Do you think they'll be open to this?
I believe that DEI as defined by URiM does not actually promote equity, as URiM boils diversity down to a Y/N question on a spreadsheet--is this person from a selected race or ethnicity?
As such, URiM promotes well-privledged individuals from certain backgrounds unnecessarily. Examples include Claudine Gay from a wealthy Haitian family or many examples of wealthy Hispanic individuals who grew up in Latin dominated areas of the country like Miami and Los Angeles.
URiM then ignores and disadvantages individuals who have struggled with many forms of adversity. For example, many families of Asian decent came as refugees or otherwise poor immigrants after wars or genocides, and struggled as minorities in their communities while their American children had to work from young ages without well educated, native English speaking parents to guide them through our society. There are many individuals in the USA who have struggled with childhood poverty and homelessness who on the surface may look privledged, but are not from such backgrounds. By using race and ethnicity as the sole factor for diversity and inclusion, DEI as defined as URiM actually ignores equity.
ASTRO is also a society to support and promote research within radiation oncology. The NIH has generated a far more inclusive statement that better reflects diversity. Specifically, the NIH has defined Underrepresented Populations in the U.S. Biomedical, Clinical, Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Enterprise (
NOT-OD-20-031: Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity) to be more inclusive of various races and ethnicities that can be regionally dependent on the broad geography in the USA, to include as underrepresented those from disadvantaged backgrounds (with definitions such as parents did not go to college, received childhood federal financial assistance, were homeless, etc), and those with disabilities. Therefore, the NIH statement takes into account the diversity of experience and lack of privledge among some of those who have shown true grit and determination in rising to the challenge of biomedical research and medicine.
ASTRO's surveys and discussions on the topic of DEI have only focused on URiM, and for the reasons stated above does not actually study or promote equity. When considering diversity, equity, and inclusion, considerations must be more than simply skin deep.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
