Collaborative Research: DESIGN: Co-creation of affinity groups to facilitate diverse & inclusive ornithological societies

专业协会是建立联系、专业发展、财务支持、认可领导力和传播科学的主要枢纽。注重多样性的举措可以增加进入与社会相关领域的机会，但在改善缺乏社区意识或感觉自己的声音没有被听到的边缘化成员的融入方面，这些举措的成功可能有限。从根本上推动文化变革的一种方法是发展亲和力团体，在这些团体中，历史上被排斥的社区的成员可以基于共同的经验和身份建立支持网络。这样的亲和力团体可以超越会议上的“一次性”社交活动，建立持久的社区和联系。该项目将开发一种机制，在鸟类学内部共同创建亲和力小组，以支持历史上被排除在外的社区的成员，放大他们的声音，并赋予他们权力，以帮助改变鸟类学文化。该项目涉及美国三大鸟类学会(美国鸟类学会、威尔逊鸟类学会和野外鸟类学家协会)之间的密切合作，共同支持和提升鸟类学中的边缘成员。最终目标是将鸟类学转变为一门包容性学科，利用学习者、科学家和从业人员等不同社区的人才来解决生态、保护和环境正义方面的紧迫问题。美国鸟类学会最近进行的一项多样性评估显示，许多来自历史上被排除在外的群体的个人感到归属感较弱，觉得他们的声音没有被听到，觉得他们不受重视。这些构成部分构成了变革性复原力的关键要素：这是一个框架，不仅用于提高边缘化群体的个人的持久性，而且还用于为体制变革创造途径。该项目旨在设计一个共同创建亲和力群体的过程，即由历史上被排斥的社区的成员创建的、或为来自历史上被排斥的社区的成员创建的基于身份的群体，以促进变革性的复原力。共同创造的过程让边缘化的成员想象一个他们属于并受到重视的鸟类学社区，然后通过与社区新兴领导人举行一系列研讨会，基于这些愿景创建亲和力小组。该项目为开展扩大对历史上被排斥的社区的支持的活动创造了巨大的潜力，包括有针对性的专业发展、领导力发展、改善沟通和社会支持。该项目将产生其他四类更广泛的影响：(1)促进三个鸟类学学会、非营利组织、政府机构和少数群体服务机构和协会之间的利益相关者参与；(2)为博士后学者和夏季多元文化学术机会计划本科生提供多样性、公平、包容性和正义(DEIJ)方面的教育和培训机会；(3)将项目的成果传播到学术界之外；以及(4)扩大从事DEIJ研究的学者的多样性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Professional societies serve as major hubs for networking, professional development, financial support, recognition of leadership, and dissemination of science. Diversity-focused initiatives can increase access to the field associated with the society, but they may have limited success in improving the inclusion of marginalized members who lack a sense of community or feel their voices are not heard. One way to instigate cultural change from the ground up is to develop affinity groups where members of historically excluded communities can develop support networks based on common experiences and identities. Such affinity groups can go beyond “one-shot” social events at conferences to build long-lasting communities and connection. This project will develop a mechanism to co-create affinity groups within ornithology that can serve to support members of historically excluded communities, amplify their voices, and empower them to help change the culture of ornithology. This project involves close collaboration between three major US ornithological societies (American Ornithological Society, Wilson Ornithological Society, and Association for Field Ornithologists) to jointly support and elevate marginalized members in ornithology. The ultimate goal is to transform ornithology into an inclusive discipline that leverages the talents of the diverse communities of learners, scientists, and practitioners to solve urgent problems in ecology, conservation, and environmental justice. A recent diversity assessment conducted by the American Ornithological Society revealed that many individuals from historically excluded groups feel a weaker sense of belonging, feel that their voices are not heard, and feel that they are not valued. These components comprise key elements of transformative resilience: a framework for not only increasing the persistence of individuals from marginalized groups, but to create paths for institutional transformation. This project aims to design a process for co-creating affinity groups—i.e., identity-based groups created by and for members from historically excluded communities—that facilitate transformative resilience. The co-creation process engages marginalized members to imagine an ornithological community where they belong and are valued, and then creates affinity groups based on those visions through a series of workshops with emerging leaders of the communities. The project sets up vast potential for implementing activities that broadens support to historically excluded communities, including targeted professional development, leadership development, improved communication, and social support. The project will have four other categories of broader impacts: (1) fostering stakeholder engagement among three ornithological societies, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and minority-serving institutions and societies; (2) providing educational and training opportunities in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) for a postdoctoral scholar and summer Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program undergraduate scholars; (3) disseminating findings of the project beyond academia; and (4) broadening the diversity of scholars who are engaged in DEIJ research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.