The RSS community is committed to increasing the participation of groups traditionally underrepresented in robotics (including but not limited to: women, LGBTQ+, underrepresented minorities, and people with disabilities), especially people early in their studies and career. Such efforts are crucial for increasing research capacity, creativity, and broadening the impact of robotics research. To that end, Inclusion @ RSS will be an integral part of RSS that will focus on programs that increase and sustain a broader participation in the robotics research community. Component programs will range from co-located events to sponsored activities during the main conference.
On Wednesday 5:00–6:00pm ET / 2:00–3:00pm PT, after the workshops have wrapped up for
the day, we will form Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Discussion Groups.
These will be over zoom (possibly multiple zoom rooms), and
consider the question:
Please join us for a working session discussing the issues and strategies to make positive change. The session will break up into smaller discussion groups to focus on different areas (students, faculty, conferences, and outreach) for the majority of the time and then will come together to share with the entire group. Come prepared to discuss challenges you have seen and any approaches that have worked for you. Topics include (but are not limited to):
Improving the experience of diverse grad students
Research group dynamics
Inclusive teaching
Applications, requirements, and program structure
Recruiting, supporting, and retaining a diverse faculty
Recruitment and interviewing practices
Department culture
RPT structure and evaluation
Making conferences more inclusive
Inclusive reviewing practices
Program structure
Strategies for impactful outreach
Scalability and survivability
Measurable outcomes
In advance of the discussion group, we encourage you to spend some time reading and reflecting on these issues. To get you started, consider these resources:
Black in Computing Action Item List
Gender Diversity of Conference Leadership [Women in Engineering]
Handbook of Best Practices for Faculty Searches
On Becoming an Anti-Racist University — Black in Engineering
Supporting Black Scholars in Robotics
Additionally, Inclusion@RSS will have several meetups in the gather.town space. These are:
For additional details, please see the event’s website.
We are very grateful to acknowledge the support of TRI in sponsoring Inclusion@RSS 2021.
|