Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The disparities in firearm injury and death from homicide are unacceptable, and the solutions start with recognition of the underlying causes of these disparities, including racist policies like redlining. Similarly, the disparities in firearm injury and death from suicide suggests a different set of underlying causes including inadequate and stigmatizing mental health services.

The Institute is committed to the following initial goals and actions as the foundation upon which we will pursue social justice and undoing racism and discrimination:

Manage Institute operations and educational activities to ensure an inclusive and equitable working environment by:

  • Providing support for an ecosystem of connected research across disciplines.
  • Implementing recruitment, hiring, and management practices of faculty, staff, and students that consider how systemic racism and discrimination may influence decision-making and help undo procedures that advantage or disadvantage any one group over another based on characteristics other than the substance of their work with the goal to create an Institute with diversity in all the ways mentioned above (i.e., race, sexual identity, discipline, methods).
  • Providing assistance for faculty, staff, trainees, and students for mentorship, partnership and support for conducting their research on undoing racism and discrimination.
  • Examining all of our research activities through an anti-discrimination lens to ensure that we are explicitly addressing anti-discrimination in our organization and research to create a safe, diverse, and equitable work environment and research portfolio.
  • Addressing and discussing racism and discrimination in our work during staff meetings and create an environment for open dialogue.
  • Obtaining continuing education to hold ourselves accountable to our anti-racism and anti-discrimination activities.

Create a research agenda to address racism discrimination related to firearm injury prevention. This includes:

  • Conducting and publishing systematic literature reviews on topics related to racism and discrimination in firearm injury epidemiology and prevention.
  • Identifying and applying for funding for projects that address systemic racism and discrimination across various sectors including, but not limited to, health and mental health, legal system (i.e., law enforcement, judiciary), and policy.
  • Developing strategies for theory-based evaluation for undoing racism and discrimination that may underly disparities in firearm injury and death.

Translate and disseminate research results to turn these findings into actionable social change. This includes:

  • Working with colleagues and partners to disseminate their findings widely.
  • Creating positive frameworks that avoid victim-blaming and recognize systemic influences for the research produced by the Institute including how we set up studies, discuss the results, and communicate about our research.
  • Making findings readily accessible to policymakers and community audiences using social media, infographics, white papers and editorials, webinars, and public meetings.