Inclusive Excellence

The Department of Psychology is committed to ensuring a climate that promotes inclusion.

The Department is inclusive of multiple and intersecting identities of the individual, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, ability and disability, geography, nativity/ immigrant origin, first generation college attending status, and familial or cultural background broadly defined. Equity refers to a process of providing all groups with access to information and resources, as well as a careful consideration of existing barriers to ensuring equal opportunity for all. Inclusion involves both a tolerance of diverse views and civility of discourse as alternative viewpoints are encouraged and considered within the department. Department members remain attentive to issues of inclusion in all of their research, teaching, and service activities, and the department encourages exploration of new ways to incorporate inclusion considerations into those activities where appropriate. We further recognize the benefits that are afforded by a diversity of perspectives in all aspects of academic life. We therefore commit to cultivating, within the department, an increasingly inclusive community of teachers and learners.

Support for Graduate Students

For graduate students, we have several programs that support the growth of the next generation of psychologists.

The PRIME Research Scholar Award is designed to recruit and retain talented students from underrepresented groups and to support the next generation of diverse scholars in research and academic pursuits. Scholarship recipientscreate a mentoring team of faculty (including their primary advisor) to help establish research goals and support them during their time at UNCG, as well as receiving financial support through the scholarship.

For clinical psychology students with demonstrated financial need, the HRSA-funded Next Gen Clinical Psychology Scholarship Program provides the supports necessary to pursue the highest degree in Clinical Psychology. The program targets an important barrier to graduate education in clinical psychology for diverse populations as it provides significant financial support to ensure these barriers do not prevent enrollment.

The Dr. Norman B. Anderson Research Award provides funding to current graduate students to provide for a research opportunity that would otherwise be difficult to achieve with a focus of contributing to, or benefiting from, diversity.

Faculty Diversity Committee

The faculty diversity committee is tasked with bringing the latest scholarship and ideas about fostering diversity in academia to the department’s attention. Their choices about speakers and events are informed by an annual survey sent out to all current faculty and graduate students. Many of the events have also been open to the campus community and the public.

The current head of the Psychology Department Diversity Committee is Dr. Blair Wisco. Please feel free to reach out to her (email: bewisco@uncg.edu) with questions, suggestions, or resources. Other members are Dr. Jasmine DeJesus, Dr. Peter Delaney, Dr. Susan Keane, and graduate student representative Julianne Peebles.

Past Events and Guest Speakers

2023-2024: Paige Averett (NCSU), “Aging Research in LGBTQ+ Communities”

2022-2023: Cecelia Ayón, “Ella Puede, Nosotros Podemos” (part of UNCG “She Can We Can” event series)

2021-2022: Mirya Holman (Tulane), Aileen Reid (UNCG), Tanya Shields (UNC-CH); Panel: Women Navigating 21st Century Academia (part of UNCG “She Can We Can” event series)

2020-2021: Dina Gohar (University of Michigan), “Every Student Belongs in an Inclusive Classroom”

Summer 2020: Just Mercy film discussion

Fall 2020: How to Be an Antiracist book discussion; Daisy Verduzco Reyes (UC Merced), “Learning to be Latino: How Colleges Shape Identity Politics”

2018-19: Rachel Arocho (UNC-CH) Inclusive Data Collection workshop; Microaggressions workshop

Graduate Student Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity Club (DICE)

The DICE Club’s president this year is Shivani Raina (to join the mailing list, email: swraina@uncg.edu). The club’s faculty advisors this year are Dr. Jasmine DeJesus and Dr. Michaeline Jensen. You can also follow DICE on Instagram.

The Diversity, Inclusion, Culture, and Equity (DICE) Club was initiated in 2017 by graduate students in our MA/PhD program who wanted to provide a forum for on-going conversations about diversity and inclusion in the department. Since its founding, a dedicated leadership group has organized both regular meetings and various special events to promote and examine issues of diversity in a welcoming environment open to all department members. Events include trips to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum and the Greensboro Pride Festival, as well as organizing an annual research showcase for students and faculty to present new research focused on issues/constructs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Diversity Awards Won by the Department

The department is a three-time winner of the Dean’s Award for the Promotion of Diversity & Inclusiveness in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).

  • 2017: Clinical Program
  • 2021: Diversity Club (honorable mention)
  • 2022: Gabriela Livas Stein

We have also been the recipient of multiple CAS Diversity Mini-Grants supporting our programming.

Additional Resources 

The Psychology Department, in collaboration with LEARN’s Gender Diversity Working Group, is committed to affirming the lives of and promoting social justice for Trans and Non-Binary people. We have created a comprehensive toolkit to support gender diverse students.

General Resources at UNCG