Be comfortable with uncomfortable conversations

The 4th ALPSP University Press Redux 2022 will take place virtually in partnership with Cambridge University Press on 17-18 May. Redux 2022 will approach the pressing themes of diversity and sustainability from a practical angle, focus on implementation and not be afraid to ask the difficult questions.

The Equity Diversity Inclusion & Belonging (EDIB) sessions for the 2022 ALPSP University Press Redux Conference co-organised with Cambridge University Press should be thought provoking and informative. These sessions were curated to inform, energise and in some cases launch the hard work of having conversations regarding recruitment, retention, data collection and an EDIB culture in publishing.

But how do we get comfortable with uncomfortable conversations? Often, the natural tendency is to avoid them.

We begin by pushing through barriers and the status quo of university publishing. We begin by recognizing that there is a lack of diversity within our industry. Think about your own organization and companies your work with. Who are the people heading these organizations? Do they represent people of color or have gender diversity? Are they from the LGBTQ+ community? Are people with disabilities represented? In my own research, there are very few women and even fewer people of color on executive boards. Where there is an EDIB director within the organization, they are rarely on the executive board.

As the Head of EDIB for the Academic Publishing division of Cambridge University Press, I am pleased to say that I am a part of the Academic board and am able to discuss difficult subjects pertaining to the lack of diversity within our department and the psychological safety of our associates, co-workers and counterparts who are people of color.  We are working to embed EDIB into the ecosystem. It must become a fundamental part of our culture. Furthermore, as a publisher this has to include how we commission authors and editors and the diversity of what we publish as well as the all-important questions of how we recruit staff, and how we retain them. The publishing and the people cannot be separated.

There’s so much room for growth.  In my role, I am constantly learning about the cultures of universities and the web of voices and processes in the publishing industry. It is incredibly hard to effect change in any culture, let alone one so complicated and resistant to consensus, but it must happen and there is a real will to make it happen. In the year that I have taken on the EDIB title, I’ve been lucky to have many conversations with other universities and university presses on the importance of embedding diversity and what steps we must take collectively. Redux 2022 is going to be about bringing some of those voices together, and amplifying them.

What I would like from all of us moving forward is to look around the table and note who may be missing, start having those uncomfortable conversations that push you through your boundaries and begin the work of challenging why something that’s “always been” doesn’t have to be. I hope that the Redux sessions will provide a blueprint for this.

Session 3: EDIB Surveys and Their Purpose
17 May, 15:45-16:45 BST
Session 4: Company Culture and Employee Retention
18 May, 13:00-14:15 BST
Session 5: EDIB and Recruitment –
18 May, 14:30-15:30 BST
Session 6: Digital Accessibility
18 May, 15:45-16:45 BST