Enhancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Statement of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice 

The shared core values of Academy of Psychological Clinical Science (APCS) programs include applications of rigorous science, orientations toward evidence-based practice, and diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. The APCS aspires to embrace human diversity and inclusion and to help enact practices that address historical and ongoing systemic and individual discrimination, inequities, and exclusion. Diversity refers to the full range of intersectional individual and social group differences including, but not limited to, life experiences, race, ethnicity, country of origin, language, education, immigration status, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, parental status, ability and health, as well as cultural, religious, political and other affiliations.   

Increasing diversity and equity in psychological clinical science is an ethical and social obligation for various reasons, including as a way of addressing historical injustices and promoting dignity, and because it is critical to excellence in research and practice in our field. APCS programs are committed to continually evolve and improve to better serve all of the communities of which we are a part. 

APCS has engaged in various activities to translate our aspirations into action and to support member programs in doing so.  The APCS Racial Justice Task Force was created in Fall 2020, to help refine our statement of values and provide guidance for the enactment of key initiatives consistent with the values articulated above. From these and other discussions, the APCS has recommended and supports the following on-going initiatives: 

• documenting member programs’ visions for the role of equity, inclusion, and social justice in psychological clinical science and together frame how to communicate these goals 
• creating a system to share practical resources that can be used to benefit programs who want to become more aligned with this vision 
• promoting research and developing a system for gathering information and recommendations of evidence-based practices for advancing equity and inclusivity in clinical science programs  
• moving toward becoming a primary avenue for supporting member programs and the field as a whole to pursue these values in action, including through material and financial support for social justice and diversity efforts, spaces for dialogue, tools and resources, and advocacy recommendations to shape policy that increases equity and justice

Some of the results of these efforts can be found below; others will be added as they become available:

Building an Inclusive Research Lab

Decolonizing Syllabi in Psychology