Racial Justice and Academic Pediatrics: A Call for Editorial Action and Our Plan to Move Forward

Inequity in Peer Review in Communication Sciences and Disorders

PURPOSE

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by retaining and advancing Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals in the discipline of communication sciences and disorders (CSD), amid critical shortages of faculty to train the next generation of practitioners and researchers. Publishing research is central to the recruitment, retention, and advancement of faculty. However, inequity in peer review may systematically target BIPOC scholars, adding yet another barrier to their success as faculty. This viewpoint article addresses the challenge of inequity in peer review and provides some practical strategies for developing equitable peer-review practices. First, we describe the demographics of ASHA constituents, including those holding research doctorates, who would typically be involved in peer review. Next, we explore the peer-review process, describing how inequity in peer review may adversely impact BIPOC authors or research with BIPOC communities. Finally, we offer real-world examples of and a framework for equitable peer review.

CONCLUSIONS

Inequity at the individual and systemic levels in peer review can harm BIPOC CSD authors. Such inequity has effects not limited to peer review itself and exerts long-term adverse effects on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of BIPOC faculty in CSD. To uphold ASHA's commitment to DEI and to move the discipline of CSD forward, it is imperative to build equity into the editorial structure for publishing, the composition of editorial boards, and journals content. While we focus on inequity in CSD, these issues are relevant to other disciplines.

Changing Who Has a Seat and Voice at the Table: How the Academic Pediatric Association is Responding to Systemic Racism

The Academic Pediatrics Association has taken multiple steps over the last 2 years to incorporate the lenses of anti-racism and social justice into our mission and work. In this commentary, we discuss the creation and work of the Anti-Racism and Diversity Task Force, which was charged by the Academic Pediatrics Association's Board of Directors with identifying strategies to promote anti-racism and advance the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda.

A critical race theory curriculum for emergency medicine learners

OBJECTIVES

We set out to develop and implement a critical race theory (CRT) curriculum to address an identified gap in emergency medicine education. Sessions explored concepts of CRT and issues of racism as they relate to the clinical and extraclinical environments.

METHODS

We developed a series of five virtual workshop sessions in 2019 that were held over Zoom in June and July 2020 in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight learners completed the curriculum. Prior to each session, learners were provided presession materials including podcasts, recorded lectures, and readings. Thought-provoking questions were also provided with presession materials to facilitate discussion during sessions. Materials were curated to provide foundational knowledge on CRT and U.S. history as well as local history of the San Francisco Bay Area.

RESULTS

Participants found the curriculum useful, reported increased familiarity with CRT, and were more likely to have an analytic framework for topics of race and racism. Participants also reported that their perspective had been changed after completing the curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS

Our curriculum promoted effective engagement with topics of race and racism by learners. Opt-in participation contributed to an engaged cohort and the small cohort size encouraged participation by all learners. Semistructured facilitation allowed participants to guide conversations to their own topics of interest while also addressing specific topics at hand. Independent guided presession work allowed participants to gather knowledge at their own pace prior to each session, which likely contributed to more active and in-depth participation.