Supporting Your BIPOC Staff

It may seem self evident but it bears repeating: the responsibility for addressing workplace equity and inclusion falls first and foremost upon the employer. A hiring policy to increase the diversity of staff is an obvious visible step in transforming a workplace, but it must be accompanied by a commitment to change workplace culture. It is not uncommon for organizations to wait for complaints or issues raised by their BIPOC employees before attempting to address (or indeed even noticing) racism in the workplace -- placing the burden of change on the people already being harmed. The burden and responsibility is not on BIPOC employees. It is first and always on the employer.

The Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) has created a series of "Toolkits for Equity" designed to help organizations proactively address racism in the workplace as a long-term, on-going commitment to diversity and equity:

"Inclusive leaders provide BIPOC employees with the space for them to be true to who they are and cultivate an environment where their ideas and perspectives are respected and valued."

The toolkits contain resources and strategies for things like:

• Avoiding BIPOC Burnout and Overburdening.
  
• How to onboard BIPOC Employees.
  
• How to mitigate the impact of Code Switching.

See the full toolkit here:
Supporting BIPOC Staff from Toolkits for Equity in Scholarly Publishing Project Volunteers