National Postdoctoral Association

The NPA Diversity Statement

The National Postdoctoral Association seeks to promote diversity and ensure equal opportunity and inclusion for all postdocs in the membership, leadership and activities of the National Postdoctoral Association regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, disability, national origin, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

The NPA is committed to serving the diverse needs of the entire postdoctoral community.  This commitment includes all of the various research disciplines and categories of institutions that sponsor postdocs, such as universities, government, and industry.  The NPA also is working to address the needs of underrepresented groups of postdocs including minorities, such as women, people of color and those with disabilities.

The NPA has developed a number of programs and services to address diversity issues, including:

• An online clearinghouse of information and resources on diversity issues in the scientific, academic, and research communities
• Co-sponsorship of a Minority Postdoc Summit at the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
• Partnerships with the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) to increase the number of underrepresented minorities completing postdoctoral fellowships
• An analysis of data gathered through the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey to determine the unique needs and concerns of diverse groups of postdocs.

To provide leadership on diversity issues, the NPA has appointed a Diversity Officer to bring together postdocs and their allies to develop new resources, track information, promote dialogue, and affect change.  To learn more about the Diversity Officer, click here.