The Department of Psychology’s EDI Committee is responsible for implementing policies and initiatives related to equity, diversity and inclusion within our department.
Committee Members
In the 2024/25 academic year, the EDI Committee consists of the Associate Head, EDI (Amori Mikami; committee chair) and the leads of the EDI working groups (Andrew Baron, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva, Lauren Emberson, Friedrich Götz, Kiley Hamlin, Todd Handy, Mark Lam, Joelle LeMoult, Lily May, Darko Odic, Daniela Palombo, Catherine Rawn, Bonnie Vockeroth), and Graduate Student Council representatives Vasia Karasavva and Omran Safi. The committee meets monthly during the academic year and is responsible for all decisions and policies that reflect our Department EDI Committee. Like all Psychology Department committees, the membership on the EDI Committee differs year by year and we expect that in the 2025/26 academic year some new members will join while others will depart.
Read below to learn more about the initiatives undertaken by each working group, each group’s goals, and the many department members who are contributing to that working group’s efforts. These department members are not part of the committee that is creating the decisions and policies attributed to our Departmental EDI Committee as a whole, however, the initiatives carried out by each working group could not succeed without these department members’ efforts.
Community engagement (educational and research partnerships with community members and/or with non-profit organizations that serve local, national, and international public interests) can advance EDI-related objectives and attract students from traditionally underrepresented groups to the field. In addition, community engagement allows for underrepresented and marginalized voices in the community to be acknowledged, valued, and prioritized in education and research. Moreover, because community initiatives often emphasize social change and justice, engagement with community can support anti-racist goals. Although community engagement is widely considered to be an asset for academic units, it necessitates an ethic of care, an ethic of responsibility, and a host of cultural, practical, and research competencies. In the 2024-25 academic year, this working group will investigate and establish incentives and funding opportunities for community engagement in teaching and research. (Inclusion 19, 20, 21)
Lead
Mark Lam (Faculty)
Members
Sunaina Assanand (Faculty)
Steven Barnes (Faculty)
Andrés E. Montiel (Graduate Student)
Gina Simmons-Eide (Undergraduate Student)
Viplav Subramanian (Staff)
This working group consists of knowledgeable graduate student consultants who are available to support department members on EDI-related goals in 1:1 meetings. The consultants have supported faculty or graduate students teaching courses with a syllabus review where the consultant can offer suggestions about diversifying the reading list, EDI-friendlier course policies, land acknowledgements, and syllabus language. They have also supported department members in research initiatives, such as more equitable recruitment of undergraduate RAs, and revising language used to ask demographic information in the Human Subject Pool and on scantrons. Finally, they have worked with areas to review graduate curricula (e.g., the comprehensive exams requirement). They are available to support other, individualized, EDI-related goals that department members or areas may have, such as creating a more inclusive lab environment, or using non-biased language in recommendation letters, as examples. (Inclusion 4, 10, 11)
Lead
Lily May (Faculty)
Members
Anushka Bellani (Undergraduate Student)
Viplav Subramanian (Staff)
Alannah Wallace (Graduate Student)
Bita Zareian (Graduate Student)
The focus of this working group is on supporting EDI-related learning and conversations between department members about this content. This working group has arranged lunch and learn workshops (sometimes involving external speakers and other times involving internal facilitators), as well as a book club, about EDI-related topics. Most events are open to all department members. A high priority is placed on encouraging attendees to dialogue with one another about the material and how they want to apply it. Sign up for the EDI Dialogue and Learning newsletter. (Inclusion 5, 7, 8)
Lead
Lauren Emberson (Faculty)
Members
Ayesha Andrews (Undergraduate Student)
Carmelle Bareket-Shavit (Graduate Student)
Jay Hosking (Faculty)
Annette Idiagbor (Undergraduate Student)
David King (Faculty)
Noelle Kim (Undergraduate Student)
Harleen Kaur (Undergraduate Student)
Kiarah O'Kane (Graduate Student)
This working group is aimed at creating priorities and programs that provide financial support for graduate and undergraduate student research assistantships, in ways that support diverse students, including students who otherwise would not be able to have these research opportunities. This group developed a Psychology Inclusive Excellence (PIE) Fund which is a new funding stream for these research assistantships. Procedures for adjudicating graduate and undergraduate student awards are being developed. (Inclusion 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 25)
Co-Leads
Andrew Baron (Faculty)
Kiley Hamlin (Faculty)
Members
Samantha Dawson (Faculty)
Daniela Carbonelle Enriquez (Undergraduate Student)
Hin Fu (Graduate Student)
Kimia Nouhi (Undergraduate Student)
Noah Silverberg (Faculty)
Francis Yuen (Graduate Student)
The working group is helping the Department Search Committees to implement recommendations concerning the recruitment and selection of faculty members who advance our department’s EDI-related goals. Some efforts have involved getting the word out about our jobs more broadly, changing language in our job ad and interview procedures in ways that value our department commitment to EDI, and contributing to procedures to adjudicate applicants that involve consideration of their EDI contribution as a part of the decision. (Hiring 1 through 16)
Lead
Friedrich Götz (Faculty)
Members
Vyomesh Daga (Undergraduate Student)
Tanoulu Li (Graduate Student)
David Manuel (Graduate Student)
Joan Ongchoco (Faculty)
Grace Truong (Faculty)
Shayden Schofield-Lewis (Graduate Student)
This working group runs the Diversity Mentorship Program, which aims to prepare and mentor undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students from diverse, under-resourced, traditionally underrepresented, and/or marginalized backgrounds for graduate admissions in psychology. Mentees are paired with a graduate student mentor and participate in workshops, discussions, and coaching. This working group helps to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of this program each year. (Inclusion 17)
Lead
Joelle LeMoult (Faculty)
Members
Benjamin Cheung (Faculty)
Seonwoo Hong (Graduate Student)
Connor Kerns (Faculty)
Caroline Miller (Graduate Student)
Natalia Modzelik (Post-Bacc)
Shuyuan Shi (Graduate Student)
Victoria Wardell (Graduate Student)
This working group is establishing and implementing a regular annual assessment of our department’s progress on EDI goals. This group supports the other working groups in their goal setting for the year and promotes the transparency of these goals on our website. The working group also conducts an annual EDI climate survey in the department, writes an annual EDI report, and contributes to a yearly department-wide Town Hall about our department’s EDI goals and progress. (Progress Monitoring 1, 2)
Lead
Daniela Palombo (Faculty)
Members
Oliver Bontkes (Undergraduate Student)
Chantelle Cocquyt (Graduate Student)
Wynter Hasti Nikfarjam (Undergraduate Student)
Isabel Wilson (Undergraduate Student)
This group is working on compiling and sharing information about existing supports for department members, including processes and resources available when members have EDI-related concerns. The goal is to compile the resources within the university and community and publicize them to department members, such as posting them clearly on our website and incorporating them into the graduate student handbook and orientation. (Progress Monitoring 4)
Lead
Todd Handy (Faculty)
Members
Cameron Hall (Graduate Student)
Sanjana Subramaniam (Undergraduate Student)
This working group oversees the EDI-related content on our department website. This includes sourcing information and resources to display on the website as well as efforts to ensure the information is accessible to our community. This group also contributed to a centralized Research Assistant (RA) application portal to allow students to see the list of labs that are currently recruiting and apply to them directly. (Inclusion 6, 9, 14, 18)
Co-Leads
Catherine Rawn (Faculty)
Bonnie Vockeroth (Staff)
Members
Ayesha Andrews (Undergraduate Student)
Benjamin Cheung (Faculty)
Emma Furland (Undergraduate Student)
Ava Morris (Undergraduate Student)
This is a new working group in the 2024-2025 academic year. Its current goals are to gather data on areas of perceived inequity in the distribution of resources within our department and to review our practices for the allocation of resources such as space and area support funds (Progress Monitoring 3). The goals of this working group for future years will take into account the departmental community discussion and data gathering that will begin in 2025.
Lead
Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva (Faculty)
Members
Kassandra Darbel (Staff)
Jason Rights (Faculty)
Tara Martin (Staff)
This is a new working group in the 2024-2025 academic year. This working group aims to investigate the feasibility and design of a new graduate minor in the Psychology of Diversity. (Inclusion 13)
Lead
Darko Odic (Faculty)
Members
Kristin Laurin (Faculty)
Miriam Spering (Faculty-Starting Jan 2025)
EDI Statements of Support
Our EDI Committee’s statements of support, plus policy and decisions for issuing statements of support concerning events in the world as well as closer to home.
EDI Strategy and Initiatives
Our EDI Working Groups are implementing a number of initiatives and actions for faculty hiring, inclusion, and progress monitoring in the department.
EDI Goals and Actions
Our EDI Working Group’s goals and actions advance equity and inclusion in the Department of Psychology. These initiatives stem from the Psychology EDI Task Force report and recommendations. Plus, read the EDI Annual Report.
EDI Involvement
Looking to get involved in EDI? Join a working group to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion priorities and initiatives in the department.
Psychology EDI Surveys
EDI Climate Survey
The EDI Annual Reports provide results from annual Department-wide surveys conducted each Spring to assess the Department climate with regard to equity and inclusion. These reports also summarize EDI Working Group’s progress on a wide range of EDI-related goals each academic year, as well as challenges faced and future directions.
2021 First Generation Student Survey
The EDI committee is organizing a community for First Generation students—students who’re the first in their family to pursue higher education. We wish to put in touch students that have similar backgrounds and experiences, with the ultimate goal of creating a safe and positive community with the department. Let us know what we can offer you.
2018 EDI Committee Survey
In February 2018, the EDI committee distributed a survey to understand if the psychology community is aware of UBC’s Equity and Inclusion resources and policies.
2017 EDI Committee Survey
In March 2017, the EDI committee distributed a brief survey to faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students about equity issues that affect our department and how we may better support an inclusive environment. Below are survey questions and results for your reference.
Contact Us or Get Help
Do you have EDI related questions or concerns? Complete our Contact form and select I have an inquiry about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Are you experiencing harassment, discrimination, bias, microaggressions, bullying, sexual harassment, or racism?