Competency

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

• Apply theories of social psychology to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion

Scenario

As a future social change agent, you seek to acquire and apply the skills that will enable you to one day become a skilled negotiator, advocate, and leader. On your leadership pathway, you were recently elected to the role of president of your campus's diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) program. As president, you will be responsible for transforming the university culture into a community that celebrates acceptance, equality, and unityfrom executive administrators to current students and alumni.

Within this transformation, you must encourage people to acknowledge the unconscious biases that silently influence their interactions. Likewise, you must encourage people to respect the divergent viewpoints of others and acknowledge the inherent opportunities to learn from such differences. Lastly, you are tasked to help others to understand that fairness and equality are not simply optional, but are the keys to cultivating a culturally competent environment. However, you are aware of the barriers that inhibit members of the academic community from engaging in productive interactionsspecifically, the stereotypes and biases that unconsciously confirm our social identities.

For this project, creating an advocacy initiative designed to encourage members of your university system to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusivity as core values of community well-being.

Part One: Analyzing the Impact of Implicit Bias and Stereotype Threat on DEI Summary for each of the following rubric criteria as they relate to the ability to view others through a DEI lens.

1. Describe the socio-psychological implications of implicit bias on our ability to view others through a DEI lens. Address the following in your response:
   1. How can the assumptions we make about social groups unconsciously influence our attitudes, language, and actions in subtle ways?
   2. Given the shift from unconscious to conscious perception, describe how an implicit bias could become an explicit bias.
   3. Given the notion of bias as a learned construct, describe what you believe is the most effective step that a person could take to unlearn bias.
2. Describe the socio-psychological implications of stereotype threat on our ability to view others through a DEI lens. Address the following in your response:
   1. What are the factors that could place a person at risk of confirming a negative stereotype about their own social group?
   2. If your group suffers from a negative stereotype, what are the implications of this judgment on psychosocial well-being?
   3. Assuming that biases and stereotypes are defined by values, what are some useful strategies for reducing stereotype threat?
3. Describe how cultivating a growth mindset can help to reduce biased, stereotypical thinking and promote DEI. Address the following in your response:
   1. In what ways can a growth mindset help us to become aware of our implicit biases?
   2. How can a growth mindset help us to reduce stereotypical thinking?
   3. Assuming that people can be influenced to change their minds, what are some practical strategies for shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset?

Part Two: Responding to the Challenges of Instituting DEI Use the knowledge you have acquired pertaining to DEI, coupled with theories of social psychology, to develop recommendations designed to encourage members of your university system to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusivity as core values of community well-being. Address the following rubric criteria in your recommendations:

1. Using one theory of social psychology to support your position, develop recommendations to help the university system promote diversity.
2. Using one theory of social psychology to support your position, develop recommendations to help the university system promote equity.
3. Using one theory of social psychology to support your position, develop recommendations to help the university system promote inclusivity.