A new series about diversity and social science

Hello! I’m Andrea. I used to be a professor of political science, and then after a few years of hemming and hawing about whether I really wanted to live my whole life in academia, I left my tenure-track job to see what else was out there. I had no plan whatsoever. For the record, I do not recommend this strategy.

In the three years since I left, I’ve done a bunch of weird things. As anyone who follows me on social media (sorry) knows, I perform circus here and there, I help manage a comedy club, I put on shows about political science (you’re welcome, world!), and I occasionally write for media outlets. I also recently dipped my toe back into academia as a professor of data science at NYU (there’s a longer hand-wringing story there about why I came crawling back, but the short version is it turns out I like talking about cool things with interested/captive people).

But the main thing I’ve done to make a living is something I haven’t broadcast much: I’ve been working as a diversity research consultant for companies. I’ve kept this to myself in part because of non-disclosure agreements, and in part because designing surveys and generating cross-tabs doesn’t make for great Instagram fodder. (As my grandmother used to say, if the Hudson filter can’t liven up a photo, you’re never going to amount to anything, and what are you even doing with your life?)

But I’ve now worked with enough companies and thought about diversity and social science enough that I’d finally like to take the time to write down a few of the things I’ve discovered since starting down this path.* This is partly for my own sanity — I’ve been kicking ideas around in my head that I’d like to organize (and overcome my insecurities around sharing). This is also because I have found many of these things to be useful for companies, and I hope other people will find them useful, too.

But there’s one more reason I’m hesitant to lay claim to any attention in this area. Diversity is a really complex topic that affects a lot of people in ways that I can never fully understand as a white, middle-class, non-disabled, mostly straight, and probably cisgender (I identify as nonbinary, I think) person. I’m not a veteran, not particularly old nor young, and not responsible for anything more demanding than a maybe already dead cactus. (Of course these are not the only dimensions of diversity, but we’ll get to that later.)

In all: Other than my share of mental illness, I’ve led a very privileged life.

Thus, with the huge caveat that I have very major blinders on and should in no way be considered the final word on anything, I would like to finally share some of my discoveries and thinking on diversity and social science. I’m doing so because in my work with many companies (from tiny startups to global Fortune 500s) over the years, I have found three things to be the case:

1. People in companies are really interested in the science behind a lot of cultural, behavioral, structural, and institutional barriers to diversity, and so I hope more people will find them useful, too.
2. Working with real-case companies has made me a better social scientist, and I hope to encourage other social scientists to join me out here in this strange land at the intersection of science and practice.
3. The problem of diversity is too big and too urgent to keep what I think are useful concepts and methods all to myself, so if nothing else, maybe someone can read this and do some more social science-inspired work, too, and we can all figure this out faster. (Or, if you want to join forces, email me!)

This series will not provide answers. It’s just going to provide a social science lens that many people will probably hate, but a few people might like. If you like it, let me know. If you don’t, please don’t send me hate mail. I am already afraid of the Internet.

Thus! Enough preamble (though I love a good preamble). This is going to be a 10-part series where I share some of the social science I’ve found to be most helpful in my work with companies. Why 10? Because it’s a round number and I was thinking about doing 14 so it’s like a semester, but, look, we’ve all got sh*t to do.**

And, because I’m nothing if not amazing at promising to do something and then never actually doing it, I shall publicly*** hold myself accountable and state now that I’ll post a new topic in this series every Thursday. Why Thursday? Because today is Wednesday and I need to proofread this garbage before I post it.

To get things going, I’m also going to announce next week’s topic today so I can’t weasel out of it, either: The importance of defining diversity (and how to do it)!

In conclusion: After many workshops or meetings or discussion of results with companies, I have often found myself heading home and thinking to myself: Someone should really write this all down.

And so now, finally, I am.

Thanks for reading!

Here I am already providing clarity on the big debates. (Photo: Nate Trossi at Caveat .)

* All of the credit for me even being on this path goes to the great Dr. Scott E. Page, diversity mastermind of our time.

** If this ends up not totally sucking maybe I’ll do 14. There will be a final exam in that case.

*** To the 3–4 people who might be reading this. Hi, parents, Kyle, and maybe Damian!

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