Photo: UBC Pride Installation. Credit: Daniela Orbegoso Campbell
Three psychology projects received support through the new UBC Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) Enhancement Fund.
From providing essential 2SLGBTQIA+ resources to the psychology community to increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion in our teaching and research, this funding advances the department’s equity, diversity and inclusion goals and priorities.
The StEAR Enhancement Fund is designed to provide funding for student, faculty and/or staff-led community initiatives that seek to advance UBC’s equity and anti-racism priorities. This year, 118 applications were received and 41 projects were funded.
Learn more about the psychology projects that received funding:
PrideMind Hub: Providing essential research and well-being resources for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Psychology
This project was funded under the stream “2SLGBTQIA+ and gender equity”. The funding applicants are the PrideMind founders and organizers Dr. David King, a lecturer in the department of psychology, Kiarah O’Kane, a clinical MA student, and Fides Arguelles, a clinical lab manager.
PrideMind Hub will be a website aimed to support the academic and overall well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ members of the Psychology Department. Funding for PrideMind Hub from the UBC StEAR Fund will enable our team to curate lists of academic resources and opportunities for 2SLGBTQIA+ students, as well as resources for supporting the well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ department members, along with creating tutorials on how to access these resources.
“PrideMind Hub will be a website aimed to support the academic and overall well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ members of the Psychology Department. Funding for PrideMind Hub from the UBC StEAR Fund will enable our team to curate lists of academic resources and opportunities for 2SLGBTQIA+ students, as well as resources for supporting the well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ department members, along with creating tutorials on how to access these resources. We intend to create a website that is dynamic and evolving in response to the needs of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community within the Psychology Department, and be a singular hub for 2SLGBTQIA+ department members to build community with one another and receive support”
Increasing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Classroom Teaching and Research Labs
This project was funded under the “Intersectional stream”, led by Dr. Amori Yee Mikami, professor and EDI associate head in the department of psychology. Dr. Mikami mentions that some recent projects that the EDI consultants have taken on involve (a) syllabus review to support course instructors in adding content, readings, or assignments related to EDI; and (b) developing a more equitable procedure to select undergraduate research assistants in a lab.
One year ago, the Psychology Department established an EDI Consultation Service to provide tailored input and 1:1 support to faculty and other Department members on how best to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in their research and teaching, as part of our Department’s broader 5-Year EDI Strategic Plan. The current proposal seeks to continue and expand the EDI Consultation Service in the 2023-24 academic year.
“This funding is supporting our EDI consultation service, where graduate students in our department with EDI training and interest are available to support department members in different ways.”
Enhancing Disability Equity and Community Engagement: The Anxiety, Stress, and Autism Program (ASAP) Community Advisory Board Initiative
This project was funded under the “Disability equity stream” and the funding applicant was Dr. Connor Kerns, associate professor in the department of psychology and the Anxiety, Stress, and Autism Program (ASAP) Community Advisory Board.
The ASAP Lab at the Department of Psychology aims to create a community advisory board (CAB) to (1) include the perspectives of historically and systemically marginalized autistic populations in student learning and training, and (2) build UBC institutional capacity in fostering meaningful and ethical community engagement and building accessible and equitable structures and spaces. Both neurodivergent and neurotypical students will assume leadership, management, and outreach roles in the CAB’s development, working alongside varied community shareholders. The CAB’s overarching goal will be to promote community-engaged learning and equity, with particular emphasis on fostering a deeper understanding of the priorities and needs of the autistic community in student learning and supporting universal accessibility priorities. This project is not of a research nature. Instead, by first launching this initiative in the smaller lab setting and developing foundations for ethical decision-making processes with community shareholders, we aim to ultimately broaden its scope to address ableism and enhance equity in student teaching and training at UBC.
Congratulations to all for securing StEAR funding for their community advancement projects!
