ICS Diversity Committee

The committee takes care, among others, of diversity dimensions such as:

• Different seniority, level of experience (student, PhD student, Postdoc, Assistant, Associate, Full professor)  from different divisions of the department
• Different gender identities
• Different sexual orientations, LGBTQAI+
• Newcomers to UU vs. longer-experience at UU
• Dutch-speaking vs. non-Dutch-speaking 
• Different ethnicities, religions, political/philosophical belief, culture/customs (those are to be protected and accommodated for, as long as they do not impinge on the other aspects of diversity)
• Age
• Specific needs
  • neurodiversity (e.g. dyslexia, autism, but also taken broadly as the individual differences in cognitive functioning and information processing)
  • family accommodation status (e.g. pregnancy, breastfeeding, care for parents, for children)
  • impairment (e.g. chronic illness, visible and invisible disabilities)
• Socio-economic background (e.g. first-generation students/academics, i.e. first person in their immediate family to study at a university, financial background)

We represent the interests of employees and students at the Department of Information and Computing Sciences with respect to all diversity dimensions. To this end, we carry out the following activities:

Diversity Survey

A survey on the diversity of employees in the Department of Information and Computing Sciences was conducted by the end of 2022. The results of this survey show the relevance of representing diverse groups in the department, and help us communicating employees’ concerns to the department management.

Activities with students

Fostering diversity and inclusion among our students is important both for the department and future generations of information and computer scientists. We organize joint activities with students, for instance the music listening event Uplift Listen Party curated by master students from the Sound and Music Technology course, relating to diversity dimensions such as social justice, LGBTQ+ or gender stereotypes. To foster discussions about diversity, a Diversity Dilemma Game is being developed which addresses topics in student life and at the university, based on Utrecht University’s Dilemma game I Don’t Judge. We support the study association Sticky in developing social events on the topic of diversity, such as the Tuesday Diversity Dinner (Dinsdag Dilemma Diner) as an opportunity to get together in an informal way to exchange. As part of the department's education activities, all students have the opportunity to conduct research projects on EDI related topics.

Newcomer meetings

Coming from a different country to a new workplace is connected to a number of challenges, including language barriers and cultural uncertainties. In our newcomer meetings, new colleagues and students exchange about their experiences with joining the Department of Information and Computing Sciences, and can receive hints and advice from experienced non-Dutch and Dutch colleagues.

Joint meetings with WICS

The Women In Computer Science (WICS) group at the department is closely collaborating with us regarding women’s diversity interests. We hold joint meetings with the WICS group in order to exchange about developments of diversity in the department.

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Faculty of Science 2021 – 2025
• Moss-Racusin et al. (2012) has shown that both male and female faculty rated male applicants as significantly more competent than women with identical application materials.
• Chavez and Mitchel (2020) findings show that instructors who are female and persons of color receive lower scores on ordinal student evaluations than those who are white males.
• League of European Research Universities Position Paper LERU universities … are increasingly aware of their responsibility to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), so as to become institutions where anyone with potential can thrive.