know. We would also like to hear your feedback on the report.