diversity thesis statement examples

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How to Write a College Diversity Essay – Examples & Tips

What is a diversity essay for college?

If you are preparing for your college application, you have probably heard that you sometimes need to submit a “diversity essay,” and you might be wondering how this is different from the usual admission essay. A diversity essay is a college admissions essay that focuses on the applicant’s background, identity, culture, beliefs, or relationship with a specific community, on what makes an applicant unique, and on how they might bring a fresh perspective or new insights to a school’s student body. Colleges let applicants write such essays to ensure diversity in their campus communities, to improve everyone’s learning experience, or to determine who might be eligible for scholarships that are offered to students from generally underrepresented backgrounds. 

Some colleges list the essay as one of their main requirements to apply, while others give you the option to add it to your application if you wish to do so. At other schools, it is simply your “personal statement”—but the prompts you are given can make it an essay on the topic of diversity in your life and how that has shaped who you are.

To write a diversity essay, you need to think about what makes you uniquely you: What significant experiences have you made, because of your background, that might separate you from other applicants? Sometimes that is obvious, but sometimes it is easy to assume our experiences are normal just because we are part of a community that shares the same circumstances, beliefs, or experiences. But if you look at your life from the perspective of someone who is not part of that community, such as an admissions officer, they can suddenly be not-so-common and help you stand out from the crowd.

Diversity Essay Examples and Topics

Diversity essays come in all shapes and formats, but what they need to do is highlight an important aspect of your identity, background, culture, viewpoints, beliefs, goals, etc. You could, for example, write about one of the following topics:

• Your home country/hometown
• Your cultural/immigration background
• Your race/ethnicity
• Your unique family circumstances
• Your religion/belief system
• Your socioeconomic background
• Your disability
• Your sex/gender
• Your sexual orientation
• Your gender identity
• Your values/opinions
• Your experiences
• Your extracurricular activities related to diversity

In the following, we ask some general questions to make you start reflecting on what diversity might mean for you and your life, and we present you with excerpts from several successful diversity-related application essays that will give you an idea about the range of topics you can write about.

How does diversity make you who you are as a person or student?

We usually want to fit in, especially when we are young, and you might not even realize that you and your life experiences could add to the diversity of a student campus. You might think that you are just like everyone around you. Or you might think that your background is nothing to brag about and are not really comfortable showcasing it. But looking at you and your life from the point of view of someone who is not part of your community, your background, culture, or family situation might actually be unique and interesting. 

What makes admission committees see the unique and interesting in your life is an authentic story, maybe even a bit vulnerable, about your lived experiences and the lessons you learned from them that other people who lived other lifes did not have the chance to learn. Don’t try to explain how you are different from others or how you have been more privileged or less fortunate than others—let your story do that. Keep the focus on yourself, your actions, thoughts, and feelings, and allow the reader a glimpse into your culture, upbringing, or community that gives them some intriguing insights. 

Have a look at the excerpt below from a diversity essay that got an applicant into Cornell University . This is just the introduction, but there is probably no admissions officer who would not want to keep reading after such a fascinating entry. 

He’s in my arms, the newest addition to the family. I’m too overwhelmed. “That’s why I wanted you to go to Bishop Loughlin,” she says, preparing baby bottles. “But ma, I chose Tech because I wanted to be challenged.” “Well, you’re going to have to deal with it,” she replies, adding, “Your aunt watched you when she was in high school.” “But ma, there are three of them. It’s hard!” Returning home from a summer program that cemented intellectual and social independence to find a new baby was not exactly thrilling. Add him to the toddler and seven-year-old sister I have and there’s no wonder why I sing songs from Blue’s Clues and The Backyardigans instead of sane seventeen-year-old activities. It’s never been simple; as a female and the oldest, I’m to significantly rear the children and clean up the shabby apartment before an ounce of pseudo freedom reaches my hands. If I can manage to get my toddler brother onto the city bus and take him home from daycare without snot on my shoulder, and if I can manage to take off his coat and sneakers without demonic screaming for no apparent reason, then it’s a good day. Only, waking up at three in the morning to work, the only free time I have, is not my cup of Starbucks.  Excerpt from “All Worth It”, Anonymous, published in 50 Successful IVY LEAGUE Application Essays Fourth Edition, Gen & Kelly Tanabe, SuperCollege, 2017 .

How has your identity or background affected your life?

On top of sharing a relevant personal story, you also need to make sure that your essay illustrates how your lived experience has influenced your perspective, your life choices, or your goals. If you can explain how your background or experience led you to apply to the school you want to submit the essay to, and why you would be a great fit for that school, even better. 

You don’t need to fit all of that into one short essay, though. Just make sure to end your essay with some conclusions about the things your life has taught you that will give the admissions committee a better idea of who you now are—like the author of the following (winning) admissions essay submitted to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) .

[…] I always thought that I had it the worst out of all my family members because I was never allowed to get anything lower than what my brother or a cousin had gotten in a class. My parents figured if they could do it, so could I, and if not on my own then with a little of their help. It was not until recently that I realized the truth in this. In my short life I have seen my father go from speaking no English to excelling in it. I have heard countless stories about migrant farmers such as Cesar Chavez and my grandfather who had nearly nothing, yet persisted and succeeded. […] When I had trouble speaking Spanish and felt like abandoning my native tongue, I remembered my mother and how when she came to the United States she was forced to wash her mouth out with soap and endure beatings with a ruler by the nuns at her school for speaking it. When I couldn’t figure out tangents, sines, and cosines I thought about my father and how it took him nearly a year to learn long division because he was forced to teach it to himself after dropping out and starting to work in the 4th grade. […] All these people, just from my family, have been strong role models for me. I feel that being labeled “underprivileged” does not mean that I am limited in what I can do. There is no reason for me to fail or give up, and like my parents and grandparents have done, I’ve been able to pull through a great deal. My environment has made me determined, hard working, and high aiming. I would not like it any other way. From “Lessons From the Immigration Spectrum”, Anonymous, MIT, published in 50 Successful IVY LEAGUE Application Essays Fourth Edition, Gen & Kelly Tanabe, SuperCollege, 2017 .

How will your diversity contribute to the college campus and community?

The admissions committee would like to know how your identity or background will enrich the university’s existing student body. If you haven’t done so, researching the university’s organizations and groups and what specific courses the university offers might be a good idea. If you are applying to a large public school, you could mention that you are looking forward to broadening not just your horizon but also your community. Or maybe your college of choice has a specialized program or student organization that you feel you will fit right into and that you could contribute to with your unique background.

Tailoring your answer to the university you are applying to shows that you are serious and have done your research, and a university is obviously looking for such students. If you can’t find a way to make your essay “match” the university, then don’t despair—showing the admissions committee that you are someone who already made some important experiences, has reflected on them, and is eager to learn more and contribute to their community is often all that is needed. But you also don’t need to search for the most sophisticated outro or conclusion, as the following excerpt shows, from an admission essay written by an applicant named Angelica, who was accepted into the University of Chicago . Sometimes a simple conviction is convincing enough. 

[…] The knowledge that I have gained from these three schools is something I will take with me far beyond college. My roommate, across-the-hall mates, and classmates have influenced my life as much as I hope to have impacted theirs. It is evident to me that they have helped me develop into the very much visible person I am today. I have learned to step outside of my comfort zone, and I have learned that diversity is so much more than the tint of our skin. My small mustard-colored school taught me that opportunity and success only requires desire. I would be an asset to your college because as I continue on my journey to success, I will take advantage of every opportunity that is available to me and make sure to contribute as much as I can, too. Now I am visible. Now I am visible. Now I am visible, and I want to be seen. From “No Longer Invisible” by Angelica, University of Chicago, published in 50 Successful IVY LEAGUE Application Essays Fourth Edition, Gen & Kelly Tanabe, SuperCollege, 2017 .

Tell stories about your lived experience

You might wonder how exactly to go about writing stories about your “lived experience.” The first step, after getting drawing inspiration from other people’s stories, is to sit down and reflect on your own life and what might be interesting about it, from the point of view of someone outside of your direct environment or community.

Two straightforward approaches for a diversity-related essay are to either focus on your community or on your identity . The first one is more related to what you were born into (and what it taught you), and the second one focuses on how you see yourself, as an individual but also as part of society.

Take some time to sit down and reflect on which of these two approaches you relate to more and which one you think you have more to say about. And then we’d recommend you do what always helps when we sit in front of a blank page that needs to be filled: Make a list or draw a chart or create a map of keywords that can become the cornerstones of your story.

For example, if you choose the “community” approach, then start with a list of all the communities that you are a part of. These communities can be defined by different factors:

• A shared place: people live or work together
• Shared actions: People create something together or solve problems together
• Shared interests: People come together based on interests, hobbies, or goals
• Shared circumstances: people are brought together by chance or by events

Once you have that list, pick one of your communities and start asking yourself more specific questions. For example: 

• What did you do as a member of that community? 
• What kinds of problems did you solve , for your community or together?
• Did you feel like you had an impact ? What was it?
• What did you learn or realize ? 
• How are you going to apply what you learned outside of that community?

If, instead, you choose the “identity” approach, then think about different ways in which you think about yourself and make a list of those. For example:

My identity is as a… 

• boy scout leader
• hobby writer
• babysitter for my younger siblings
• speaker of different languages
• collector of insightful proverbs
• Japanese-American
• other roles in your family, community, or social sub-group

Feel free to list as many identities as you can. Then, think about what different sides of you these identities reveal and which ones you have not yet shown or addressed in your other application documents and essays. Think about whether one of these is more important to you than others if there is one that you’d rather like to hide (and why) and if there is any struggle, for example with reconciling all of these sides of yourself or with one of them not being accepted by your culture or environment.

Overall, the most important characteristic admissions committees are looking for in your diversity essay is authenticity . They want to know who you are, behind your SATs and grades, and how you got where you are now, and they want to see what makes you memorable (remember, they have to read thousands of essays to decide who to enroll). 

The admissions committee members likely also have a “sixth sense” about whose essay is authentic and whose is not. But if you go through a creative process like the one outlined here, you will automatically reflect on your background and experiences in a way that will bring out your authenticity and honesty and prevent you from just making up a “cool story.”

Diversity Essay Sample Prompts From Colleges

If you are still not sure how to write a diversity essay, let’s have a look at some of the actual diversity essay prompts that colleges include in their applications. 

Diversity Essay Sample #1: University of California

The University of California asks applicants to choose between eight prompts (they call them “ personal insight questions “) and submit four short essays of up to 350 words each that tell the admission committee what you would want them to know about you . These prompts ask about your creative side (#2), your greatest talent (#3), and other aspects of your personality, but two of them (#5 and #7) are what could be called “diversity essay prompts” that ask you to talk about the most significant challenge you have faced and what you have done to make your community a better place .

The University of California website also offers advice on how to use these prompts and how to write a compelling essay, so make sure you use all the guidance they give you if that is the school you are trying to get into!

UC Essay prompt #5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?

UC Essay prompt #7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?  

Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team, or place—like your high school, hometown, or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community? Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? 

Diversity Essay Sample #2: Duke University

Duke University asks for a one-page essay in response to either one of the Common Application prompts or one of the Coalition Application prompts, as well as a short essay that answers a question specific to Duke. 

In addition, you can (but do not have to) submit up to two short answers to four prompts that specifically ask about your unique experiences, your beliefs and values, and your background and identity. The maximum word count for each of these short essays on diversity topics is 250 words.

Essay prompt #1. We seek a diverse student body that embodies the wide range of human experience. In that context, we are interested in what you’d like to share about your lived experiences and how they’ve influenced how you think of yourself. Essay prompt #2. We believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with? What are you agreeing or disagreeing about? Essay prompt #3. What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good? Essay prompt #4. Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you’d like to share with us more about your identity in this context, feel free to do so here.

Duke University is looking for students with a variety of different experiences, backgrounds, interests, and opinions to make its campus community diverse and a place where ambition and curiosity, talent and persistence can grow, and the admissions committee will “consider what you have accomplished within the context of your opportunities and challenges so far”—make sure you tell them!

Diversity Essay Sample #3: University of Washington

The University of Washington asks students for a long essay (650 words) on a general experience that shaped your character, a short essay (300 words) that describes the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of your future university and allows you to submit additional information on potential hardships or limitations you have experienced in attaining your education so far. The University of Washington freshman writing website also offers some tips on how to (and how not to) write and format your essays.

Essay prompt [required] Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

Short response prompt [required] Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. “Community” might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW.

Additional information about yourself or your circumstances [optional] You are not required to write anything in this section, but you may include additional information if something has particular significance to you. For example, you may use this space if:

– You have experienced personal hardships in attaining your education

– Your activities have been limited because of work or family obligations

– You have experienced limitations/opportunities unique to the schools you attended

The University of Washington’s mission is to enroll undergraduates with outstanding intellectual abilities who bring different perspectives, backgrounds, and talents to the campus to create a “stimulating educational environment”. The diversity essay is your chance to let them know how you will contribute to that.

Diversity Essay Sample #4: University of Michigan

At the University of Michigan, a diversity college essay that describes one of the communities (defined by geography, religion, ethnicity, income, or other factors) you belong to is one of two required essays that need to be submitted by all applicants, on top of the Common Application essay. 

Diversity essay prompt. Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

The University of Michigan prides itself in “looking at each student as a whole package” and recruiting the most dynamic students, with different backgrounds, interests, and passions, into their college, not just the ones with the highest test scores. They also give consideration to applicants from currently underrepresented groups to create diversity on campus and enrich the learning environment for all students—if that sounds like you, then here is your opportunity to tell your story!

Frequently Asked Questions about Diversity Essays

What topics should i avoid in my college diversity essay.

Since the point of a diversity essay is to show the admissions committee who you are (behind your grades and resume and general educational background), there are not many topics you need to avoid. In fact, you can address the issues, from your own perspective, that you are usually told not to mention in order not to offend anyone or create controversy. 

The only exception is any kind of criminal activity, especially child abuse and neglect. The University of Washington, for example, has a statement on its essay prompt website that “ any written materials that give admissions staff reasonable cause to believe abuse or neglect of someone under the age of 18 may have occurred must be reported to Child Protective Services or the police. ”

What is most important to focus on in my diversity essay?

In brief, to stand out while not giving the admissions committee any reason to believe that you are exaggerating or even making things up. Your story needs to be authentic, and admissions officers—who read thousands of applications—will probably see right through you if you are trying to make yourself sound cooler, more mature, or more interesting than you are. 

In addition, make sure you let someone, preferably a professional editor, read over your essays and make sure they are well-written and error-free. Even though you are telling your personal story, it needs to be presented in standard, formal, correct English.

How long should a diversity essay be?

Every school has different requirements for their version of a diversity essay, and you will find all the necessary details on their admissions or essay prompts website. Make sure you check the word limit and other guidelines before you start typing away!

Prepare your college diversity essay for admission

Now that you know what a diversity essay is and how you find the specific requirements for the essays you need to submit to your school of choice, make sure you plan in advance and give yourself enough time to put all your effort into it! Our article How to Write the Common App Essay can give you an idea about timelines and creative preparation methods. And as always, we can help you with our professional editing services , including Application Essay Editing Services and Admission Editing Services , to ensure that your entire application is error-free and showcases your potential to the admissions committee of your school of choice.

For more academic resources on writing the statement of purpose for grad school or on the college admission process in general, head over to our Admissions Resources website where we have many more articles and videos to help you improve your essay writing skills.

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• How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples

How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples

Published on November 1, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Table of contents

What is a diversity essay, identify how you will enrich the campus community, share stories about your lived experience, explain how your background or identity has affected your life, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Diversity essays ask students to highlight an important aspect of their identity, background, culture, experience, viewpoints, beliefs, skills, passions, goals, etc.

Diversity essays can come in many forms. Some scholarships are offered specifically for students who come from an underrepresented background or identity in higher education. At highly competitive schools, supplemental diversity essays require students to address how they will enhance the student body with a unique perspective, identity, or background.

In the Common Application and applications for several other colleges, some main essay prompts ask about how your background, identity, or experience has affected you.

Why schools want a diversity essay

Many universities believe a student body representing different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.

Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community.

Through the diversity essay, admissions officers want students to articulate the following:

• What makes them different from other applicants
• Stories related to their background, identity, or experience
• How their unique lived experience has affected their outlook, activities, and goals

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Think about what aspects of your identity or background make you unique, and choose one that has significantly impacted your life.

For some students, it may be easy to identify what sets them apart from their peers. But if you’re having trouble identifying what makes you different from other applicants, consider your life from an outsider’s perspective. Don’t presume your lived experiences are normal or boring just because you’re used to them.

Some examples of identities or experiences that you might write about include the following:

• Race/ethnicity
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Nationality
• Socioeconomic status
• Immigration background
• Religion/belief system
• Place of residence
• Family circumstances
• Extracurricular activities related to diversity

Include vulnerable, authentic stories about your lived experiences. Maintain focus on your experience rather than going into too much detail comparing yourself to others or describing their experiences.

Keep the focus on you

Tell a story about how your background, identity, or experience has impacted you. While you can briefly mention another person’s experience to provide context, be sure to keep the essay focused on you. Admissions officers are mostly interested in learning about your lived experience, not anyone else’s.

When I was a baby, my grandmother took me in, even though that meant postponing her retirement and continuing to work full-time at the local hairdresser. Even working every shift she could, she never missed a single school play or soccer game.

She and I had a really special bond, even creating our own special language to leave each other secret notes and messages. She always pushed me to succeed in school, and celebrated every academic achievement like it was worthy of a Nobel Prize. Every month, any leftover tip money she received at work went to a special 509 savings plan for my college education.

When I was in the 10th grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with ALS. We didn’t have health insurance, and what began with quitting soccer eventually led to dropping out of school as her condition worsened. In between her doctor’s appointments, keeping the house tidy, and keeping her comfortable, I took advantage of those few free moments to study for the GED.

In school pictures at Raleigh Elementary School, you could immediately spot me as “that Asian girl.” At lunch, I used to bring leftover fun see noodles, but after my classmates remarked how they smelled disgusting, I begged my mom to make a “regular” lunch of sliced bread, mayonnaise, and deli meat.

Although born and raised in North Carolina, I felt a cultural obligation to learn my “mother tongue” and reconnect with my “homeland.” After two years of all-day Saturday Chinese school, I finally visited Beijing for the first time, expecting I would finally belong. While my face initially assured locals of my Chinese identity, the moment I spoke, my cover was blown. My Chinese was littered with tonal errors, and I was instantly labeled as an “ABC,” American-born Chinese.

I felt culturally homeless.

Speak from your own experience

Highlight your actions, difficulties, and feelings rather than comparing yourself to others. While it may be tempting to write about how you have been more or less fortunate than those around you, keep the focus on you and your unique experiences, as shown below.

I began to despair when the FAFSA website once again filled with red error messages.

I had been at the local library for hours and hadn’t even been able to finish the form, much less the other to-do items for my application.

I am the first person in my family to even consider going to college. My parents work two jobs each, but even then, it’s sometimes very hard to make ends meet. Rather than playing soccer or competing in speech and debate, I help my family by taking care of my younger siblings after school and on the weekends.

“We only speak one language here. Speak proper English!” roared a store owner when I had attempted to buy bread and accidentally used the wrong preposition.

In middle school, I had relentlessly studied English grammar textbooks and received the highest marks.

Leaving Seoul was hard, but living in West Orange, New Jersey was much harder一especially navigating everyday communication with Americans.

After sharing relevant personal stories, make sure to provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your perspective, activities, and goals. You should also explain how your background led you to apply to this university and why you’re a good fit.

Include your outlook, actions, and goals

Conclude your essay with an insight about how your background or identity has affected your outlook, actions, and goals. You should include specific actions and activities that you have done as a result of your insight.

One night, before the midnight premiere of Avengers: Endgame , I stopped by my best friend Maria’s house. Her mother prepared tamales, churros, and Mexican hot chocolate, packing them all neatly in an Igloo lunch box. As we sat in the line snaking around the AMC theater, I thought back to when Maria and I took salsa classes together and when we belted out Selena’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” at karaoke. In that moment, as I munched on a chicken tamale, I realized how much I admired the beauty, complexity, and joy in Maria’s culture but had suppressed and devalued my own.

The following semester, I joined Model UN. Since then, I have learned how to proudly represent other countries and have gained cultural perspectives other than my own. I now understand that all cultures, including my own, are equal. I still struggle with small triggers, like when I go through airport security and feel a suspicious glance toward me, or when I feel self-conscious for bringing kabsa to school lunch. But in the future, I hope to study and work in international relations to continue learning about other cultures and impart a positive impression of Saudi culture to the world.

The smell of the early morning dew and the welcoming whinnies of my family’s horses are some of my most treasured childhood memories. To this day, our farm remains so rural that we do not have broadband access, and we’re too far away from the closest town for the postal service to reach us.

Going to school regularly was always a struggle: between the unceasing demands of the farm and our lack of connectivity, it was hard to keep up with my studies. Despite being a voracious reader, avid amateur chemist, and active participant in the classroom, emergencies and unforeseen events at the farm meant that I had a lot of unexcused absences.

Although it had challenges, my upbringing taught me resilience, the value of hard work, and the importance of family. Staying up all night to watch a foal being born, successfully saving the animals from a minor fire, and finding ways to soothe a nervous mare afraid of thunder have led to an unbreakable family bond.

Our farm is my family’s birthright and our livelihood, and I am eager to learn how to ensure the farm’s financial and technological success for future generations. In college, I am looking forward to joining a chapter of Future Farmers of America and studying agricultural business to carry my family’s legacy forward.

Tailor your answer to the university

After explaining how your identity or background will enrich the university’s existing student body, you can mention the university organizations, groups, or courses in which you’re interested.

Maybe a larger public school setting will allow you to broaden your community, or a small liberal arts college has a specialized program that will give you space to discover your voice and identity. Perhaps this particular university has an active affinity group you’d like to join.

Demonstrating how a university’s specific programs or clubs are relevant to you can show that you’ve done your research and would be a great addition to the university.

At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to study engineering not only to emulate my mother’s achievements and strength, but also to forge my own path as an engineer with disabilities. I appreciate the University of Michigan’s long-standing dedication to supporting students with disabilities in ways ranging from accessible housing to assistive technology. At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to receive a top-notch education and use it to inspire others to strive for their best, regardless of their circumstances.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

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• How to end an email
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 Parts of speech

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In addition to your main college essay , some schools and scholarships may ask for a supplementary essay focused on an aspect of your identity or background. This is sometimes called a diversity essay .

Many universities believe a student body composed of different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.

Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community, which is why they assign a diversity essay .

To write an effective diversity essay , include vulnerable, authentic stories about your unique identity, background, or perspective. Provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your outlook, activities, and goals. If relevant, you should also mention how your background has led you to apply for this university and why you’re a good fit.

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25+ Examples of Helpful Diversity Statements [2024 Update]

How good is your diversity statement? I asked my team to send me some of the best examples of diversity statements they could find.

They reviewed the Fortune 100 Best Workplaces for Diversity list and also Googled “Most Diverse Companies.”

They gave me a list of 30 diversity statements they found.  I whittled that down to 10 that I believe are either excellent overall or at least have an idea or two for you to consider.  Editor’s Note of December 7, 2022: Since we first published this we found another 15+ awesome diversity statements so our list is now more than 25!

I ran the diversity statements through  Ongig’s Text Analyzer software to analyze them for masculine versus feminine words, offensive words, positive and negative words, and overall readability. You can also try these 5 Diversity tools  to write more inclusive content.

Table of Contents

• How to Write a Diversity Statement
• 25 Diversity Statement Samples
• Diversity Statement PDFs
• Diversity Statement Bonus Tips
• Diversity Essay Samples

How to Write Effective Diversity Statements

Here are the most popular questions people ask when researching “how to write a diversity statement?”. These tips should give you guidance on crafting your own diversity statement. 

What to look for in Diversity Statements?

The best diversity statements include:

• the company’s mission
• a commitment to diversity
• mention of specific underrepresented groups
• positive and inclusive language
• unique information or benefits for diverse groups

How long should diversity statements be?

The best companies use 20 to 75 words for their main diversity statement (e.g. typically the first paragraph opening up their diversity page or the words used for their diversity section in their job descriptions or a “workplace diversity statement” that might be plastered on your office walls).

If you have an entire page dedicated to your diversity statement, then you can elaborate way beyond 75 words to support your main statement.

To see some examples of companies that dedicate an entire page to Diversity and Inclusion, check out 5+ Impressive Diversity Pages (and Why!) .

Should I use headlines in my diversity statements?

The best diversity statements have a headline (other than just “Diversity Statement”) because it helps you stand out. Check out T-Mobile’s headline and sub-headline — they are so compelling that the candidate might already have been won over before the lengthier diversity statement below it.

Diversity Statements: Grade level readability

Most employers write to candidates at the 11th grade reading level but the best employers write at the 8th grade or lower (see my article on Why I Write my Job Postings at the 8th Grade Level (or Lower!).

A good rule of thumb is:

“the lower the grade level the better.”

Check out Oath’s low (good!) grade level readability below. Busy candidates appreciate the time you save them by writing in simple, plain English.

If you want to score your own job descriptions for readability, check out 5 Free Tools to Write Better Job Descriptions .

Words per sentence in diversity statements

The best diversity statements have short sentences because the longer your sentences the lower the retention. Eight words or less per sentence can equate to 100% comprehension; retention slips to 90% at 14 words per sentence, and 43-word sentences lower retention to 10% ( see The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)).

Here’s a (before & after) diversity statement, written to keep the sentences short:

• Before — “ Inclusion is how we unleash the power of diversity. We strive each day to foster a sense of belonging and empowerment in our diverse workplace, create relevant marketing for our diverse customers, listen before engaging in our diverse communities and work as a team alongside our diverse suppliers. “
• After — “Inclusion is how we unleash the power of diversity. We strive to foster belonging and empowerment at work. We create relevant marketing for our diverse customers. We listen and engage with our diverse communities. And we value teamwork with our diverse suppliers. “

You’ll notice that the diversity statement samples keep their sentences around 8 words. Here are 3 examples:

• T-Mobile —  8 words per sentence
• Genetech — 8.9 words per sentence
• Hubspot — 6-word headline 

Use of positive words in diversity statements

There are libraries of words proven to evoke positive versus negative feelings by readers. Your diversity statements should be chock full of positive words like:

• comfortable

Mentioning your mission in diversity statements

This can be useful as long as you tie it in well to your diversity statement (like Google does).

Some companies combine their diversity statement with a mission statement. Here are a few examples of companies with great diversity mission statements :

Ford Foundation’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Mission Statement

At the Ford Foundation, diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of who we are. Our commitment to these values is unwavering – across all of our work around the world. They are central to our mission and to our impact. We know that having varied perspectives helps generate better ideas to solve the complex problems of a changing—and increasingly diverse—world.

Amazon’s Diversity & Inclusion Mission Statement

Amazon’s mission is to be the earth’s most customer-centric company, and this mission is central to our work in diversity and inclusion.

Diverse and inclusive teams have a positive impact on our products and services, and help us better serve customers, selling partners, content creators, employees, and community stakeholders from every background. We are constantly learning and iterating, whether through central programs, or work within our business teams, through programs that are local, regional, and global.

Uber’s Diversity & Inclusion Mission Statement

At Uber, our mission is to ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion. We see direct parallels between how we ignite opportunity through our company and how we ignite it within our company. But we also know that a solely data-driven approach will never be sufficient, because D&I is more than a box to check or a target to hit.

The numbers matter, but they’re only a starting point; a commitment to diversity and inclusion has to run much deeper. That’s why we’ve set an audacious goal: to make Uber the most diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace on the planet. And we’re not just setting high expectations for our own good. We’re aiming sky-high because we know from experience that reducing and eliminating inequity is hard to do if all you shoot for is incremental change.

Specifics usually help your diversity statements

The more specific you are the more candidates will trust you. Giving examples of your employee resource groups (like Stanley Black & Decker) is a great example of that.

Note: Another way to make a diversity statement is through diversity videos. Check out this article for inspiration:  Best Diversity and Inclusion Videos.

Here’s an example of a diversity statement that Ongig has recommended to our clients for use at the bottom of their job descriptions (feel free to riff on it or just copy it!):

Ongig D&I Statement

We embrace diversity and equality in a serious way. We are committed to building a team with a variety of backgrounds, skills and views.. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. Creating a culture of Equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing.

25+ Examples of Diversity Statements

Ok, here are 25+ diversity statements that were either effective overall or have individual great nuggets to borrow from (which we highlight).

T-Mobile Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Uniqueness is powerful.

Sub-Headline = Be yourself. We like it that way.

Diversity fuels the Un-carrier spirit. Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience drives us forward every day.

• Headline/Sub-Headline — “Uniqueness is powerful” and “Be yourself. We like it that way.” is a nice one-two punch that draws the candidate in.
• Length = 23 words (one of the shortest we’ve seen!)
• 7.7th grade reading level (Excellent!)
• Words per sentence = 8 (Outstanding)
• Positive words (powerful, spirit, commitment, experience)
• Great, engaging feature image:

GoDaddy Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = A Culture of Creativity is life at GoDaddy

A Culture of Creativity is life at GoDaddy. We hire the best, give them first-class training and set them loose. If you’re driven to perform, you’ll fit right in. We approach our work fearlessly, learn quickly, improve constantly, and celebrate our wins at every turn. Everyone is welcome—as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic whole selves to work. Be you.

• Great headline — Nice use of alliteration (the “Kuh” sound of  the two words: “Culture” and “Creativity”)
• Length = 58 words (Short and sweet!)
• 6.7th grade reading level (Superb)
• Positive words — they use a lot (best, give, fit, learn, improve, welcome, comfortable, authentic, whole)
• Nice opener — Opening with “We hire the best…” is solid
• “Everyone is welcome” is a simple and powerful phrase that is rarely used so they stand out again with just 3 words.

Oath Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = It takes all kinds

Diversity. Inclusion. They’re more than just words for us. They’re the hard-and-fast principles guiding how we build our teams, cultivate leaders and create a company that’s the right fit for every person inside of it. We have a global, multicultural following—we want to reflect that inside our walls.

• Headline — short and sweet
• Length — 55 words (succinct!)
• 5.7th grade reading level (Outstanding — the best (i.e. lowest) we found!)
• Words per sentence = 9.2 words (succinct)
• Conversational opening — Notice that they opened up with two one-word sentences (“Diversity. Inclusion. They’re more than just words…” The candidate feels like they’re in a conversation with Oath.
• Positive words (build, create, guiding, right)

Genentech Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = We’re On a Journey

We are inclusive. We celebrate multiple approaches and points of view. We believe diversity drives innovation. So we’re building a culture where difference is valued. We take a holistic approach. We’re always growing our network of people, programs and tools all designed to help employees grow and manage their careers. We foster both a top-down and grassroots approach. This gives us the freedom to address the broadest set of initiatives.

• Length = 71 words (nice and short)
• 7.1st grade reading level (Excellent!)
• Words per sentence = 8.9 (punchy!)
• Positive words (celebrate, innovation, holistic, grow, freedom)

Google Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Our accelerated approach to diversity and inclusion

Our accelerated approach to diversity and inclusion Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. When we say we want to build for everyone, we mean everyone. To do that well, we need a workforce that’s more representative of the users we serve. That’s why we’ve embraced a refreshed and accelerated approach to diversity and inclusion.

• Length = 63 words (Above average short)
• Tying their mission to diversity in the opening line is powerful
• Specificity! — They link off to their “diversity report”
• Short URL – diversity.google.com (this is better than being buried in a URL like google.com/about-us/diversity-inclusion
• 9.8th grade reading level (better than average)

Salesforce Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = We’re greater when we’re Equal

Sub-headline = Together, we can reach Equality for all.

Equality is a core value at Salesforce. We believe that businesses can be powerful platforms for social change and that our higher purpose is to drive Equality for all. Creating a culture of Equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing. Diverse companies are more innovative and better positioned to succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

We strive to create workplaces that reflect the communities we serve and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work. There is more work to be done, but with the help of our entire Ohana — our employees, customers, partners, and community — we can achieve #EqualityForAll.

• Headline — Using the word “equal” instead of the usual “diversity” or “inclusiveness” makes Salesforce stand out. They use “Equality” as their theme throughout the diversity statement.
• 8.1st grade reading level (Excellent)
• Length = 112 words
• Progressive Close — They close with a #EqalityForAll hashtag which is a nice tech-savvy touch.

Comcast Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Diversity & Inclusion: Our Foundation for Innovation

At Comcast NBCUniversal, diversity and inclusion are part of our DNA. Together, we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices of our employees. It fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our customers and the communities we serve.

• Length = 46 words (Short and Sweet)
• 10.40 grade reading level
• Social Proof — Great use of their diversity awards right underneath their diversity statement.
• Utilizes company color scheme:

Hubspot Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Bring Your Whole Self to Work

We’re passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Companies that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective are proven to be better companies. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do.

• Length = 63 words (nice and short)
• 13.76 grade reading level
• Compelling headline! — With just 6 words (“Bring Your Whole Self to Work”), they reveal a whole bunch.

Stanley Black and Decker Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Diversity & Inclusion

To be engaged, you must feel included and valued. We strive to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is a reflex, not an initiative. Where there is a deep sense of pride, passion and belonging that transcends any role, business unit, language or country and is unified in our shared commitment to excellence, innovation and social responsibility.

We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better results. To support an inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to share their experiences and ideas, we’ve encouraged the creation of a variety of Employee Resource Groups, including groups for Women, Veterans, LGTBQ (Pride & Allies), African Ancestry, Developing Professionals and more.

• Specificity Rules! — They give examples of their Employee Resource Groups (in bold above). That shows that they are more than just talk.
• An abundance of words that have proven to attract women (strive, nurture, inclusive, shared, commitment, creative)
• Length = 120 words
• 14.33 grade reading level

Schneider Electric Diversity Statement Sample

Headline = Diversity is our heritage and our future. Be part of it.

At Schneider Electric, diversity is an integral part of our history, culture, and identity. Inclusion is the way we treat and perceive all differences. We want to create an inclusive culture where all forms of diversity are seen as real value for the company.

• Length = 41 words (Short and sweet!)
• 8.1st grade level readability (Excellent!)
• Getting words like history, culture and identity in the opening sentence is a strong start.
• Highlight their headline in company colors:

Adobe Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity Mission Statement Headline:  Adobe for All

Sub-Headline:  What we believe.

At Adobe, we believe that when people feel respected and included they can be more creative, innovative, and successful. While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we’re investing to move our company and industry forward.

• Length = 43 words (Short and sweet!)
• 9.37 grade level readability (above average)
• Using inclusive words like respected and included in the opening sentence.
• Alliteration in the headline “Adobe for All” makes it memorable.

Aon Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline: Inclusion & Diversity at Aon

Sub-Headline: Our Inclusion Commitment

Whether related to accessibility, gender, ethnicity, age or sexual orientation, it’s important to find intentional ways to grow in our understanding and support of others. Aon’s commitment to fostering an inclusive culture is top on our agenda. We believe identifying ourselves as visible and voluntary allies is vital amidst the challenges we face, as it signifies an environment where all colleagues feels supported to bring their whole selves to work.

In support of this allyship, we encourage our leaders and colleagues to pledge ‘I’m in.’ This inclusion commitment gives each individual the opportunity to demonstrate their personal dedication to an inclusive culture, while visibly identifying their allyship to others. We also offer ongoing recommendations on how they may share, participate, discuss, act and continuously learn in support of their commitments.

• Length = 133 words
• 15.32 grade level readability
• Using the word “intentional” is meaningful. It makes people feel like they are focused on D&I, not just saying it.
• Focusing on allyship and an “I’m in” mentality.

Atos Diversity Statement Sample

Values of Diversity Headline: None

Here at Atos, we want all of our employees to feel valued, appreciated, and free to be who they are at work. Our employee lifecycle processes are designed to prevent discrimination against our people regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique.

• Strong power verbs in the opening sentence (“valued”, “appreciated”, “free to be who they are”)
• They mention “neurodiversity” (a rare term in diversity statements — it is meant to be inclusive of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD and other neurological differences)
• Length = 57 words (nice and short)
• 19.13 grade level readability

AT&T Diversity Statement Sample

Statement of Inclusion Headline:  AT&T Diversity & Inclusion

Sub-Headline:  AT&T is All of Us

At AT&T, we align diversity & inclusion to four pillars – our employees, the communities we serve, our customers and our suppliers.

• Length = 28 words (Short and sweet!)
• 8.47 grade level readability (Excellent!)

BC Housing Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline: Diversity & Inclusion

BC Housing’s Diversity & Inclusion Program is part of our People Strategy and reflects our vision of building an organization that attracts and leverages diversity in our staff, and strives for respect and inclusion throughout our workplace and in the communities we serve.

As a piece of our overarching People Strategy, the Diversity & Inclusion program has three main goals:

• Attracting & Onboarding – create a workforce broadly reflective of the larger community.
• Engaging & Developing – support employees in building the skills and capacity to work in an inclusive manner with one another and with the communities we serve.
• Building the Culture – build a welcoming workplace in which employees recognize that their unique characteristics, skills and experiences are respected, valued and celebrated.

We recognize that an inclusive and diverse work environment respects the unique characteristics, skills and experiences of all employees. Our Diversity & Inclusion programming includes respectful workplace workshops for everyone.

We offer Understanding LGBTQ Communities training and Working Respectfully with Indigenous Peoples sessions. Our Employee Diversity & Inclusion Committee hosts great events like National Indigenous Day, Canadian Multicultural Day, Pink Shirt Day, Lunar New Year, Black History Month and much more.

• Listing 3 goals of focus helps keep them focused and accountable.
• Naming specific communities and events allows people to connect with them and their commitment to diversity.
• Length = 186 words
• 15.12 grade level readability

Bright.md Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline: Diversity and Inclusion

Sub-Headline: A bright idea can come from anyone.

The more diversity we have in our team, the more unique perspectives and bright ideas we share. At Bright.md we are driven by the value of excellence. In healthcare, excellence means everyone deserves the best care, regardless of their race, color, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical abilities, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, or criminal history. We embrace employees and candidates from these underrepresented groups to help make this vision a reality.

Read Bright.md’s statement about  Black Lives Matter .

• Length = 82 words (above average).
• 10.58 grade level readability
• 100% gender neutral.
• Using “excellence” as a comparison to being diverse in many ways.

Curology Diversity Statement Sample

Commitment to Diversity Statement Headline: Diversity, Equity, and Belonging Initiatives at Curology

Sub-Headline: We at Curology believe that everyone deserves to feel safe, invincible, and equipped to thrive.

This environment of psychological safety should begin at home, within the walls of our offices, and should extend to our entire community of Curology members. Our commitment to joining the #BlackLivesMatter movement begins by looking inward at our hiring practices, workplace policies, approach to marketing, and culture.

• Length = 62 words (above average short).
• 15.17 grade level readability
• Using “safety” and “at home” in the first sentence connects to personal needs.

Hilton Diversity Statement Sample

Company Diversity Statement Headline:  Diversity & Inclusion at Hilton

Sub-Headline:  We are diverse by nature and inclusive by choice

Diversity is at the core of our Vision, Mission, and Values. We are committed to an inclusive workforce that fully represents many different cultures, backgrounds and viewpoints. Our global brands provide meeting places for people from all walks of life to connect, creating a welcoming environment for all. 

• Length = 57 words (Short and sweet!)
• 9.36 grade level readability (above average)
• Focusing on diverse: cultures, backgrounds, & viewpoints.

Indeed Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline:  Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

Sub-Headline:  Our commitment to transparency and accountability

Indeed’s mission is to help people get jobs. To achieve this, we put jobseekers and companies who use Indeed at the heart of everything we do. In 2019, we declared the kind of culture we want to have and the values that are important to us. These values are: put jobseekers first, pay for performance, innovation, data-driven, and inclusion & belonging – which translates to creating an environment where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and make it easy for others to do the same.

• Length = 86 words (Longer but powerful)
• 10.52 grade level readability
• First sentence starts with wanting to help.
• Focusing on the job seekers is the main theme.

Netflix Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity Inclusion Statement Headline: Inclusion on-screen starts with inclusion in the office

Sub-Headline: Sowing the Seeds: Inclusion Takes Root at Netflix

Netflix’s greatest impact is in storytelling. Stories like  13th, Disclosure, Selena, Da 5 Bloods, Special and The Half of It  broaden representation, empathy and understanding. We create and connect these stories to people all around the globe – removing the barriers of language, device, ability or connectivity. Better representation on-screen starts with representation in the office. Our work has to be internal first, so it can impact what we do externally. We believe we’ll do that better if our employees come from different backgrounds, and if we create an environment of inclusion and belonging for them.

• Length = 95 words (Longer but powerful)
• 9.69 grade level readability (above average)
• Connecting the on-screen with their internal culture and diversity.

Simons Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity Mission Statement Headline: THE SIMONS FOUNDATION’S DIVERSITY COMMITMENT

Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences, and we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment. The Simons Foundation provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic disposition, neurodiversity, disability, veteran status or any other protected category under federal, state and local law.

• Strong power nouns in the opening sentence (ideas, discoveries) tied to a “diverse mix of minds”
• They mention “neurodiversity”, the term inclusive of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD and other neurological differences)
• Length = 71 words
• 23.35 grade level readability

Slack Diversity Statement Sample

Commitment to Diversity Headline:  Diversity at Slack

Sub-Headline:  Slack for Good has a mission to increase the number of historically underrepresented people in the technology industry.

Diversity, engagement and belonging remain at the center of Slack’s values. We are committed to putting resources and attention toward improving the engagement, retention and promotion of the incredible talent we have—whether everyone is sharing an office or working together remotely, as we are now. The future of work must be inclusive, and during this unprecedented time when our customers are facing more challenges than ever before, our commitment to that vision is critical to our success and to theirs.

• “Slack for Good” mission is creative.
• Giving examples of how they support and promote and inclusive work environment.
• Length = 80 words
• 15.50 grade level readability

United Way Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity Inclusion Statement Headline: United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community.

Sub-Headline: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement of Principle

We take the broadest possible view of diversity.

We value the visible and invisible qualities that make you who you are.

We welcome that every person brings a unique perspective and experience to advance our mission and progress our fight for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community.

We believe that each United Way community member, donor, volunteer, advocate, and employee must have equal access to solving community problems.

We strive to include diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at the center of our daily work.

We commit to using these practices for our business and our communities.

Join us in embracing diversity, equity and inclusion for every person in every community.

• Conversational — Notice how United Way (a non-profit) has a DEI statement that uses “We” rather than just saying “United Way”. This makes it more conversational.
• One-Liner Bullets (instead of long text) — Most diversity statements are in sentence/paragraph form (which is ok). But United opts for one-liner bullets (even though there’s no bullet) which can be more readable for many. Again, it reads a bit more like a conversation.
• Length = 116 words
• 13.46 grade level readability

Women in Development (WID) Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline: Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity

“WID is committed to maintaining a culture of diversity and equity in fundraising and related professions. As a membership body, our strength is in our promise to be inclusive, with intentional strategies to welcome and uplift historically marginalized identities and people within our field.”

• Length = 44 words (Short and sweet!)
• 16.32 grade level readability
• About Us — WID lists their DEI Statement as part of their “Core Values” section on their About Us page. I believe that’s a strong alternative to listing it on a “Diversity” page as most companies do.
• Making it a “Value” — Calling DEI a “value” is another differentiator. WID President Yolanda Johnson gives this advice to organizations re: DEI statements: “Making DEI a core value helps to ensure that change will come from within the organization and will help protect these efforts from claims that it is not a priority.” (source:  How We Are Creating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion From the Inside Out

Workday Diversity Statement Sample

Diversity and Inclusion Statement Headline:  At Workday, we VIBE™.

Sub-Headline:  Value inclusion, belonging, and equity for all.

Our approach to diversity is simple—it’s about embracing everyone. From building a culture where all employees can bring their best selves to work to deploying diversity initiatives that support everyone, we’re doing what it takes to build an inclusive world for all.

• Length = 49 words (Short and sweet!)
• 11.54 grade level readability
• Using words like “embracing” and “building” show their support for inclusion and diversity.

Options Community Services Statement of Diversity

Statement of Diversity:

Options Community Services (OCS) provides services in one of the most diverse cities in the world. The diversity of our community takes many forms. It includes differences related to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, gender expression and presentation, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability and socioeconomic status. We see diversity as an asset to our organization and communities and strive to be reflective of the communities that we serve. We commit ourselves to promoting better understanding and appreciation of our human diversity; a commitment which is best realized through our individual and collective effort.

OCS is professionally and personally committed to celebrating the rich diversity of people who receive, live and work in our services and resources. We believe that it is critical that our services empower freedom of thought and opinion in an environment of mutual respect. All of our programs, activities, and interactions are enriched by accepting each other as we are and by celebrating our uniqueness as well as our commonality. We are guided by the principle that celebrating diversity enriches and empowers the lives of all people.

• Length = 181 words (longer but meaningful)
• 12.4 grade level readability
• Using words like “asset,” “commitment,” and “celebrate” show their support for inclusion and diversity.

Diversity Statements: PDFs

If you’re looking for a diversity statement sample PDF, here are 3 examples of companies using PDFs to get their message across about diversity:

• AT&T’s “Everyone is Part of the Story” Diversity Report  includes a diversity statement sample
• Workday’s “Making an Impact with Workday’s” highlights its diversity statement
• Hilton’s External Diversity Brochure  features its diversity statement

I hope you found some inspiration above to help you have the best diversity statement in your market.

And, here are some ideas for a “ diversity personal statement” if you need one for a master’s degree or resume:

• Personal Statement on Diversity and Inclusion Ideas (source: UNC Med School)
• Personal Diversity Statement Ideas (source: UGA.edu)

Diversity Statements: Bonus Tips

If you like this article, you might enjoy some of Ongig’s other blogs with tips on how to create inclusion statements , diversity commitments , and diversity goals . Here’s a list to check out:

• 10 Examples of Awesome Inclusion Statements
• 7 Examples of a Great Commitment to Diversity Statement
• 25+ Examples of Awesome Diversity Goals

Diversity Statements: Essay Samples

“For a long time, the experiences and characteristics that set me apart were the things I felt compelled to suppress. As I learned to embrace my upbringing, my sexuality, and my role as a father, I saw the value of each. Now, I appreciate the invaluable perspective on life that being a single, African, gay father, raised by a single mother, has given me. I was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when I was six years old. Because my mother did not receive higher education, I relied on the guidance of mentors to navigate academia. Experiencing the benefits of mentorship encouraged me to pay it forward. I took an active role in a nonprofit organization called Natural Productions. Here, I mentored children living in underserved communities that have experienced abuse and violence at home – as I have. I provided the children mentorship, encouragement, homework assistance, and dance instruction to help them rise above the poverty and hardship they were born into. My commitment to mentorship continues in law school. I currently serve as a resource and mentor to incoming minority students to help them succeed through the rigors of law school. When I was nineteen I had a baby with my childhood sweetheart. Although some view having a child at that age as a barrier to success, I envisioned it as motivation. The task of caring for another person was daunting, and I was scared of making a mistake. Despite my age, I adapted and the desire to provide for my daughter motivated me to attend college, start a career in financial services, and later attend law school. The moment I laid eyes on my daughter, I wanted her to embrace every aspect of who she would become. The best way to teach her was by example. Coming to terms with being gay was a tumultuous and liberating experience. I encountered reactions from my family and friends that were unsupportive and agonizing. Yet, I quickly learned to develop a thick skin, compartmentalize my feelings, and focus on being a father. I provide intellectual diversity and a commitment to community. During the 2008 financial crisis, I almost became homeless, but used my expertise to avoid foreclosure. Compelled to assist my community, I used my mortgage experience to provide guidance on the loan modification process with the hope that homeowners in default would save their homes. During my externship last summer, I learned about the significant number of minorities affected by the crisis. Consequently, I would like to help close the disproportionate wealth gap plaguing our society by spearheading the firm’s efforts of collaborating with local organizations to empower minorities by providing financial literacy programs. Diversity extends far beyond visible differences. To me, it represents a sense of belonging to a community and, with that, a fresh point of view. I will utilize my unique experiences as tools for creative problem solving with a diverse perspective that benefits both the client and your firm.” source: American University Washington College of Law — Diversity Statement Resource Guide

• 10.14 grade level readability (above average, especially for a law school essay!)
• Using personal life stories helps the reader connect to the writer and their story about the pursuit of diversity in law firms.
• Tying goals to real problems (e.g., the wealth gap) and giving solutions makes this a strong essay.

Additional examples of diversity statements

Headline — Empowered to do your best work

At Spotify, we welcome you with an inclusion mindset, one that prioritizes growth through listening and learning. No matter where you come from, or what’s playing in your headphones, we want to create a place where you belong.

Length = 38 words (Short and Sweet)

10 grade reading level 

Compelling headlines = Captures attention immediately with only five words

Headline — Let’s build a more inclusive workplace and world.

At Salesforce, our commitment to driving equality and greater business value does not waver. We’re working with employees, partners, Trailblazers, and customers to move closer to equality for all.

Length = 29 words (Short and Sweet)

12 grade reading level 

Compelling headlines = Encouraging and concise

International Rescue Committee 

Headline — Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

At the IRC, our diverse clients, partners and staff have the power, voice and agency to shape programs and operations. Within the IRC, we actively work to end all forms of systemic discrimination and foster an inclusive working environment where everyone feels respected, heard, valued and supported. Our programs seek to reduce disparities in outcomes which are driven by systemic inequality.

Length = 61 words 

14 grade reading level 

Compelling headlines = Concise and straight to the point

Best Practices for Writing Diversity Statements

When it comes to crafting a diversity statement that truly stands out, there are some tried-and-true best practices to keep in mind. Let’s dive into what makes an effective diversity statement and how you can make yours shine.

What is the purpose of your diversity statement?

First things first, it’s essential to understand the purpose of your diversity statement. So, it’s not just another box to check off in the application process. Think ot it as a chance to show your commitment to creating an inclusive environment where people from all walks of life feel welcome and valued.

Reflect on your own experiences

Start by reflecting on your own experiences and understanding of diversity. Think about the different ways diversity has shaped your life and your perspective. Maybe you’ve volunteered with diverse communities, or perhaps you’ve worked in environments with people from diverse backgrounds. So, whatever your experiences, use them to illustrate your understanding of the barriers that marginalized groups face and your commitment to breaking them down.

But remember, it’s not just about listing off your past efforts—it’s about showing how those experiences have shaped your future plans. Talk about specific ways you plan to contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in your new role. Whether it’s through inclusive teaching practices, mentoring students of color, or advocating for underrepresented groups, be clear about your intentions and how you plan to make a difference.

Think about your organization

When writing your diversity statement, be sure to tailor it to the specific institution or organization you’re applying to. Do some research to understand the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and how your values align with theirs. Mentioning specific initiatives or programs they have in place can demonstrate that you’ve done your homework and are genuinely invested in their mission.

Be authentic

And finally, don’t be afraid to be authentic and vulnerable in your diversity statement. Share personal anecdotes or insights that highlight your commitment to diversity and your understanding of its importance. Remember, diversity isn’t just about demographic diversity—it’s about embracing a broad range of ideas, perspectives, and social identities.

By following these best practices, you can write a diversity statement that not only impresses search committees but also reflects your genuine commitment to creating a more inclusive world. After all, diversity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a fundamental value that should guide everything we do.

Crafting an Authentic Diversity Statement

Creating a diversity statement that truly reflects your organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is more than just putting pen to paper. Consider capturing the heart and soul of what you stand for. Let’s look at some tips on how to craft an authentic diversity statement that speaks volumes.

Start by identifying your organization’s core values. What do you believe in? What drives you to create a more inclusive environment? So, by pinpointing these values, you lay the foundation for your diversity statement and ensure that it rings true to who you are as an organization.

But don’t stop there—make sure to involve diverse voices in the drafting process. So, this means seeking input from people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. After all, diversity isn’t just about what you say—it’s about who you include in the conversation.

Then, as you’re drafting your diversity statement, keep a keen eye on alignment. Make sure that your words aren’t just empty promises but are backed up by actions and initiatives. Your statement should reflect the tangible steps you’re taking to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization.

Also, share your own experiences and insights that highlight your understanding of diversity and your commitment to fostering an inclusive environment. Whether it’s personal anecdotes or examples of past efforts, be genuine and transparent about your journey.

Lastly, don’t forget to review and refine your diversity statement regularly. As your organization evolves and grows, so too should your commitment to diversity and inclusion. So, keep your statement up to date and reflective of the progress you’re making on your diversity journey.

The Impact of Diversity Statements on Recruitment and Retention

Research shows that job seekers are increasingly looking for companies that prioritize diversity and inclusion. So, a strong diversity statement can be a beacon of hope for those seeking a workplace where their unique backgrounds and perspectives are celebrated, not just tolerated.

However, it’s not enough to simply attract diverse talent. You must also be able to keep them around. When employees feel like they belong and are valued for who they are, they’re more likely to stick around for the long haul. So, that means lower turnover rates, higher morale, and a stronger, more cohesive team.

In addition, let’s not forget about the impact on your employer brand. A strong diversity statement sends a powerful message to the world about what you stand for as an organization. It shows that you’re actively working to create a better, more equitable workplace for everyone.

So, the next time you’re updating your job ads or revamping your company’s website, don’t forget to include a strong diversity statement front and center. It could be the difference between attracting top talent and watching them slip through your fingers. After all, diversity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a key ingredient in building a better, brighter future for us all.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Diversity Statements

Now that we’ve talked about the importance of diversity statements, let’s dive into how we can tell if they’re really making a difference.

You need to have a plan in place to measure their impact and adjust as needed. 

Diversity in hiring

One way to gauge the effectiveness of diversity statements is by looking at diversity in hiring. Are you attracting candidates from diverse backgrounds? Are they making it through the hiring process and joining your team? Therefore, tracking metrics like these can give you a good sense of whether your diversity statement is resonating with job seekers.

But it’s not just about who you’re hiring—it’s also about who’s sticking around. Employee satisfaction surveys can help you understand how your team members feel about the workplace culture and whether they feel included and valued. So, a diverse workforce is only effective if everyone feels like they belong.

Retention rates

Retention rates are another important metric to consider. Are employees from diverse backgrounds staying with the company long-term, or are they leaving at higher rates than their counterparts? So, if you notice a discrepancy, it could be a sign that there are barriers to advancement or that the workplace culture isn’t as inclusive as it should be.

Diverse leadership

And let’s not forget about representation in leadership roles. Are people from diverse backgrounds being given opportunities to climb the ladder and take on leadership positions? If not, it could be a sign that there are systemic barriers holding them back.

Ultimately, measuring the effectiveness of diversity statements is all about ongoing assessment and adaptation. Therefore, it’s not enough to just set it and forget it. You also need to regularly check in to make sure your diversity efforts are aligning with your organizational goals and values.

So, by tracking metrics like diversity in hiring, employee satisfaction, retention rates, and representation in leadership roles, you can get a better sense of whether your diversity statement is having the impact you hoped for. And if not, don’t be afraid to make adjustments and try new approaches. Creating a truly inclusive workplace is an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Why I wrote this article?

Our focus at Ongig is to boost your quality candidate applications including diversity.  Ongig’s Text Analyzer helps analyze the text of any job-related pages. Please click the demo request button on this page if you think we can help you.

March 24, 2024 by Rob Kelly in Diversity and Inclusion

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May 8, 2024

The Diversity Essay: How to Write an Excellent Diversity Essay

What is a diversity essay in a school application? And why does it matter when applying to leading programs and universities? Most importantly, how should you go about writing such an essay?

Diversity is of supreme value in higher education, and schools want to know how every student will contribute to the diversity on their campus. A diversity essay gives applicants with disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, an unusual education, a distinctive experience, or a unique family history an opportunity to write about how these elements of their background have prepared them to play a useful role in increasing and encouraging diversity among their target program’s student body and broader community.

The purpose of all application essays is to help the adcom better understand who an applicant is and what they care about. Your essays are your chance to share your voice and humanize your application. This is especially true for the diversity essay, which aims to reveal your unique perspectives and experiences, as well as the ways in which you might contribute to a college community.

In this post, we’ll discuss what exactly a diversity essay is, look at examples of actual prompts and a sample essay, and offer tips for writing a standout essay. 

In this post, you’ll find the following: 

What a diversity essay covers

How to show you can add to a school’s diversity, why diversity matters to schools.

• Seven examples that reveal diversity

Sample diversity essay prompts

How to write about your diversity.

• A diversity essay example

Upon hearing the word “diversity” in relation to an application essay, many people assume that they will have to write about gender, sexuality, class, or race. To many, this can feel overly personal or irrelevant, and some students might worry that their identity isn’t unique or interesting enough. In reality, the diversity essay is much broader than many people realize.

Identity means different things to different people. The important thing is that you demonstrate your uniqueness and what matters to you. In addition to writing about one of the traditional identity features we just mentioned (gender, sexuality, class, race), you could consider writing about a more unusual feature of yourself or your life – or even the intersection of two or more identities.

Consider these questions as you think about what to include in your diversity essay:

• Do you have a unique or unusual talent or skill?
• Do you have beliefs or values that are markedly different from those of the people around you? 
• Do you have a hobby or interest that sets you apart from your peers? 
• Have you done or experienced something that few people have? Note that if you choose to write about a single event as a diverse identity feature, that event needs to have had a pretty substantial impact on you and your life. For example, perhaps you’re part of the 0.2% of the world’s population that has run a marathon, or you’ve had the chance to watch wolves hunt in the wild.
• Do you have a role in life that gives you a special outlook on the world? For example, maybe one of your siblings has a rare disability, or you grew up in a town with fewer than 500 inhabitants.

If you are an immigrant to the United States, the child of immigrants, or someone whose ethnicity is underrepresented in the States, your response to “How will you add to the diversity of our class/community?” and similar questions might help your application efforts. Why? Because you have the opportunity to show the adcom how your background will contribute a distinctive perspective to the program you are applying to.

Of course, if you’re not underrepresented in your field or part of a disadvantaged group, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have anything to write about in a diversity essay.

For example, you might have an unusual or special experience to share, such as serving in the military, being a member of a dance troupe, or caring for a disabled relative. These and other distinctive experiences can convey how you will contribute to the diversity of the school’s campus.

Maybe you are the first member of your family to apply to college or the first person in your household to learn English. Perhaps you have worked your way through college or helped raise your siblings. You might also have been an ally to those who are underrepresented, disadvantaged, or marginalized in your community, at your school, or in a work setting. 

As you can see, diversity is not limited to one’s religion, ethnicity, culture, language, or sexual orientation. It refers to whatever element of your identity distinguishes you from others and shows that you, too, value diversity.

The diversity essay provides colleges the chance to build a student body that includes different ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, backgrounds, interests, and so on. Applicants are asked to illuminate what sets them apart so that the adcoms can see what kind of diverse views and opinions they can bring to the campus.

Admissions officers believe that diversity in the classroom improves the educational experience of all the students involved. They also believe that having a diverse workforce better serves society as a whole.

The more diverse perspectives found in the classroom, throughout the dorms, in the dining halls, and mixed into study groups, the richer people’s discussions will be.

Plus, learning and growing in this kind of multicultural environment will prepare students for working in our increasingly multicultural and global world.

In medicine, for example, a heterogeneous workforce benefits people from previously underrepresented cultures. Businesses realize that they will market more effectively if they can speak to different audiences, which is possible when members of their workforce come from various backgrounds and cultures. Schools simply want to prepare graduates for the 21st century job market.

Seven examples that reveal diversity

Adcoms want to know about the diverse elements of your character and how these have helped you develop particular  personality traits , as well as about any unusual experiences that have shaped you.

Here are seven examples an applicant could write about:

1. They grew up in an environment with a strong emphasis on respecting their elders, attending family events, and/or learning their parents’ native language and culture.

2. They are close to their grandparents and extended family members who have taught them how teamwork can help everyone thrive.

3. They have had to face difficulties that stem from their parents’ values being in conflict with theirs or those of their peers.

4. Teachers have not always understood the elements of their culture or lifestyle and how those elements influence their performance.

5. They have suffered discrimination and succeeded despite it because of their grit, values, and character.

6. They learned skills from a lifestyle that is outside the norm (e.g., living in foreign countries as the child of a diplomat or contractor; performing professionally in theater, dance, music, or sports; having a deaf sibling).

7. They’ve encountered racism or other prejudice (either toward themselves or others) and responded by actively promoting diverse, tolerant values.

And remember, diversity is not about who your parents are.  It’s about who you are  – at the core.

Your background, influences, religious observances, native language, ideas, work environment, community experiences – all these factors come together to create a unique individual, one who will contribute to a varied class of distinct individuals taking their place in a diverse world.

The best-known diversity essay prompt is from the  Common App . It states:

“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

Some schools have individual diversity essay prompts. For example, this one is from  Duke University :

“We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.” 

And the  Rice University application includes the following prompt:

“Rice is strengthened by its diverse community of learning and discovery that produces leaders and change agents across the spectrum of human endeavor. What perspectives shaped by your background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity inspire you to join our community of change agents at Rice?”

In all instances, colleges want you to demonstrate how and what you’ll contribute to their communities.

Your answer to a school’s diversity essay question should focus on how your experiences have built your empathy for others, your embrace of differences, your resilience, your character, and your perspective.

The school might ask how you think of diversity or how you will bring or add to the diversity of the school, your chosen profession, or your community. Make sure you answer the specific question posed by highlighting distinctive elements of your profile that will add to the class mosaic every adcom is trying to create. You don’t want to blend in; you want to stand out in a positive way while also complementing the school’s canvas.

Here’s a simple, three-part framework that will help you think of diversity more broadly:

Who are you? What has contributed to your identity? How do you distinguish yourself? Your identity can include any of the following: gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, religion, nontraditional work experience, nontraditional educational background, multicultural background, and family’s educational level.

What have you done? What have you accomplished? This could include any of the following: achievements inside and/or outside your field of study, leadership opportunities, community service, internship or professional experience, research opportunities, hobbies, and travel. Any or all of these could be unique. Also, what life-derailing, throw-you-for-a-loop challenges have you faced and overcome?

How do you think? How do you approach things? What drives you? What influences you? Are you the person who can break up a tense meeting with some well-timed humor? Are you the one who intuitively sees how to bring people together? 

Read more about this three-part framework in Episode 193 of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast or listen wherever you get your favorite podcast s.

Think about each question within this framework and how you could apply your diversity elements to your target school’s classroom or community. Any of these elements can serve as the framework for your essay.

Don’t worry if you can’t think of something totally “out there.” You don’t need to be a tightrope walker living in the Andes or a Buddhist monk from Japan to be able to contribute to a school’s diversity!

And please remember, the examples we have offered here are not exhaustive. There are many other ways to show diversity!

All you need to do to be able to write successfully about how you will contribute to the diversity of your target school’s community is examine your identity, deeds, and ideas, with an eye toward your personal distinctiveness and individuality. There is only one  you .

Take a look at the sample diversity essay in the next section of this post, and pay attention to how the writer underscores their appreciation for, and experience with, diversity. 

A diversity essay sample

When I was starting 11th grade, my dad, an agricultural scientist, was assigned to a 3-month research project in a farm village in Niigata (northwest Honshu in Japan). Rather than stay behind with my mom and siblings, I begged to go with him. As a straight-A student, I convinced my parents and the principal that I could handle my schoolwork remotely (pre-COVID) for that stretch. It was time to leap beyond my comfortable suburban Wisconsin life—and my Western orientation, reinforced by travel to Europe the year before. 

We roomed in a sprawling farmhouse with a family participating in my dad’s study. I thought I’d experience an “English-free zone,” but the high school students all studied and wanted to practice English, so I did meet peers even though I didn’t attend their school. Of the many eye-opening, influential, cultural experiences, the one that resonates most powerfully to me is experiencing their community. It was a living, organic whole. Elementary school kids spent time helping with the rice harvest. People who foraged for seasonal wild edibles gave them to acquaintances throughout the town. In fact, there was a constant sharing of food among residents—garden veggies carried in straw baskets, fish or meat in coolers. The pharmacist would drive prescriptions to people who couldn’t easily get out—new mothers, the elderly—not as a business service but as a good neighbor. If rain suddenly threatened, neighbors would bring in each other’s drying laundry. When an empty-nest 50-year-old woman had to be hospitalized suddenly for a near-fatal snakebite, neighbors maintained her veggie patch until she returned. The community embodied constant awareness of others’ needs and circumstances. The community flowed!

Yet, people there lamented that this lifestyle was vanishing; more young people left than stayed or came. And it wasn’t idyllic: I heard about ubiquitous gossip, long-standing personal enmities, busybody-ness. But these very human foibles didn’t dam the flow. This dynamic community organism couldn’t have been more different from my suburban life back home, with its insular nuclear families. We nod hello to neighbors in passing. 

This wonderful experience contained a personal challenge. Blond and blue-eyed, I became “the other” for the first time. Except for my dad, I saw no Westerner there. Curious eyes followed me. Stepping into a market or walking down the street, I drew gazes. People swiftly looked away if they accidentally caught my eye. It was not at all hostile, I knew, but I felt like an object. I began making extra sure to appear “presentable” before going outside. The sense of being watched sometimes generated mild stress or resentment. Returning to my lovely tatami room, I would decompress, grateful to be alone. I realized this challenge was a minute fraction of what others experience in my own country. The toll that feeling—and being— “other” takes on non-white and visibly different people in the US can be extremely painful. Experiencing it firsthand, albeit briefly, benignly, and in relative comfort, I got it.

Unlike the organic Niigata community, work teams, and the workplace itself, have externally driven purposes. Within this different environment, I will strive to exemplify the ongoing mutual awareness that fueled the community life in Niigata. Does it benefit the bottom line, improve the results? I don’t know. But it helps me be the mature, engaged person I want to be, and to appreciate the individuals who are my colleagues and who comprise my professional community. I am now far more conscious of people feeling their “otherness”—even when it’s not in response to negative treatment, it can arise simply from awareness of being in some way different.

What did you think of this essay? Does this middle class Midwesterner have the unique experience of being different from the surrounding majority, something she had not experienced in the United States? Did she encounter diversity from the perspective of “the other”? 

Here a few things to note about why this diversity essay works so well:

1. The writer comes from “a comfortable, suburban, Wisconsin life,” suggesting that her background might not be ethnically, racially, or in any other way diverse.

2. The diversity “points” scored all come from her fascinating experience of having lived in a Japanese farm village, where she immersed herself in a totally different culture.

3. The lessons learned about the meaning of community are what broaden and deepen the writer’s perspective about life, about a purpose-driven life, and about the concept of “otherness.” 

By writing about a time when you experienced diversity in one of its many forms, you can write a memorable and meaningful diversity essay.

Working on your diversity essay?

Want to ensure that your application demonstrates the diversity that your dream school is seeking?  Work with one of our admissions experts . This checklist includes more than 30 different ways to think about diversity to jump-start your creative engine.

Dr. Sundas Ali has more than 15 years of experience teaching and advising students, providing career and admissions advice, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews for the University of Oxford’s undergraduate and graduate programs. In addition, Sundas has worked with students from a wide range of countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, and the Middle East. Want Sundas to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch! 

Related Resources:

• Different Dimensions of Diversity , podcast Episode 193
• What Should You Do If You Belong to an Overrepresented MBA Applicant Group?
• Fitting In & Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions , a free guide

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How to Write the Diversity Essay – With Examples

May 1, 2024

The diversity essay has newfound significance in college application packages following the 2023 SCOTUS ruling against race-conscious admissions. Affirmative action began as an attempt to redress unequal access to economic and social mobility associated with higher education. But before the 2023 ruling, colleges frequently defended the policy based on their “compelling interest” in fostering diverse campuses. The reasoning goes that there are certain educational benefits that come from heterogeneous learning environments. Now, the diversity essay has become key for admissions officials in achieving their compelling interest in campus diversity. Thus, unlocking how to write a diversity essay enhances an applicant’s ability to describe their fit with a campus environment. This article describes the genre and provides diversity essay examples to help any applicant express how they conceptualize and contribute to diversity.

How to Write a Diversity Essay – Defining the Genre

Diversity essays in many ways resemble the personal statement genre. Like personal statements, they help readers get to know applicants beyond their academic and extracurricular achievements. What makes an applicant unique? Precisely what motivates or inspires them? What is their demeanor like and how do they interact with others? All these questions are useful ways of thinking about the purpose and value of the diversity essay.

It’s important to realize that the essay does not need to focus on aspects like race, religion, or sexuality. Some applicants may choose to write about their relationship to these or other protected identity categories. But applicants shouldn’t feel obligated to ‘come out’ in a diversity essay. Conversely, they should not be anxious if they feel their background doesn’t qualify them as ‘diverse.’

Instead, the diversity essay helps demonstrate broader thinking about what makes applicants unique that admissions officials can’t glean elsewhere. Usually, it also directly or indirectly indicates how an applicant will enhance the campus community they hope to join. Diversity essays can explicitly connect past experiences with future plans. Or they can offer a more general sense of how one’s background will influence their actions in college.

Thus, the diversity essay conveys both aspects that make an applicant unique and arguments for how those aspects will contribute on campus. The somewhat daunting genre is, in fact, a great opportunity for applicants to articulate how their background, identity, or formative experiences will shape their academic, intellectual, social, and professional trajectories.

Diversity College Essay Examples of Prompts – Sharing a Story

All diversity essays ask applicants to share what makes them unique and convey how that equips them for university life. However, colleges will typically ask applicants to approach this broad topic from a variety of different angles. Since it’s likely applicants will encounter some version of the genre in either required or supplemental essay assignments, it’s a good idea to have a template diversity essay ready to adapt to each specific prompt.

One of the most standard prompts is the “share a story” prompt. For example, here’s the diversity-related Common App prompt:

“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”

This prompt is deliberately broad, inviting applicants to articulate their distinctive qualities in myriad ways. What is unsaid, but likely expected, is some statement about how the story evidences the ability to enhance campus diversity.

Diversity College Essay Examples of Prompts – Describing Contribution

Another common prompt explicitly asks students to reflect on diversity while centering what they will contribute in college. A good example of this prompt comes from the University of Miami’s supplemental essay:

Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute.

Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive University community. (250 words)

In essays responding to these kinds of prompts, its smart to more deliberately tailor your essay to what you know about the institution and its values around diversity. You’ll need a substantial part of the essay to address not only your “story” but your anticipated institutional contribution.

Diversity College Essay Examples of Prompts – Navigating Difference

The last type of diversity essay prompt worth mentioning asks applicants to explain how they experience and navigate difference. It could be a prompt about dealing with “diverse perspectives.” Or it could ask the applicant to tell a story involving someone different than them. Regardless of the framing, these types of prompts ask you to unfold a theory of diversity stemming from social encounters. Applicants might still think of how they can use the essay to frame what makes them unique. However, here colleges are also hoping for insight into how applicants will deal with the immense diversity of college life beyond their unique experiences. In these cases, it’s especially important to use a story kernel to draw attention to fundamental beliefs and values around diversity.

  How to Write a Diversity Essay – Tips for Writing

Before we get to the diversity college essay examples, some general tips for writing the diversity essay:

• Be authentic: This is not the place to embellish, exaggerate, or overstate your experiences. Writing with humility and awareness of your own limitations can only help you with the diversity essay. So don’t write about who you think the admissions committee wants to see – write about yourself.
• Find dynamic intersections: One effective brainstorming strategy is to think of two or more aspects of your background, identity, and interests you might combine. For example, in one of the examples below, the writer talks about their speech impediment alongside their passion for poetry. By thinking of aspects of your experience to combine, you’ll likely generate more original material than focusing on just one.
• Include a thesis: Diversity essays follow more general conventions of personal statement writing. That means you should tell a story about yourself, but also make it double as an argumentative piece of writing. Including a thesis in the first paragraph can clearly signal the argumentative hook of the essay for your reader.
• Include your definition of diversity: Early in the essay you should define what diversity means to you. It’s important that this definition is as original as possible, preferably connecting to the story you are narrating. To avoid cliché, you might write out a bunch of definitions of diversity. Then, review them and get rid of any that seem like something you’d see in a dictionary or an inspirational poster. Get those clichéd definitions out of your system early, so you can wow your audience with your own carefully considered definition.

How to Write a Diversity Essay – Tips for Writing (Cont.)

• Zoom out to diversity more broadly: This tip is especially important you are not writing about protected minority identities like race, religion, and sexuality. Again, it’s fine to not focus on these aspects of diversity. But you’ll want to have some space in the essay where you connect your very specific understanding of diversity to a larger system of values that can include those identities.

Revision is another, evergreen tip for writing good diversity essays. You should also remember that you are writing in a personal and narrative-based genre. So, try to be as creative as possible! If you find enjoyment in writing it, chances are better your audience will find entertainment value in reading it.

How to Write a Diversity Essay – Diversity Essay Examples

The first example addresses the “share a story” prompt. It is written in the voice of Karim Amir, the main character of Hanif Kureishi’s novel The Buddha of Suburbia .

As a child of the suburbs, I have frequently navigated the labyrinthine alleys of identity. Born to an English mother and an Indian father, I inherited a rich blend of traditions, customs, and perspectives. From an early age, I found myself straddling two worlds, trying to reconcile the conflicting expectations of my dual heritage. Yet, it was only through the lens of acting that I began to understand the true fluidity of identity.

• A fairly typical table setting first paragraph, foregrounding themes of identity and performance
• Includes a “thesis” in the final sentence suggesting the essay’s narrative and argumentative arc

Diversity, to me, is more than just a buzzword describing a melting pot of ethnic backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations. Instead, it evokes the unfathomable heterogeneity of human experience that I aim to help capture through performance. On the stage, I have often been slotted into Asian and other ethnic minority roles. I’ve had to deal with discriminatory directors who complain I am not Indian enough. Sometimes, it has even been tempting to play into established stereotypes attached to the parts I am playing. However, acting has ultimately helped me to see that the social types we imagine when we think of the word ‘diversity’ are ultimately fantastical constructions. Prescribed identities may help us to feel a sense of belonging, but they also distort what makes us radically unique.

• Includes an original definition of diversity, which the writer compellingly contrasts with clichéd definitions
• Good narrative dynamism, stressing how the writer has experienced growth over time

Diversity Essay Examples Continued – Example One

The main challenge for an actor is to dig beneath the “type” of character to find the real human being underneath. Rising to this challenge entails discarding with lazy stereotypes and scaling what can seem to be insurmountable differences. Bringing human drama to life, making it believable, requires us to realize a more fundamental meaning of diversity. It means locating each character at their own unique intersection of identity. My story, like all the stories I aspire to tell as an actor, can inspire others to search for and celebrate their specificity. 

• Focuses in on the kernel of wisdom acquired over the course of the narrative
• Indirectly suggests what the applicant can contribute to the admitted class

Acting has ultimately underlined an important takeaway of my dual heritage: all identities are, in a sense, performed. This doesn’t mean that heritage is not important, or that identities are not significant rallying points for community. Instead, it means recognizing that identity isn’t a prison, but a stage.

• Draws the reader back to where the essay began, locating them at the intersection of two aspects of writer’s background
• Sharply and deftly weaves a course between saying identities are fictions and saying that identities matter (rather than potentially alienating reader by picking one over the other)

Diversity Essay Examples Continued – Example Two

The second example addresses a prompt about what the applicant can contribute to a diverse campus. It is written from the perspective of Jason Taylor, David Mitchell’s protagonist in Black Swan Green .

Growing up with a stutter, each word was a hesitant step, every sentence a delicate balance between perseverance and frustration. I came to think of the written word as a sanctuary away from the staccato rhythm of my speech. In crafting melodically flowing poems, I discovered a language unfettered by the constraints of my impediment. However, diving deeper into poetry eventually made me realize how my stammer had a humanistic rhythm all its own.

• Situates us at the intersection of two themes – a speech impediment and poetry – and uses the thesis to gesture to their synthesis
• Nicely matches form and content. The writer uses this opportunity to demonstrate their facility with literary language.

Immersing myself in the genius of Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, and Maya Angelou, I learned to embrace the beauty of diversity in language, rhythm, and life itself. Angelou wrote that “Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” For me, this quote illuminates how diversity is not simply a static expression of discrete differences. Instead, diversity teaches us the beauty of a multitude of rhythms we can learn from and incorporate in a mutual dance. If “everything in the universe has a rhythm,” then it’s also possible that anything can be poetry. Even my stuttering speech can dance.

• Provides a unique definition of diversity
• Conveys growth over time
• Connects kernel of wisdom back to the essay’s narrative starting point

As I embark on this new chapter of my life, I bring with me the lessons learned from the interplay of rhythm and verse. I bring a perspective rooted in empathy, an unwavering commitment to inclusivity, and a belief in language as the ultimate tool of transformative social connection. I am prepared to enter your university community, adding a unique voice that refuses to be silent. 

• Directly addresses how background and experiences will contribute to campus life
• Conveys contributions in an analytic mode (second sentence) and more literary and personal mode (third sentence)

Additional Resources 

Diversity essays can seem intimidating because of the political baggage we bring to the word ‘diversity.’ But applicants should feel liberated by the opportunity to describe what makes them unique. It doesn’t matter if applicants choose to write about aspects of identity, life experiences, or personal challenges. What matters is telling a compelling story of personal growth. Also significant is relating that story to an original theory of the function and value of diversity in society. At the end of the day, committees want to know their applicants deeper and get a holistic sense of how they will improve the educational lives of those around them.

Additional Reading and Resources

• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples 
• How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
• Common App Essay Prompts
• Why This College Essay – Tips for Success
• How to Write a Body Paragraph for a College Essay
• UC Essay Examples 
• College Essay

Tyler Talbott

Tyler holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Missouri and two Master of Arts degrees in English, one from the University of Maryland and another from Northwestern University. Currently, he is a PhD candidate in English at Northwestern University, where he also works as a graduate writing fellow.

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Diversity Statements

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a diversity statement in preparation for an academic job. Although it is geared toward academic jobs, much of the advice throughout this handout can be used to construct diversity statements for other fields. Overall, this handout offers insights into the form and construction of an effective diversity statement.

What is a diversity statement?

The diversity statement is a relatively new addition to the job application portfolio. It tends to be a one- to two-page document that explains your experiences with and commitments to diverse populations of students. A university that seeks this statement from applicants is typically concerned with ensuring that faculty hires are familiar with its diverse student populations and willing to support students in line with the university’s mission statement. A successful diversity statement talks about your background and how you will create a diverse and inclusive learning environment for all students.

What is diversity?

There is no universal definition that all institutions use for diversity. This lack of definition can be frustrating. You may find yourself at a loss for how to talk about a concept that is not defined. However, there are still clues, usually provided by the institution. You can ask:

• Does the university have a diversity statement on its website?
• Does the university have a diversity and inclusion office? If so, what is its mission statement?
• How has the university’s alumni magazine discussed the current student population?
• Does the office of institutional research publish public reports about diverse populations?

However, not having a definition can be freeing. It allows you to really consider your commitments to students and examine what diversity could mean. For example, if you are considering a college or university set in the mountains, it may mean a student population that identifies as Appalachian. Conversely, schools in North Carolina might be concerned with the enrollment and matriculation of Indigenous students. In other words, how diversity is interpreted depends largely on the institution, its location, and its current student population. Ask yourself:

• Have you worked with first-generation students? International students? Students from underrepresented minority groups?
• Have you worked with students from rural or urban environments?
• Are you familiar with students from the South, Northeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest?
• Have you worked with students who identify as neuroatypical?
• Have you worked with students who identify as LGBTQIA+?
• Are you familiar with students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds?
• Have you worked with non-traditional students?

This list of questions is not meant to be comprehensive but to help you think about how you consider diversity as a future instructor at a university. If you happen to have little to no experience working with diverse populations of students, do not fear. There are strategies, which will be addressed below.

Before you start writing

Bear in mind that writing this statement will require you to be flexible in both how you define diversity, as we discussed above, and how you have encountered diversity throughout your career. Below are some strategies for demystifying the expectations for diversity statements.

Consult models

Because the diversity statement is a new addition to the application portfolio, you may find that your usual mentors are unable to give you more direct guidance in its composition. However, it does not mean that you do not have options. You might:

• Reach out to colleagues and friends in the early stages of their career and ask them about their experiences writing diversity statements.
• Ask your university’s career services if they have any examples.
• Try to find examples from successful job candidates.
• Ask people who have recently served on hiring committees.

All of these suggestions can help demystify the process of writing a diversity statement. You also might want to reflect on how diversity is discussed on your current or most recent campus, and compare it to how diversity is discussed at the potential new campus.

In order to tailor a diversity statement to a specific institution, you need to think about the concerns of your audience and how your approach to diversity fits into the broader mission of the university and the department. In essence, this essay allows you to communicate how you will potentially serve the students at your new university in a way that is slightly different than your teaching statement and job application letter. Below are some questions you might consider:

• How has the university approached diversity recently?
• Does the university have a diversity and inclusion office?
• How has the university defined diversity in the past? How are they defining it now?
• What populations does the university serve?
• Are there any populations on the rise or in decline in the university or university system?
• Is the university in the midst of any diversity initiatives? If so, what are they?
• Whom does the department serve?
• Do certain student populations take more courses in the department than others?
• Is the department involved with any diversity initiatives?

These questions can help you consider the institution’s commitments and make clear the populations of students with whom you will be interacting. Moreover, they can help you understand your audience and anticipate what information might be most pertinent or interesting to them. After all, part of the goal in writing this statement is presenting yourself as capable and competent in teaching and interacting with the students whom the university serves.

Writing a draft

Because diversity statements continue to evolve, there is no set form. The lack of a standard form allows for creative freedom—hopefully a positive. As such, this section will provide a variety of considerations and strategies to compose a diversity statement.

Organization

You have many options for crafting your statement to emphasize the aspects of diversity most important to you. Below are a few examples of different organizational strategies:

Think of your statement as a narrative (past, present, future). This strategy allows you to build upon past experiences to point towards future development. You might consider these questions:

• How have your previous experiences informed your understanding of diversity?
• How do you currently approach diversity and inclusion in and outside the classroom?
• How do you think your current practices will translate to a new environment?
• If you have had little interaction with students from diverse backgrounds, how have you learned about diverse student populations? How might you make your classroom inclusive?
• How might you apply the knowledge you have learned in the future?

This approach can help you think about how your approach to diversity has changed over time and demonstrate your ability to adapt to new environments.

Structure your statement around your commitments to diversity. This strategy asks you to prioritize your commitments and expand upon them based on your past and current experiences, as well as your future goals. You might consider these questions:

• How have you made your classroom accessible and inclusive?
• How have you invested in diversity or inclusion in the past?
• Have you worked with specific groups of students or student organizations?
• Have you integrated your commitments into your research? If so, how?
• Have you integrated your commitments into your teaching? If so, how?
• How does your research inform your teaching?
• How have you or will you make the classroom inviting to a variety of students?

This approach ultimately helps you think about how diversity is an integral part of who you are as a researcher and instructor. It can help demonstrate how you connect your work inside and outside the classroom.

Narrow your focus to teaching. This strategy focuses on practical application of diversity in the classroom. It asks you to think about how you may have shifted your teaching to serve different groups of students. You might consider these questions:

• How do you foster diverse student perspectives?
• How have you integrated diverse perspectives in your teaching?
• How have you approached controversial topics, such as religion or politics, in the classroom? How did you include all students in these types of discussions?
• How does your course material reflect contributions from diverse perspectives?
• How have you modified class discussions and course materials to include all your students?
• How have you in the past and how will you in the future continue to encourage students to think about the effects of racial, cultural, gender, socioeconomic, and other differences?

This approach can characterize what is distinctive about your teaching and how it serves students, as well as how it expands their view of diversity.

Make it autobiographical. This strategy focuses on you as an individual, and it should explain how diversity has impacted your career. In this essay, some applicants might choose to self-identify. Others may instead choose to focus on their pedagogical experience with diverse populations over their career.

Talk about your own experiences as a member of an underrepresented group.

• Discuss how you have grown to understand diversity over your education and instructional experiences.
• Discuss how you have been impacted by diversity throughout your academic career, directly or indirectly.

Possible pitfalls

Not being specific. Make sure that when you talk about a certain strategy or a certain group of students that you provide a concrete example. The diversity statement is not simply a list of all the work you have done working with diverse student populations or a restatement of your CV, but it should highlight the most important aspects of how you have approached diversity in the past and include a reflection on those actions. To avoid falling into this trap of listing, you need to think about your specific experiences as evidence. This list is not exhaustive, but it will help you consider the type of examples that a reader might expect in a diversity statement:

• Specific topics you covered in class and student reactions.
• Specific assignments and students’ reactions.
• Specific strategies you have used to include all students in the classroom.
• Specific anecdotes and comments from students.
• Examples from course evaluations.
• Specific events or initiatives you participated in and their success.

Not telling the truth. Above all, be honest! If you have not had experiences with diverse groups of students or you are not a member of an underrepresented group, then you can talk about how you would approach working with students from diverse groups and backgrounds. You can mention that you have researched or studied pedagogy working with diverse groups of students. You can offer examples of techniques or classroom strategies that you would use or think would be helpful for the institution that you are applying for.

Forgetting to revise. Remember your first draft is not your last draft. For some, the revision process is the most difficult part of writing. However, sometimes the best way to tackle indecision about a draft is to receive feedback from a variety of different readers. Outside readers can help you see any shortcomings, point out places where you might need more information, and affirm that you have done a complete job. You can ask: your advisor, your mentor/s, colleagues, and other early-career scholars. For more information about the revision process, see our Editing and Proofreading handout or Proofreading video for some strategies.

Ignoring your audience. Make sure that you address the needs of the department and university. Neglecting to consider the short term and long term goals of the university or the needs of the student population at the institution makes you appear at best unprepared or ill-informed and at worst obtuse.

Not doing yourself justice. The statement should not be an exhaustive list of all the times you worked with diverse populations, a treatise on the ideal classroom, or the appropriation of a student’s or a student group’s experiences as your own. Nor should your statement fail to offer some personal reflections on your experiences in teaching or possibly outside of the classroom. The statement should share your thoughts and recognize the rewards, challenges, and difficulties of making course material and research relevant to diverse student and faculty populations.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Bryce, Leah. n.d. “Making Sense of the Diversity Statement.” Chronicle Vitae . Accessed April 4, 2014. https://chroniclevitae.com/groups/diversity-in-hiring/making-sense-of-the-diversity-statement .

Flaherty, Colleen. 2018. “Breaking Down Diversity Statement.” Inside Higher Ed , November 19, 2018. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/19/new-paper-explores-what-faculty-candidates-include-their-diversity-equity-and .

Golash-Boza, Tanya. 2016. “The Effective Diversity Statement.” Inside Higher Ed , June 10, 2016. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/10/how-write-effective-diversity-statement-essay .

Kelsky, Karen. 2015. “What Is a Diversity Statement, Anyway?” In The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job , 185–90. New York: Three Rivers Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to write a Diversity Statement & Samples

What is a diversity statement in higher education.

• When do you need a diversity statement?

How to write a good Diversity Statement?

Diversity statement writing tips, how long should a diversity statement be, how to write a diversity statement if you are white, adapting your diversity statement to job application.

There are two types of diversity statements that are regularly used, and they are very different in terms of who is writing it, and how it is being used.

The first type of diversity statement is in relation to different types of applications in the higher education context; while the second type of Diversity Statement is in relation to the type of “diversity position” an organization position herself in the context of equity, diversity, and inclusion .

In this article, we are focusing on the first type of diversity statement which is related to the higher education sector .

Creating a diverse environment is not a top-down process, it is an environment that is co-created by the people who participate in it. In an academic environment, the people are the students, faculties, staff, senior administrators, and also the principal. In order to hire or add new members to the community, the institution typically prefers to hire or recruit new members who appreciate diversity and inclusion. A diversity statement is a form of an artifact that allows the new member to express their view on diversity.

The most common situation that you need to write a diversity statement includes:

Undergraduate and Graduate admissions Diversity Statement

Top tier schools have more student applicants than they need, so they get to be picky and select only the ones that fit their target student profile. Diversity and Inclusion views of the student have become an important factor to gauge the quality of students, such as in Law school.

Fellowship, Grants, and Awards Diversity Statement

When a graduate student wants to apply for a fellowship, it is common that a diversity statement is required as part of the application package. A fellowship provides financial support to graduate students to pursue graduate studies without associated teaching or research responsibilities (as they are in a teaching or research assistantship). Fellowships are generally merit-based  internal or external awards to support a student in a full-time course of study. 

Similarly, a diversity statement is often required for a grant application. Grants are need-based awards that do not need to be repaid as long as the student maintains eligibility. For certain funds, disbursement is dependent on enrollment status. Grants tend to be need-based and are available to students based on criteria such as family income. Federal and state government are the primary sources of grants, The Pell Grant is a well-known federal grant program. State-funded grants ordinarily go to students pursuing an education in that state.

Postdoctoral and Faculty Position Job Application Diversity Statement

Faculty job postings are increasingly asking for diversity statements, in addition to research and teaching statements. Diversity statements have become an integral part of the materials submitted as part of an application for employment. They are just as important as the resume, cover letter and writing sample. A diversity statement is a personal essay that is a depiction of your past experiences and explains how these experiences have contributed to your personal and professional growth. It allows the applicant the opportunity to explain to a search committee the distinct qualities and commitment s/he can bring to the table.

Promotion to Tenure position with a diversity statement

It has become more popular to list a diversity statement as a requirement for tenure promotion in higher education.  A  tenured  post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances , such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Tenure is a means of defending the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for the society in the long run if scholars are free to hold and examine a variety of views . A tenure assignment is an important process because it can seldom be reversed once assigned, knowing the point of view of a tenure candidate is becoming an important factor in tenure assignments.

You can write a diversity statement using a systematic approach.

• Research on the requirement
• Know your values
• Describe your experience
• Detail your future plan
• Draft, Revise, Revise, and Revise

Define your views on Diversity and Inclusion

When you write your diversity statement, you are to write what you believe. You shouldn’t write something that you don’t believe and otherwise, you are making a false statement or making a false representation of yourself. There are some questions that can help you to start.

• What do equity, diversity, and inclusion mean to you ?
• What quality of your personal experience inform your academia experience y?
• Why do you think diversity and inclusion are important and the benefits of diversity ?
• Why is diversity important to you or the classes you teach?
• in your new role of student, faculty, professor, how do you think you can help with diversity and inclusion
• Describe your values regarding diversity, inclusion, and equity in your professional life ?
• Why do you think DEI is important in Higher ed? How about in your domain?
• How do you work to ensure your classes are inclusive and welcoming to all students?
• Do you belong to any types of diversity ?
• Do you do any service or work with diverse or underrepresented populations? If so, what?
• Did you have any challenges with your gender identities ?
• Does your research connect to diversity efforts or our understanding of diverse populations? If so, how?
• Are you personally diverse in any way that might be relevant to your work? For example, were you a first-generation student, or were you a woman in STEM who aims to expands opportunities for these populations?
• What would you like to do in future departments related to diversity and equity?

After you have a good idea of how you define diversity and what diversity means to you, you can start by writing them down.

Another way to learn more about diversity is to learn what are the trending news in diversity in the workplace . You can learn the latest development of diversity and inclusion in different sectors or in the corporate world.

Describe your Diversity experience

After you draft out your beliefs and your point of views, now is your time to describe your personal experience about diversity. You can write about initiatives or actions that you have taken to promote diversity and inclusion. If you are part of a diverse group, talk about your experience and how it has impacted you.

If you have participated in any social or professional groups that promote diversity and inclusion, write about why you have decided to join such a group and the impact it has on you, and on the community.

Describe your future plan around Diversity and Inclusion

Write, review, and revise your diversity statement.

Draft, review, revise, having someone to proofread for you. I think you know what I mean.

Here are some tips on writing a diversity statement in academic or job application purposes.

Use Concrete Examples in Diversity Statements

Use actual, real examples in your life. Whether it is a mistake you realize you have made before, or you are a victim of discriminations. Tell your story with examples that the reader may be able to relate to.

Tell your own Story

Be sure you are telling your story, not generically as a group or just things you think the readers want to hear. Speak as yourself and tell your own story why you believe diversity and inclusion are important in your expected role, and how it can impact the institution or future team if diversity. If you don’t have tons of experience, then say it that you look forward to the opportunities to learn more. You don’t need to know everything, but it is an opportunity to be open-minded.

Don’t limit to your future role, think about Outreach

When you talk about your future plan to promote diversity, think about outreach, rather than reactive plans only. An example could be (if time permits), you want to join and participate in future diversity and inclusion initiatives in the new workplace. Or, how on your own, promote awareness of diversity.

Do Not Contradict yourself

Well, yes and do not contradict yourself. It is important to be admitted or get a new job, but be sure that you are telling the truth and it is really what you believe in, or what you have experienced personally.

Have a strong commitment with your diversity statement

First, check if there is a requirement of length to the diversity statement. Some applications require more serious thoughts and answers, and they need 2-3 pages to know you.

In general, I would recommend anything between 100-150 words would be enough to share your belief, experience, and future plan about diversity. It is an important topic, but a lot can be said within 150 words or 3 paragraphs.

A white person can experience diversity or even discrimination as well. Diversity doesn’t limit to a racial diversity only, it could be gender, age, and disability. You can think of the perspectives that you have experienced diversity discrimination or any other experience that you have witnessed diversity discrimination.

It is more important to show your awareness of the needs and impact of having a diverse environment and your beliefs or values on how to improve the situation.

In addition, a white person can be a champion or a leader in diversity and inclusion as well. In many cases, there are advantages in doing so.

It is not yet a popular ask for diversity statements in a job application , however, it is never a bad thing to summarize and put it on your application or resume to reflect who you are. Companies value team working and they embrace diversity in culture, work habits, age, skills, and gender. Knowing that you are ready and have experience with a diverse working environment is going to be a plus for your job application. Why not right?

What is a Diversity Statement?

The first type of diversity statement is in relation to different types of applications in the higher education context; while the second type of Diversity Statement is in relation to the type of “diversity position ” an organization position herself in the context of equity, diversity, and inclusion. more on How to write a diversity statement?

How to Write a Diversity Statement if You Are White?

A white person can experience diversity or even discrimination as well. Diversity doesn’t limit to a racial diversity only, it could be gender, age, and disability. More on this at Writing a Diversity Statement

There is not hard answer to the question. First, you should follow the requirement guidelines. Some institution may need 250 words, while some may need a 5 page essay.

More importantly, is the content. You should try the best to communicate the what, how, and your ideas to make diversity and inclusion a part of your focus in future work. Read more at How to write a great diversity statement ?

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6 Diversity College Essay Examples

What’s covered:, how to write the diversity essay after the end of affirmative action, essay #1: jewish identity, essay #2: being bangladeshi-american, essay #3: marvel vs dc, essay #4: leadership as a first-gen american, essay #5: protecting the earth, essay #6: music and accents, where to get your diversity essays edited, what is the diversity essay.

While working on your college applications, you may come across essays that focus on diversity , culture, or values. The purpose of these essays is to highlight any diverse views or opinions that you may bring to campus. Colleges want a diverse student body that’s made up of different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and interests. These essay prompts are a way for them to see what students can bring to their school.

In this post, we will share six essays written by real students that cover the topic of culture and diversity. We’ll also include what each essay did well and where there is room for improvement. Hopefully, this will be a useful resource to inspire your own diversity essay.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. That said, you should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and they will not have a favorable view of students who have plagiarized.

In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of race in college admissions was unconstitutional. In other words, they struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions . This will affect college-bound students of color in a number of ways, including lowering their chances of acceptance and reducing the amount of direct outreach they’ll receive from colleges. Another change to consider is the ways in which students should tackle their diversity essays.

Although colleges can no longer directly factor race into admissions, students aren’t prohibited from discussing their racial backgrounds in supplemental application essays. If your racial background is important to you, seriously consider writing about it in your diversity essays. If you don’t, admissions officers are extremely limited in their ability to consider your race when making an admission decision.

As in the essays listed below, discussing your race is an excellent tool for showing admissions officers the person behind the grades and test scores. Beyond that, it provides admissions officers with an opportunity to put themselves in your shoes—showing them how your background has presented challenges to overcome, helped build important life skills, and taught you valuable lessons.

Diversity Essay Examples

I was thirsty. In my wallet was a lone $10 bill, ultimately useless at my school’s vending machine. Tasked with scrounging together the $1 cost of a water bottle, I fished out and arranged the spare change that normally hid in the bottom of my backpack in neat piles of nickels and dimes on my desk. I swept them into a spare Ziploc and began to leave when a classmate snatched the bag and held it above my head.

“Want your money back, Jew?” she chanted, waving the coins around. I had forgotten the Star-of-David around my neck, but quickly realized she must have seen it and connected it to the stacks of coins. I am no stranger to experiencing and confronting antisemitism, but I had never been targeted in my school before. I grabbed my bag and sternly told her to leave. Although she sauntered away, the impact remained.

This incident serves as an example of the adversity I have and will continue to face from those who only see me as a stereotype. Ironically, however, these experiences of discrimination have only increased my pride as a member of the Jewish Community. Continuing to wear the Star-of-David connects me to my history and my family. I find meaning and direction in my community’s values, such as pride, education, and giving—and I am eager to transfer these values to my new community: the Duke community.

What the Essay Did Well

Writing about discrimination can be difficult, but if you are comfortable doing it, it can make for a powerful story. Although this essay is short and focused on one small interaction, it represents a much larger struggle for this student, and for that reason it makes the essay very impactful.

The author takes her time at the beginning of the essay to build the scene for the audience, which allows us to feel like we are there with her, making the hateful comments even more jarring later on. If she had just told us her classmate teased her with harmful stereotypes, we wouldn’t feel the same sense of anger as we do knowing that she was just trying to get a drink and ended up being harassed.

This essay does another important thing—it includes self-reflection on the experience and on the student’s identity. Without elaborating on the emotional impact of a situation, an essay about discrimination would make admission officers feel bad for the student, but they wouldn’t be compelled to admit the student. By describing how experiences like these drive her and make her more determined to embody positive values, this student reveals her character to the readers.

What Could Be Improved

While including emotional reflection in the latter half of the essay is important, the actual sentences could be tightened up a bit to leave a stronger impression. The student does a nice job of showing us her experience with antisemitism, but she just tells us about the impact it has on her. If she instead showed us what the impact looked like, the essay would be even better.

For example, rather than telling us “Continuing to wear the Star-of-David connects me to my history and my family,” she could have shown that connection: “My Star-of-David necklace thumps against my heart with every step I take, reminding me of my great-grandparents who had to hide their stars, my grandma’s spindly fingers lighting the menorah each Hanukkah, and my uncle’s homemade challah bread.” This new sentence reveals so much more than the existing sentence about the student and the deep connection she feels with her family and religion.

Life before was good: verdant forests, sumptuous curries, and a devoted family.

Then, my family abandoned our comfortable life in Bangladesh for a chance at the American dream in Los Angeles. Within our first year, my father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He lost his battle three weeks before my sixth birthday. Facing a new country without the steady presence of my father, we were vulnerable—prisoners of hardship in the land of the free.

We resettled in the Bronx, in my uncle’s renovated basement. It was meant to be our refuge, but I felt more displaced than ever. Gone were the high-rise condos of West L.A.; instead, government projects towered over the neighborhood. Pedestrians no longer smiled and greeted me; the atmosphere was hostile, even toxic. Schoolkids were quick to pick on those they saw as weak or foreign, hurling harsh words I’d never heard before.

Meanwhile, my family began integrating into the local Bangladeshi community. I struggled to understand those who shared my heritage. Bangladeshi mothers stayed home while fathers drove cabs and sold fruit by the roadside—painful societal positions. Riding on crosstown buses or walking home from school, I began to internalize these disparities.

During my fleeting encounters with affluent Upper East Siders, I saw kids my age with nannies, parents who wore suits to work, and luxurious apartments with spectacular views. Most took cabs to their destinations: cabs that Bangladeshis drove. I watched the mundane moments of their lives with longing, aching to plant myself in their shoes. Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day.

As I grappled with my relationship with the Bangladeshi community, I turned my attention to helping my Bronx community by pursuing an internship with Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda. I handled desk work and took calls, spending the bulk of my time actively listening to the hardships constituents faced—everything from a veteran stripped of his benefits to a grandmother unable to support her bedridden grandchild.

I’d never exposed myself to stories like these, and now I was the first to hear them. As an intern, I could only assist in what felt like the small ways—pointing out local job offerings, printing information on free ESL classes, reaching out to non-profits. But to a community facing an onslaught of intense struggles, I realized that something as small as these actions could have vast impacts.

Seeing the immediate consequences of my actions inspired me. Throughout that summer, I internalized my community’s daily challenges in a new light. I began to see the prevalent underemployment and cramped living quarters less as sources of shame. Instead, I saw them as realities that had to be acknowledged, but that could ultimately be remedied.

I also realized the benefits of the Bangladeshi culture I had been so ashamed of. My Bangla language skills were an asset to the office, and my understanding of Bangladeshi etiquette allowed for smooth communication between office staff and the office’s constituents. As I helped my neighbors navigate city services, I saw my heritage with pride—a perspective I never expected to have.

I can now appreciate the value of my unique culture and background, and the value of living with less. This perspective offers room for progress, community integration, and a future worth fighting for. My time with Assemblyman Sepulveda’s office taught me that I can be an agent of change who can enable this progression. Far from being ashamed of my community, I want to someday return to local politics in the Bronx to continue helping others access the American Dream. I hope to help my community appreciate the opportunity to make progress together. By embracing reality, I learned to live it. Along the way, I discovered one thing: life is good, but we can make it better.

This student’s passion for social justice and civic duty shines through in this essay because of how honest it is. Sharing their personal experience with immigrating, moving around, being an outsider, and finding a community allows us to see the hardships this student has faced and builds empathy towards their situation.

However, what really makes it strong is that the student goes beyond describing the difficulties they faced and explains the mental impact it had on them as a child: “Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day.” The rejection of their culture presented at the beginning of the essay creates a nice juxtaposition with the student’s view in the latter half of the essay, and helps demonstrate how they have matured.

They then use their experience interning as a way to delve into a change in their thought process about their culture. This experience also serves as a way to show how their passion for social justice began. Using this experience as a mechanism to explore their thoughts and feelings is an excellent example of how items that are included elsewhere on your application should be incorporated into your essay.

This essay prioritizes emotions and personal views over specific anecdotes. Although there are details and certain moments incorporated throughout to emphasize the author’s points, the main focus remains on the student and how they grapple with their culture and identity.

One area for improvement is the conclusion. Although the forward-looking approach is a nice way to end an essay focused on social justice, it would be nice to include more details and imagery in the conclusion. How does the student want to help their community? What government position do they see themselves holding one day?

A more impactful ending might describe the student walking into their office at the New York City Housing Authority in 15 years. This future student might be looking at the plans to build a new development in the Bronx just blocks away from where they grew up that would provide quality housing to people in their Bangladeshi community. They would smile while thinking about how far they have come from that young kid who used to be ashamed of their culture.

Superhero cinema is an oligopoly consisting of two prominent, towering brands: Marvel and DC. I’m a religious supporter of Marvel, but last year, I discovered that my friend, Tom, was a DC fan. After a vociferous 20-minute quarrel about which was better, we decided to allocate one day to have a professional debate, using carefully assembled and coherent arguments.

One week later, we both brought pages of notes and evidence cards (I also had my Iron-Man bobblehead for moral support). Our impartial moderator—a Disney fan—sat in the middle with a stopwatch, open-policy style. I began the debate by discussing how Marvel accentuated the humanity of the storyline—such as in Tony Stark’s transformation from an egotistical billionaire to a compassionate father—which drew in a broader audience, because more people resonated with certain aspects of the characters. Tom rebutted this by capitalizing on how Deadpool was a duplicate of Deathstroke, how Vision copied Red Tornado, and how DC sold more comics than Marvel.

40 minutes later, we reached an impasse. We were out of cards, and we both made excellent points, so our moderator was unable to declare a winner. Difficult conversations aren’t necessarily always the ones that make political headlines. Instead, a difficult discussion involves any topic with which people share an emotional connection.

Over the years, I became so emotionally invested in Marvel that my mind erected an impenetrable shield, blocking out all other possibilities. Even today, we haven’t decided which franchise was better, but I realized that I was undermining DC for no reason other than my own ignorance.

The inevitability of diversity suggests that it is our responsibility to understand the other person and what they believe in. We may not always experience a change in opinion, but we can grant ourselves the opportunity to expand our global perspective. I strive to continue this adventure to increase my awareness as a superhero aficionado, activist, and student, by engaging in conversations that require me to think beyond what I believe and to view the world from others’ perspectives.

And yes, Tom is still my friend.

Diversity doesn’t always have to be about culture or heritage; diversity exists all around us, even in our comic book preferences. The cleverness of this essay lies in the way the student flipped the traditional diversity prompt on its head and instead discussed his diverse perspective on a topic he is passionate about. If you don’t have a cultural connection you are compelled to write about, this is a nifty approach to a diversity prompt—if it’s handled appropriately.

While this student has a non-traditional topic, he still presents it in a way that pays respect to the key aspects of a diversity essay: depicting his perspective and recognizing the importance of diverse views. Just as someone who is writing about a culture that is possibly unfamiliar to the reader, the student describes what makes Marvel and DC unique and important to him and his friend, respectively. He also expands on how a lack of diversity in superhero consumption led to his feeling of ignorance, and how it now makes him appreciate the need for diversity in all aspects of his life.

This student is unapologetically himself in this essay, which is ultimately why this unorthodox topic is able to work. He committed to his passion for Marvel by sharing analytical takes on characters and demonstrating how the franchise was so important to his identity that it momentarily threatened a friendship. The inclusion of humor through his personal voice—e.g., referring to the argument as a professional debate and telling us that the friendship lived on—contributes to the essay feeling deeply personal.

Choosing an unconventional topic for a diversity essay requires extra care and attention to ensure that you are still addressing the core of the prompt. That being said, if you accomplish it successfully, it makes for an incredibly memorable essay that could easily set you apart!

While this is a great essay as is, the idea of diversity could have been addressed a little bit earlier in the piece to make it absolutely clear the student is writing about his diverse perspective. He positions Marvel and DC as two behemoths in the superhero movie industry, but in the event that his reader is unfamiliar with these two brands, there is little context about the cultural impact each has on its fans.

To this student, Marvel is more than just a movie franchise; it’s a crucial part of his identity, just as someone’s race or religion might be. In order for the reader to fully understand the weight of his perspective, there should be further elaboration—towards the beginning—on how important Marvel is to this student.

Leadership was thrust upon me at a young age. When I was six years old, my abusive father abandoned my family, leaving me to step up as the “man” of the house. From having to watch over my little sister to cooking dinner three nights a week, I never lived an ideal suburban life. I didn’t enjoy the luxuries of joining after-school activities, getting driven to school or friends’ houses, or taking weekend trips to the movies or bowling alley. Instead, I spent my childhood navigating legal hurdles, shouldering family responsibilities, and begrudgingly attending court-mandated therapy sessions.

At the same time, I tried to get decent grades and maintain my Colombian roots and Spanish fluency enough to at least partially communicate with my grandparents, both of whom speak little English. Although my childhood had its bright and joyful moments, much of it was weighty and would have been exhausting for any child to bear. In short, I grew up fast. However, the responsibilities I took on at home prepared me to be a leader and to work diligently, setting me up to use these skills later in life.

I didn’t have much time to explore my interests until high school, where I developed my knack for government and for serving others. Being cast in a lead role in my school’s fall production as a freshman was the first thing to give me the confidence I needed to pursue other activities: namely, student government. Shortly after being cast, I was elected Freshman Vice-President, a role that put me in charge of promoting events, delegating daily office tasks, collaborating with the administration on new school initiatives, and planning trips and fundraisers.

While my new position demanded a significant amount of responsibility, my childhood of helping my mom manage our household prepared me to be successful in the role. When I saw the happy faces of my classmates after a big event, I felt proud to know that I had made even a small difference to them. Seeing projects through to a successful outcome was thrilling. I enjoyed my time and responsibilities so much that I served all four years of high school, going on to become Executive Vice-President.

As I found success in high school, my mother and grandparents began speaking more about the life they faced prior to emigrating from Colombia. To better connect with them, I took a series of Spanish language classes to regain my fluency. After a practice run through my presentation on Bendíceme, Ultima ( Bless me, Ultima ) by Rudolofo Anaya, with my grandmother, she squeezed my hand and told me the story of how my family was forced from their home in order to live free of religious persecution. Though my grandparents have often expressed how much better their lives and their children’s lives have been in America, I have often struggled with my identity. I felt that much of it was erased with my loss of our native language.

In elementary school, I learned English best because in class I was surrounded by it. Spanish was more difficult to grasp without a formal education, and my family urged me to become fluent in English so I could be of better help to them in places as disparate as government agencies and grocery stores. When I was old enough to recognize the large part of my identity still rooted in being Colombian, it was challenging to connect these two sides of who I was.

Over time I have been able to reconcile the two in the context of my aspirations. I found purpose and fulfillment through student council, and I knew that I could help other families like my own if I worked in local government. By working through city offices that address housing, education, and support for survivors of childhood abuse, I could give others the same liberties and opportunities my family has enjoyed in this country. Doing so would also help me honor my roots as a first-generation American.

I have been a leader my entire life. Both at Harvard and after graduation, I want to continue that trend. I hope to volunteer with organizations that share my goals. I want to advise policy-making politicians on ways to make children and new immigrants safer and more secure. When my family was at their worst, my community gave back. I hope to give that gift to future generations. A career in local, city-based public service is not a rashly made decision; it is a reflection of where I’ve already been in life, and where I want to be in the future.

Although this essay begins on a somber note, it goes on to show this student’s determination and the joy he found. Importantly, it also ends with a positive, forward-looking perspective. This is a great example of how including your hardship can bolster an essay as long as it is not the essay’s main focus.

Explaining the challenges this student faced from a young age—becoming the man of the house, dealing with legal matters, maintaining good grades, etc.—builds sympathy for his situation. However, the first paragraph is even more impactful because he explains the emotional toll these actions had on him. We understand how he lost the innocence of his childhood and how he struggled to remain connected to his Colombian heritage with all his other responsibilities. Including these details truly allows the reader to see this student’s struggle, making us all the more joyful when he comes out stronger in the end.

Pivoting to discuss positive experiences with student government and Spanish classes for the rest of the essay demonstrates that this student has a positive approach to life and is willing to push through challenges. The tone of the essay shifts from heavy to uplifting. He explains the joy he got out of helping his classmates and connecting with his grandparents, once again providing emotional reflection to make the reader care more.

Overall, this essay does a nice job of demonstrating how this student approaches challenges and negative experiences. Admitting that the responsibilities of his childhood had a silver lining shows his maturity and how he will be able to succeed in government one day. The essay strikes a healthy balance between challenge and hope, leaving us with a positive view of a student with such emotional maturity.

Although the content of this essay is very strong, it struggles with redundancy and disorganized information. He mentions his passion for government at the beginning of the student government paragraph, then again addresses government in the paragraph focused on his Colombian heritage, and concludes by talking about how he wants to get into government once more. Similarly, in the first paragraph, he discusses the struggle of maintaining his Colombian identity and then fully delves into that topic in the third paragraph.

The repetition of ideas and lack of a streamlined organization of this student’s thoughts diminishes some of the emotional impact of the story. The reader is left trying to piece together a swirling mass of information on their own, rather than having a focused, sequential order to follow.

This could be fixed if the student rearranged details to make each paragraph focused on a singular idea. For example, the first paragraph could be about his childhood. The second could be about how student government sparked his interest in government and what he hopes to do one day. The third could be about how he reconnected with his Colombian roots through his Spanish classes, after years of struggling with his identity. And the final paragraph could tie everything together by explaining how everything led to him wanting to pursue a future serving others, particularly immigrants like his family.

Alternatively, the essay could follow a sequential order that would start with his childhood, then explain his struggle with his identity, then show how student government and Spanish classes helped him find himself, and finally, conclude with what he hopes to accomplish by pursuing government.

I never understood the power of community until I left home to join seven strangers in the Ecuadorian rainforest. Although we flew in from distant corners of the U.S., we shared a common purpose: immersing ourselves in our passion for protecting the natural world.

Back home in my predominantly conservative suburb, my neighbors had brushed off environmental concerns. My classmates debated the feasibility of Trump’s wall, not the deteriorating state of our planet. Contrastingly, these seven strangers delighted in bird-watching, brightened at the mention of medicinal tree sap, and understood why I once ran across a four-lane highway to retrieve discarded beer cans.

Their histories barely resembled mine, yet our values aligned intimately. We did not hesitate to joke about bullet ants, gush about the versatility of tree bark, or discuss the destructive consequences of materialism. Together, we let our inner tree-huggers run free.

In the short life of our little community, we did what we thought was impossible. By feeding on each other’s infectious tenacity, we cultivated an atmosphere that deepened our commitment to our values and empowered us to speak out on behalf of the environment. After a week of stimulating conversations and introspective revelations about engaging people from our hometowns in environmental advocacy, we developed a shared determination to devote our lives to this cause.

As we shared a goodbye hug, my new friend whispered, “The world needs saving. Someone’s gotta do it.” For the first time, I believed that that someone could be me.

This student is expressing their diversity through their involvement in a particular community—another nice approach if you don’t want to write about culture or ethnicity. We all have unique things that we geek out over. This student expresses the joy that they derived from finding a community where they could express their love for the environment. Passion is fundamental to university life and generally finds its way into any successful application.

The essay finds strength in the fact that readers feel for the student. We get a little bit of backstory about where they come from and how they felt silenced— “Back home in my predominantly conservative suburb, my neighbors had brushed off environmental concerns” —so it’s easy to feel joy for them when they get set free and finally find their community.

This student displays clear values: community, ecoconsciousness, dedication, and compassion. An admissions officer who reads a diversity essay is looking for students with strong values who will enrich the university community with their unique perspective—that sounds just like this student!

One area of weakness in this essay is the introduction. The opening line— “I never understood the power of community until I left home to join seven strangers in the Ecuadorian rainforest” —is a bit clichéd. Introductions should be captivating and build excitement and suspense for what is to come. Simply telling the reader about how your experience made you understand the power of community reveals the main takeaway of your essay without the reader needing to go any further.

Instead of starting this essay with a summary of what the essay is about, the student should have made their hook part of the story. Whether that looks like them being exasperated with comments their classmates made about politics, or them looking around apprehensively at the seven strangers in their program as they all boarded their flight, the student should start off in the action.

India holds a permanent place in my heart and ears. Whenever I returned on a trip or vacation, I would show my grandmother how to play Monopoly and she would let me tie her sari. I would teach my grandfather English idioms—which he would repeat to random people and fishmongers on the streets—and he would teach me Telugu phrases.

It was a curious exchange of worlds that I am reminded of every time I listen to Indian music. It was these tunes that helped me reconnect with my heritage and ground my meandering identity. Indian music, unlike the stereotype I’d long been imbued with, was not just a one-and-done Bollywood dance number! Each region and language was like an island with its own unique sonic identity. I’m grateful for my discovery of Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil tunes, for these discoveries have opened me up to the incredible smorgasbord of diversity, depth, and complexity within the subcontinent I was born in.

Here’s an entirely-different sonic identity for you: Texan slang. “Couldya pass the Mango seltzer, please, hon?” asked my Houstonian neighbor, Rae Ann—her syllables melding together like the sticky cake batter we were making.

Rae Ann and her twang were real curiosities to me. Once, she invited my family to a traditional Texan barbecue with the rest of our neighbors. As Hindus, we didn’t eat beef, so we showed up with chicken kebabs, instead. Rather than looking at us bizarrely, she gladly accepted the dish, lining it up beside grilled loins and hamburger patties.

Her gesture was a small but very well-accepted one and I quickly became convinced she was the human manifestation of “Southern hospitality”—something reflected in each of her viscous, honey-dripping phrases. “Watch out for the skeeters!” was an excellent example. It was always funny at first, but conveyed a simple message: We’ve got each other’s backs and together, we can overcome the blood-sucking mosquitoes of the Houstonian summer! I began to see how her words built bridges, not boundaries.

I believe that sounds—whether it’s music or accents—can make a difference in the ways we perceive and accept individuals from other backgrounds. But sound is about listening too. In Rice’s residential college, I would be the type of person to strike up a conversation with an international student and ask for one of their Airpods (you’d be surprised how many different genres and languages of music I’ve picked up in this way!).

As both an international student and Houstonian at heart, I hope to bridge the gap between Rice’s domestic and international populations. Whether it’s organizing cultural events or simply taking the time to get to know a student whose first language isn’t English, I look forward to listening to the stories that only a fellow wanderer can tell.

This essay does an excellent job of addressing two aspects of this student’s identity. Looking at diversity through sound is a very creative way to descriptively depict their Indian and Texan cultures. Essays are always more successful when they stimulate the senses, so framing the entire response around sound automatically opens the door for vivid imagery.

The quotes from this student’s quirky neighbor bring a sense of realism to the essay. We can feel ourselves at the barbecue and hear her thick Texan accent coming through. The way people communicate is a huge part of their culture and identity, so the way that this student perfectly captures the essence of their Texan identity with accented phrases is skillfully done.

This essay does such a great job of making the sounds of Texas jump off the page, so it is a bit disappointing that it wasn’t able to accomplish the same for India. The student describes the different Indian languages and music styles, but doesn’t bring them to life with quotes or onomatopoeia in the manner that they did for the sounds of Texas.

They could have described the buzz of the sitar or the lyrical pattern of the Telugu phrases their grandfather taught them. Telling us about the diversity of sounds in Indian music is fine, but if the reader can’t appreciate what those sounds resemble, it makes it harder to understand the Indian half of the author’s identity. Especially since this student emulated the sounds and essence of Texas so well, it’s important that India is given the same treatment so we can fully appreciate both sides of this essay.

More Supplemental Essay Tips

How to Write a Stellar “Why This College?” Essay + Examples

How to Write a Stellar Extracurricular Activity College Essay

Do you want feedback on your diversity essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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Free PDF: The 4 questions every SOP must answer → Master’s or PhD

Diversity Statement 101: An Essay Guide for Champions

• By Jordan Dotson
• Updated: March 1, 2023

The Diversity Statement, and its close cousins the Personal History and Personal Contributions essays, might be the hardest part of graduate applications. The prompts are so vague and open-ended. They often make applicants shudder.

What am I supposed to write about?

What if I’m not a minority?

Is it okay if I write about my illness and how this lowered my GPA?

For many students who belong to underrepresented populations, these essays often seem patronizing. “How dare you use my identity to pad your demographic stats,” they think. And they’re not entirely wrong. There is a degree of stat-padding involved, though the intentions are noble.

For other students, those who have dealt with physical illness or personal tragedies during their undergrad careers, these essays are an opportunity to show what they’re truly capable of. “I am not defined by my tragedies,” they say, “but how I overcame them.”

For other students, those who sailed through their youth without calamity, these essays can be daunting. They read that word “diversity” and think it doesn’t apply to them. They focus on the apparent socio-political narrative, without recognizing how they’ve positively contributed to communities in which they belong.

For all of these students, the Diversity Statement can be a tricky monster.

Luckily, the Diversity Statement is still an act of storytelling. And as the timeless lessons of narrative structure teach us, all monsters can be conquered by a champion.

This is the key to your Diversity Statement and other personal essays: you must become a champion.

It’s not the story of how difficult or disadvantaged your life has been. It’s not a pity party or an excuse for your (perceived) failures. It’s the story of how you took the resources you’ve been given, and became a champion who makes the world (and university campuses) a better place to live.

Let’s find the champion in you, friend.

What Does “Diversity” Mean?

If you want to succeed with your grad applications, your diversity statement will have little to do with race, gender, religion, or sexuality labels . Instead, it will have everything to do with the ways you’ve chosen, as an individual, to make the world better.

This is why these essays are sometimes called “Personal Contribution” statements. They’re about how you grew and changed and succeeded and made your community different .

Think that simply being a Buddhist orphan will help you get into grad school? Wrong. (Though it might help you get into a monastery.)

But what if you’re a Buddhist orphan who’s taught meditation on campus for three years, who sweeps the steps of Los Angeles’s Hsi Lai Temple every summer, and who mentors other orphans in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, all while earning a 3.7 GPA in Neuroscience and working two years in a lab researching the effects of mindfulness on depression?

One of these is different from the other.

One says, “This is who I am.”

The other says, “This is what I do.”

The funny thing is, the impact of this story has little to do with our fictional student’s demographic label. Instead, it has everything to do with what she’s accomplished. As a thought exercise, imagine that instead of a Buddhist orphan from Los Angeles, she’s a white, heterosexual son of Baptist doctors from Austin, Texas.

This doctors’ son surely has a story. Perhaps it was an impactful teacher. Perhaps his parents resented him for it. But either way, this young man became a certified meditation teacher, worked in his community for years, mentored disadvantaged children, and studied hard while conducting meaningful research.

As long as the stories are heartfelt and real (and not the gimmick of a child of privilege seeking an advantage), the admissions committee will recognize it. They’ll know one thing for certain about either student: they’ll make a beautifully positive impact on a new graduate campus.

Just remember this:

If you want to write about identity labels in your Diversity Statement, it’s not about whether you are diverse. It’s about whether you’ve contributed to a more diverse world.

The Adversity Elephant in the Room

Students with “adversity stories” often get ridiculously good admissions results…but only if they’ve truly excelled in school. Why?

Consider two NYU classmates. Both have 3.8 GPAs and equal GRE scores. Both have published Political Science papers and submit excellent LORs. Both have years of volunteer work in public advocacy. Both apply to the same grad schools.

One, however, comes from an upper class NYC family. She went to a ritzy private high school. Her father is a Columbia professor and her mother an investment banker. The other student was a political asylee from Egypt. As a child, she saw family members murdered at gunpoint. She fled to America with her siblings, never saw her father again, lived in poverty, and learned English in public school.

Yet, both students achieved the same results. Different inputs, exact same output. Both are magnificent scholars. Both will get into grad school and succeed. One, however, had to work a lot harder to get those results, and for this, she will be rewarded.

When we talk about diversity, it’s not our applicant’s label as an immigrant first-generation college student that makes her special. It’s that she succeeded when all the odds were against her. We know that both of these students will succeed. But one of them, we know, is absolutely invincible.

Now, if our political asylee friend had a 3.4 GPA and no publications, would she get the same admissions results? Almost certainly not. She’ll still get admitted, but not at the most rigorous and competitive programs, or at least not all of them. In this case, the inputs are different, but so are the outputs. The NYC girl starts to look more capable of succeeding in intense graduate-level work.

It’s a complex issue with lots of nuance, and admissions committees take great pains to consider the true potential of every applicant. For this, we should be thankful for the opportunity to tell our story in a Diversity Statement or Personal History. But in the end, it’s a matter of how our “story” compares to the stories of others with similar academic success.

The “Upward Trending GPA” Trap

Many applicants use the Diversity Statement or Personal History to explain obstacles in their pasts that led to less-than-perfect academic performance. Perhaps they dealt with mental illness for one bleak semester. Perhaps they’re a member of the LGBT in an antagonistic religious community. Perhaps they grew up with abusive parents or a misogynist lab colleague made their life a living hell.

Often, when these applicants seek help online, they receive heartwarming advice:

Own your story. It’s who you are and doesn’t reflect your future. But be sure to show the upward trend in your GPA over time. This shows you have overcome those obstacles.

While this advice is correct, many students focus on the first part and make mistakes with the second.

For applicants who maybe have a modest 3.2 GPA, it’s tempting to blame adversity for our lack of success. “This doesn’t reflect my true potential,” they imply . “If I wasn’t a victim, I’d have achieved so much more.” Then they promise that they’ll do better if admitted to the utopia of graduate school.

Yet, this is only a promise. It provides no proof that the future will be different. While admissions committees will certainly sympathize with these candidates, we can’t ignore reality: grad schools aren’t charity organizations. This is still a student with a lower GPA who hasn’t yet proven that he can succeed in the greater challenges of grad school. After all, the GPA is the only verifiable info in the essay.

By using your adversity to justify a lower GPA, you force the reader to focus on the GPA as the final result. You make them double-check your transcripts to see how bad it really is.

Instead of showing yourself to be a champion, you’ve shown yourself to be someone who needs to be saved. In this case, the grad school is the hero, and you’re begging them to save your life.

It’s not a good look.

Thus, the key to being a champion is to never focus on the bad stuff at all . Seriously. Never describe it in any detail. Never paint yourself as a victim. Instead, tell the story of how adversity transformed you into someone who’s made a real and verifiable contribution to the world .

Compare the following two students:

“During sophomore year, I chose to abandon my orthodox Muslim upbringing. The struggle was unbearable, I separated from my family, and depression caused me to earn a 2.4 GPA for two semesters. However, I am proud to have made this decision. Now, I am confident that my GPA does not define who I am, and I feel ready and eager to achieve my full potential.”

“As someone who faced the trauma of severing ties with a deeply orthodox family, I am proud to have spent so many weekends volunteering with Recovering from Religion. In the last three years, I have spent countless hours with young women like me. We have shed tears together. We have provided counseling, academic tutoring, and job placement services. Today, as I graduate on the Dean’s List, I do so alongside an army of strong women who have taken back their lives and found faith in one another.”

One of these students is a champion. The other seems like she might be a tad overconfident.

As one dear friend of mine put it on Reddit , people love Batman for his crime-fighting skills, not because of how much it sucks to be an orphan.

Pro Tip:  Leave the GPA stuff in your SOP. But even there, only mention your much higher major GPA or the GPA from your final, better semesters. As professional salespeople teach us: “Never give them a reason to say ‘no.’”

But isn’t this just an essay about volunteer work?

No. Not always.

For students who’ve gone through difficult episodes that lowered their academic performance, they don’t need years of volunteer work to prove themselves a champion. Instead, they need to focus on the results of their transformation , and how it’s made them a better scholar.

(You know all heroes must go through a transformation, right?)

Once, I worked with an uber-successful Engineering applicant. He was admitted to multiple top master’s programs despite a period during undergrad when he was hospitalized due to serious mental illness and saw a massive drop in his GPA.

We know that mental illness is a “ Kiss of Death ” in grad applications, right? We also know that cataclysmic grades are usually the ultimate kiss of death. So, how did this student succeed?

In his Personal History, the student was very careful in describing his issue. It wasn’t a “mental illness,” but a “personal health challenge.” When he mentioned this, he didn’t give it more than a few words . He didn’t want the committee focusing on his problem, nor on the two bad semesters it caused. Instead, he wanted them focusing on what came after.

He said this temporary setback allowed him to concentrate on what he could control …his academic career. He described the rigorous time-management methods he learned. He described the egregious amount of time he spent in his professors’ office hours. He explained how he developed the habit of referencing course materials against other textbooks, often unassigned, and how this led him to the curious discovery of his thesis topic. Most importantly, he pointed out how these skills made him a Dean’s List student for his final four semesters, with a perfect 4.0 in Engineering courses .

In the end, he wasn’t a student recovering from a traumatic episode. He’d already recovered. Now, he was a 4.0 engineer who was obviously ready to succeed even further. His traumatic episode didn’t make him a victim. It was an early chapter in the story of how he transformed into a champion.

The 3 Sections of a Champion Diversity Statement

• Inciting Event or Status Quo (1 paragraph)
• Gradual Journey Forward and Transformation (2-4 paragraphs)
• Living as a Champion Today (1 paragraph)

The key to becoming a champion is to show your transformation occurring gradually over time. This never happens immediately. There is never one fierce decision to change.

If a student says, “the day my father died was the day I decided to become a cancer researcher,” then we don’t believe them. It’s childish. No one can just decide to become a cancer researcher. That takes a thousand small self-discoveries and decisions over years. First they must decide to study medicine. Then they take a cancer-focused class with an inspiring teacher. Then they discover a talent for biostatistics. Then they join a lab where they begin to realize they can truly be a professional researcher.

This slow, gradual transformation is the real story of your essay. By encapsulating this journey in a frame narrative, one that provides a theme for the story and ends by emphasizing your successes and preparedness for the future, you craft an essay that will resonate deeply in the minds of the admissions reader.

1. Inciting Event or Status Quo (1 paragraph)

In this brief, one-paragraph section, you establish the world in which you’ve transformed (and perhaps helped others transform as well). You might describe a tragedy in your life. You might describe the difficulties of growing up in an immigrant family, with parents who never went to college. You might not have experienced major difficulties yourself, but perhaps you’ve witnessed the difficulties others faced, and did what you could to make things better. In a professional, straightforward, mature, unemotional, and completely non-melodramatic tone , you describe that world here.

Appalachia is a beautiful place, though not everyone agrees. This is something I often discussed with my father, a coal miner in Eastern Kentucky, after my mother died. Where we maintain a quiet pride in our landscape and culture, the world outside often paints a different picture. They point to the opioid epidemic. They call our people hostile and uneducated. And in some ways, they are correct. Like many locales throughout the nation, the twenty-five million inhabitants of Appalachia have their own problems. Yet, these problems do not reflect the world in which I was raised.

2. Gradual Journey Forward and Transformation (2-4 paragraphs)

This section will make up the bulk of your essay. Even though I hate “autobiography” SOPs , this longer section of your Diversity Statement will show a chronological journey through time. For most students, this is easy. You don’t need to worry about fancy structures or writing techniques. You just tell your story, all the while remembering the overarching theme. In the example above, we know that the author is going to tell us a story about growing up in rural Kentucky, and how the difficulties gave him strengths that make him a scholar with incredible potential today.

When I left home to attend Georgetown University, I often felt dismayed by how freely my educated classmates mimicked my accent, mouthed a banjo melody, or asked if I grew up in a trailer. (I did.) Occasionally, a classmate with a proclivity for hiking would speak beautifully of the Appalachian Trail, a sentiment I share, though the AT lies three hours away in Virginia. No one ever mentioned the way hundreds of people will stand for hours at the church steps on a hot Saturday, waiting to pay respects to the wife of a fellow miner who has died. No one knew that in my high school, African-American, Latino, Indian, Filipino, Native American, and Korean students roam the halls (as well as one Californian who was the true fish out of water). Few knew that the banjo evolved from the stringed West African akonting.

In many ways, these misunderstandings inspired me to work even harder these past three years, though hard work has never been a problem for me. After spending two summers toiling full-time in the same coal mine as my father, Biostatistics final exams, lab work, and waiting tables on weekends are a pleasure. In fact, it sometimes makes me feel guilty. While I collect tips or compare effects of FLASH radiation therapy, I know my father is ignoring his bad back and arthritic knees, on the night shift, but will still rise to attend church in the morning. What have I done compared to this?

3. Living as a Champion Today (1 paragraph)

In this final section, we arrive at “the point” of your Diversity Statement: that everything you’ve done in life, all you’ve been through, has made you a better candidate for graduate school. You aren’t lamenting the difficulties of your life. You aren’t simply labelling yourself as a member of a disadvantaged community. You’re proving that all this has made you better. Here, you might describe community service and how you’ve given back to the world. But, most importantly, you’ll state why these efforts will help you succeed in your master’s or PhD.

Yet as difficult as these realities can be, I know that they will only make me a better student and lab partner at Harvard. I have been fortunate to work as a community ambassador for cancer awareness in both Eastern Kentucky and Northern Virginia. The people with whom I work come from a range of backgrounds, but all share the same struggle, the same one that killed my own mother eight years ago. None of them ever care about my accent. They only appreciate that I am there to serve, just as I will in the classrooms and laboratories at Harvard. Today, I am certain of my readiness to stand alongside researchers of any culture or social class, in pursuit of the scientific goals that most benefit the community around us. In doing this, I will honor my mother, my father, my university, and the land in which I was raised.

A Note on Tone

As I said earlier, you will write in a professional, straightforward, mature, unemotional, and completely non-melodramatic tone . This isn’t a creative writing exercise. It’s not a screenplay. It’s an exercise in clarity and honesty. Don’t paint pictures of the difficult scenes in your life. By telling the story straight, you’ll sound more confident – more like a graduate scholar.

A Note on Time

If the Statement of Purpose is about the future , the Diversity Statement is about the past .

Most universities only want to know what you’ll accomplish in the future. They only ask for an SOP, which is 100% academic, a logical argument for why you’ll make a great chemist, data scientist, or financial engineer.

But those universities who ask for a Diversity Statement or Personal History…they do want to know about your past. This helps them contextualize your future. By seeing how well you understand yourself, they can better determine how valuable you’ll be as a member of their community.

When considering how these two essays work together, think of them like this:

Conclusion on the Diversity Statement

Whatever we call them – Diversity Statements or Personal Contributions – these essays are tricky for everyone. As you begin writing yours, please don’t think you need to fit into some kind of precut mold. Don’t think that grad schools only seek students who fill a demographic quota. Instead, see this as an opportunity to let your individuality and contributions shine. You aren’t beholden to identity labels or the community in which you grew up. You aren’t a failure because of a few dark days, nor are you less attractive as a scholar because your life has been comparatively smooth.

We all have issues to work out. We all have an identity formed in the crucible of our unique experiences. What matters is only that you changed, grew, evolved, transformed, and have now become someone who’s capable of making a wonderful impact on the world. Someone who’s willing to be a champion. Even if your efforts are quiet, even if the best you can do is remain open-hearted and respectful to everyone you encounter in the classroom or lab, you can be on the side of the champions, and there will be a spot in grad school for you.

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Center for Teaching

Developing and writing a diversity statement.

What is a diversity statement, and what purpose does it serve?

What topics might be included in a diversity statement.

• Getting Started

Writing Prompts

Adapting your statement for a job application, additional resources.

Increasingly, institutions of higher education are becoming more intentional and programmatic about their efforts to embrace principles of inclusion, equity, justice, and diversity throughout campus life. As they do so, they are more focused on finding faculty who have experiences and competencies that can contribute to these efforts. Consequently, universities and colleges frequently are requesting that job applicants address how they can contribute to a culture of inclusion and equity within the campus community in the form of a “diversity statement.”

Sometimes, a job ad will request that applicants address diversity in the cover letter or the teaching statement, but a request for a separate diversity statement is becoming more common. From the perspective of some universities, the purpose of such documents is to demonstrate that the applicant has commitments and capacities to contribute to the institution’s projects of inclusion and equity via their work, including scholarship, teaching, service, mentoring, and advising. Asking faculty applicants to speak to inclusive excellence in their application materials or during the interview process shows a university’s commitment to inclusion and ensures that new faculty share that commitment (2018). The document is also an opportunity for applicants to highlight their understanding of the barriers faced by under-represented or marginalized groups, as well as their own experiences meeting the needs of a diverse population of students, staff, and peers. For example, The University of California at San Diego requests a separate “Contributions to Diversity” statement from all faculty applicants, and its published guidelines suggest describing “your past efforts, as well as future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.” (2.1.18, https://facultydiversity.ucsd.edu/_files/c2d-guidelines.pdf ).

The wording that universities and colleges use in framing the request for a diversity statement varies widely. Below are a few examples from job ads posted in the 2017-2018 academic year.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland (public liberal arts college, faculty posting in Psychology):

Applicants should submit a statement explaining how their teaching at the College will contribute to a culture of inclusion and campus diversity .

Denison University (private liberal arts university in Ohio, faculty posting in Anthropology):

A description of how the applicant would contribute to the development of a diverse and inclusive learning community at Denison through her/his teaching, research, and/or service .

Angelo State (public university in Texas, faculty posting in Engineering):

The required Other Document should be no longer than 2 pages and should discuss how the candidate would help achieve Angelo State University’s goal to attract and graduate more women, Hispanic, and students from other underrepresented groups .

Georgia College and State University (public liberal arts college, faculty posting in Psychology)

Qualified candidates should submit a research statement, and a diversity statement (describing how you incorporate diversity into your teaching, research, and/or service). Teaching, research, and diversity statements should be limited to two single-spaced pages.

Franklin & Marshall College (private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, Visiting Assistant Professor Position in Psychology)

Pursuant to the college’s vision for cultivating a diverse and inclusive community, the search committee will ask all applicants to address how their past and/or potential contributions might serve to advance F&M’s commitment to teaching and mentoring young people from a variety of personal experiences, values, and worldviews th at arise from differences of culture and circumstance.

Since the diversity statement is an emerging genre in the context of faculty job applications, there are few set guidelines on what must be included. Keeping in mind that the purpose of the statement is to demonstrate a commitment to fostering diversity, the following elements may be appropriate:

• Statement of values as they relate to your understanding and commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and/or justice in higher education.
• Examples of experiences that demonstrate your commitment to fostering the success of underrepresented students, staff, and peers, and supporting a diversity of perspectives in the classroom, lab, campus, or community.
• Future plans for continuing to advance inclusive excellence, diversity, or equity in your research, teaching, and service.

Getting started

• What are your values regarding diversity, inclusion, and equity in your professional life? Why do you think diversity is valuable in higher education settings? How about in your discipline specifically?
• What kinds of student, staff, or faculty diversity are you thinking of as you answer this question, and are there other ways in which diversity manifests in campus communities that might be valuable to consider?
• What elements of your own identity inform your teaching, research, or scholarship in a tangible way?

It is worth noting that diversity statements are fundamentally about your values, commitments, and capabilities, and not necessarily your identity and the ways it shapes your work. If you choose to disclose your identity in a diversity statement, you should be aware of some issues.

Should You Self-Disclose Elements of Your Personal Identity?

Note that some people wish to share elements of their personal background in their actual statement, and many do not. Reflecting on your own frame of reference can be useful regardless. Some degree of transparency may help readers contextualize the experiences and approaches you detail in your statement. For example, you may wish to share that you grew up in a bilingual household or that you attended graduate school as an international student, if either has influenced your approach to mentorship or teaching. A 2014 study investigated the content of 191 cover letters for faculty positions in which applicants were specifically asked to address diversity and inclusion; less than a quarter of applicants self-disclosed some aspect of their personal identity (Schmaling, Trevino, Lind, Blume, & Baker, 2014). Despite the low percentage of applicants who chose to self-disclose and despite the authors’ note that they could not determine which applications advanced as a function of the applicants’ choice to self-disclose, they write that “self-disclosing one’s diversity may reconceptualize membership in a previously stigmatized group as an advantage, particularly if the self-identification reinforces a coherent academic and professional identity (Schmaling et al., 2014, p. 10)..”

However, be advised that there is risk in disclosing details that may carry stigma or induce subtle biases on the part of readers. For example, some research confirms that biases toward African Americans and women influence evaluation of written application materials (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000; Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman, 2012), specifically when the application is not exceptionally weak or exceptionally strong (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000). The potential benefit of self-disclosing one’s mental health history or sexual orientation, for example, should be carefully weighed against the risk. To be sure, an excellent statement can be written without sharing elements of personal identity, and some universities that request statements are beginning to highlight this. The University of San Diego’s published guidelines to writing a diversity statement, for example, emphasize their desire to identify candidates who share the institution’s commitment to inclusive excellence, “regardless of personal demographic characteristics.”

The following prompts are meant to help you identify areas of strength to highlight in your diversity statement. For each of the following areas, think about your past experience and what you plan to do in the future. You don’t need to answer every question, as all may not apply.

Research and Scholarship

• Does your research/scholarship directly address issues of diversity, inclusion, or equity? If so, how?
• Does your research/scholarship address issues specific to marginalized groups? If so, describe the connection.
• Has your research/scholarship been shared with the community or public in a way that promotes access to scholarship?
• Has your scholarship involved collaboration with diverse groups of colleagues or commentators?

Mentorship and Advising

• Have you worked with any students in a mentorship or advisory capacity who are from marginalized groups? If so, how did you help them identify and overcome barriers to success? Think about your experience with research mentorship, teaching or tutoring, academic advising, and community mentorship.
• If you plan to train undergraduates and/or graduate students in your future role, what efforts will you make to recruit and retain students from marginalized and underrepresented groups?
• How do you plan to serve a student body that is diverse in a multitude of ways? Think not just race, ethnicity, and SES, but about age, religion, academic preparedness, disability, gender expression, or other differences.
• How does your approach to course design take into account considerations of diversity? You may wish to reflect on using a range of assessments, preventing bias in grading, diversifying course content, using inclusive language in the syllabus and classroom, or utilizing student feedback to improve classroom culture or tone. Try to generate at least one specific example of how your decision affects student’s learning in your course. (Note: One prominent example of inclusive syllabus language is diversity statements within syllabi; see examples from Brown University , Yale Center for Teaching and Learning , and The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University )
• What do you do as a teacher that creates a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere? How do you ensure that students in your class feel a sense of belonging?
• How does your approach to facilitating discussion (and/or structuring active learning activities) take into account considerations of positionality, power, and/or diversity? You may wish to reflect on using semi-structured discussion techniques, online access points for student participation, classroom seating arrangements, or other ways in which you create opportunities for student engagement. Try to generate at least one specific example of how your pedagogical choice facilitates student engagement in a particular course.
• Does your discipline lend itself to dialogue about diversity? If so, how do you incorporate this dialogue into your courses? Describe the impact of doing so on student learning and engagement.
• How do you ensure that your course readings and sources reflect diverse perspectives? Have you had any experience diversifying/decolonizing content for your courses, and if so, what has been the impact on student learning?
• Have you participated in any service activities (e.g. university committees, symposiums, workshops, volunteer work in the community) whose goals relate to diversity, inclusion, and equity? If so, describe your experience. What did you accomplish? What did you learn? What skills did you build in the process?
• If you have engaged in diversity-related service, how will you incorporate your experience into the job for which you are applying? (Note: here is where – having done your research on the school to which you are applying – you might consider referencing an existing diversity-related initiative to which you could contribute or which you could expand)

After you have developed a statement that reflects your strengths and experiences related to diversity, inclusion, and equity, you may wish to tailor it for individual job applications. Be sure to do your homework about diversity-related programs and resources at the schools to which you are applying, and consider including how you plan to contribute to or expand existing programs at that institution. For example, if you have been particularly active in social justice initiatives and are applying to a school with no existing programs addressing race, power and privilege in higher education, it may be appropriate to propose a program modelled on something you’ve already done. However, you do not need to propose a new diversity-related program to write an effective diversity statement. Perhaps you envision your contribution as serving on faculty committees related to diversifying curriculum in your department or advising LGBT-student groups or research initiatives. Be honest about where you are and how you can contribute.

• Golash-Boza, T. (2016). “ The Effective Diversity Statement .” Inside Higher Ed.
• University of California: Contributions to Diversity
• Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Aversive racism and selection decisions: 1989 and 1999.   Psychological Science, 11 (4), 315-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00262
• Schmaling, K. B., Trevino, A. Y., Lind, J. R., Blume, A. W., & Baker, D. L. (2015). Diversity statements: How faculty applicants address diversity.   Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 8 (4), 213-224. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038549
• Moss-Racusin, C., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J., & Handelsman, J. (2012). Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students.   PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (41), 16474-16479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211286109

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How to Write a Cultural Diversity Essay

December 14, 2016

Understanding Cultural Diversity

To write an effective cultural diversity essay, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of what cultural diversity truly means. Cultural diversity refers to the coexistence of different cultures, values, and traditions within a society. It encompasses differences in language, religion, beliefs, customs, and practices. Understanding cultural diversity involves recognizing and appreciating the unique perspectives and experiences that each culture brings.

When writing an essay on cultural diversity, it is important to explore the reasons behind its importance in today’s globalized world. This includes examining how cultural diversity promotes tolerance, understanding, and inclusivity. Additionally, understanding cultural diversity entails acknowledging the challenges and barriers faced by different cultural groups and examining strategies for achieving cultural harmony. By grasping the concept of cultural diversity, you can effectively convey your thoughts and insights in your essay, providing a comprehensive understanding to your readers.

Choosing a Topic for the Essay

Selecting the right topic is vital when writing a cultural diversity essay. With such a broad subject, it is important to narrow down your focus to a specific aspect or issue related to cultural diversity that interests you. Consider topics such as the impact of immigration on cultural diversity, the role of education in promoting cultural acceptance, or the influence of globalization on cultural identity.

When choosing a topic, ensure that it is researchable and allows for a comprehensive exploration of different perspectives. It is important to select a topic that you are passionate about, as this will help you maintain motivation and produce a well-written essay. Furthermore, consider the relevance and significance of your chosen topic in today’s society to ensure that your essay contributes to the discussion and provides valuable insights.

Possible Cultural Diversity Essay Topics:

• The Impact of Immigration on Cultural Diversity
• Cultural Assimilation versus Cultural Preservation
• Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits and Challenges
• Cultural Stereotypes and their Effects on Society
• Exploring Cultural Identity in a Globalized World
• The Role of Education in Promoting Cultural Acceptance
• Cultural Appropriation: Understanding the Controversy
• Gender Roles and Cultural Diversity
• Traditional versus Modern Practices in Different Cultures
• Cultural Diversity and Social Justice: Addressing Inequality

Organizing Your Thoughts

When writing a cultural diversity essay, it is crucial to organize your thoughts effectively to ensure a coherent and logical flow of ideas. Start by brainstorming and jotting down all the ideas, examples, and arguments that come to mind. Once you have a list of key points, group them into categories or themes that relate to your chosen topic.

Next, create an outline that includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction should provide a brief overview of cultural diversity and present a clear thesis statement. Each body paragraph should focus on a single idea or argument, supported by evidence and examples.

Consider using a logical structure such as comparing and contrasting different perspectives, discussing the historical context, or analyzing the impacts of cultural diversity. Finally, conclude your essay by summarizing your main points and reinforcing the significance of cultural diversity in contemporary society. By organizing your thoughts effectively, you will create a well-structured and impactful cultural diversity essay.

Writing an Effective Introduction

The introduction of a cultural diversity essay is the first opportunity to capture the reader’s attention and provide a clear direction for the essay. To craft an effective introduction, follow these tips:

• Start with a hook: Begin your introduction with an attention-grabbing statement, question, or anecdote that relates to cultural diversity. This will engage the reader and make them curious to learn more.
• Provide background information: Offer a concise background on the topic of cultural diversity, highlighting its significance and relevance in today’s society. This sets the stage for the essay and helps the reader understand the context.
• State the thesis statement: Clearly state your main argument or position on cultural diversity. The thesis statement should be concise, specific, and arguable. It establishes the purpose of the essay and gives the reader a roadmap of what to expect.
• Outline the main points: Briefly mention the main points or arguments that you will discuss in the body of the essay. This gives the reader an overview of the essay’s structure and keeps them engaged.

Remember, the introduction should be concise, captivating, and informative. It should set the tone for the essay and create a strong first impression for the reader. By following these guidelines, you can write an effective introduction that engages the reader and lays the foundation for a compelling cultural diversity essay.

Developing the Main Body

The main body of your cultural diversity essay is where you delve into the key arguments, ideas, and evidence that support your thesis statement. To effectively develop the main body of your essay, consider the following:

• Start with a clear topic sentence: Begin each paragraph with a concise and focused topic sentence that introduces the main point or argument you will discuss. This helps guide the reader through your essay and ensures a coherent flow.
• Provide evidence and examples: Support your arguments with relevant evidence and examples. This can include statistics, research findings, case studies, personal experiences, or cultural anecdotes. Use a mix of primary and secondary sources to strengthen your claims.
• Explore different perspectives: Cultural diversity is a complex and multifaceted topic. Consider discussing different perspectives or contrasting viewpoints within your essay. This demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the subject and enriches your analysis.
• Use logical transitions: Ensure a smooth transition between paragraphs by using logical transitions. Connect ideas between paragraphs to maintain a cohesive and logical flow of thoughts.
• Consider counterarguments: Address potential counterarguments to your thesis statement. Acknowledge and refute opposing viewpoints to strengthen your own arguments and demonstrate critical thinking.

Remember to maintain a balanced approach, provide sufficient evidence for your claims, and avoid generalizations. By developing a well-structured and evidence-based main body in your cultural diversity essay, you can effectively present your ideas and engage the reader in a thought-provoking discussion.

Avoiding Stereotypes

When writing a cultural diversity essay, it is important to avoid stereotypes and generalizations that can perpetuate prejudice and discrimination. Instead, focus on presenting a nuanced and accurate portrayal of cultural diversity that acknowledges the complexity and diversity of different ethnic, racial, and cultural groups. To avoid stereotypes in your essay, consider the following:

• Avoid using sweeping generalizations or attributing traits to entire groups of people based on their cultural background.
• Use specific examples and evidence to illustrate your points and avoid assumptions.
• Acknowledge the diversity within cultures and avoid treating them as monolithic entities.
• Respect and consider multiple perspectives on cultural diversity, acknowledging that cultural experiences are complex and nuanced.

By avoiding stereotypes, you can present a thoughtful and objective analysis of cultural diversity that recognizes the complexity of the subject and contributes to a more informed and inclusive society.

Including Personal Experiences

When writing a cultural diversity essay, incorporating personal experiences can add depth, authenticity, and a unique perspective to your writing. Personal experiences allow you to connect with the topic on a deeper level and provide firsthand insights into cultural diversity. Here’s how to effectively include personal experiences in your cultural diversity essay:

• Choose relevant experiences: Select personal experiences that directly relate to the topic of cultural diversity. This could include encounters with different cultures, cross-cultural friendships, or experiences that highlight the impact of cultural diversity in your own life.
• Reflect on the significance: Share why these experiences are meaningful to you and how they have shaped your understanding of cultural diversity. Reflecting on your experiences adds a personal touch and demonstrates your engagement with the topic.
• Connect to broader themes: Situate your personal experiences within broader themes or issues related to cultural diversity. This could involve discussing the challenges and benefits of embracing cultural differences or sharing examples that highlight the importance of cultural understanding and acceptance.
• Maintain objectivity: While incorporating personal experiences, it is important to strike a balance between personal perspective and objective analysis. Avoid generalizations and ensure that your personal experiences are grounded in critical thinking and supported by evidence and research.

By including personal experiences, you can add a unique dimension to your cultural diversity essay, fostering a deeper connection with readers and enhancing the overall impact of your writing.

Analyzing Cultural Conflict and Harmony

Cultural diversity can often lead to conflicts or misunderstandings between different groups with different beliefs and values. It is important to analyze these conflicts and seek ways to promote harmony and understanding in your cultural diversity essay. Here are some tips for analyzing cultural conflict and harmony in your essay:

• Identify causes of conflict: Explore the underlying factors that contribute to conflict between different cultures. This could include issues such as cultural stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, or misunderstanding.
• Discuss potential solutions: Consider ways to promote cultural harmony and understanding. This could include cultural education, intercultural communication, or promoting inclusive policies that support cultural diversity.
• Highlight success stories: Share examples of cultural harmony or success stories where cultural diversity has been successfully embraced and celebrated.
• Acknowledge challenges: Recognize the challenges involved in achieving cultural harmony, including power imbalances, political and economic factors, and historic tensions.

By analyzing cultural conflict and harmony, you can develop a more nuanced understanding of the complexities and opportunities that arise from cultural diversity. This can lead to meaningful insights and solutions that promote a more inclusive and harmonious society.

Writing the Conclusion

The conclusion of your cultural diversity essay should summarize the key points made in the main body and restate the thesis statement in a clear and concise way. Here’s how to write an effective conclusion for your essay:

• Summarize the key arguments: Begin by summarizing the main arguments or findings presented in the main body of your essay. This reminds the reader of the main points and demonstrates the coherence of your writing.
• Restate the thesis statement: The thesis statement should be restated in the conclusion, using different words to maintain interest and reinforce the message.
• Provide final thoughts: Use the conclusion to provide final thoughts or insights on the topic of cultural diversity. This could include a call to action, a prediction, or a reflection on the implications of the topic.
• Avoid introducing new information: The conclusion is not the place to introduce new information or arguments. Ensure that all ideas presented in the conclusion have been discussed in the main body.
• End with impact: End your conclusion with a lasting impact. This could involve a memorable quote, a thought-provoking question, or a powerful statement.

By following these guidelines, you can write a conclusion that reinforces the main message of your cultural diversity essay and leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

Diversity Essay Example

In today’s globalized world, cultural diversity is an undeniable reality. As I reflect upon my own experiences, I am reminded of the profound impact that cultural diversity has had on my life. Growing up in a multicultural neighborhood, I had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the richness that arises from the coexistence of different cultures.

One particular experience stands out in my memory. During a school project, my classmates and I were tasked with creating a presentation about a culture different from our own. I chose to explore the traditions and customs of an indigenous tribe from my country. Through extensive research and engaging conversations with members of that community, I gained a deeper understanding of their unique way of life.

This project taught me a valuable lesson about cultural diversity. It showed me that diversity is not limited to external appearances or superficial differences. It encompasses a wealth of knowledge, traditions, and perspectives that can enrich our lives and broaden our horizons.

Furthermore, this experience highlighted the importance of cultural respect and empathy. I realized that by approaching cultural diversity with an open mind and genuine curiosity, we can foster meaningful connections with individuals from different backgrounds. Rather than viewing diversity as a challenge or obstacle, it should be seen as an opportunity for growth and understanding.

In conclusion, my personal experiences have provided me with profound insights into the importance of embracing cultural diversity. This diversity essay example demonstrates the transformative power that cultural exchange can have on individuals and communities. By sharing our stories and celebrating our differences, we contribute to a more inclusive and harmonious society that values and respects the richness of cultural diversity.

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The Effective Diversity Statement

By  Tanya Golash-Boza

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Inside Higher Ed

Faculty job postings are increasingly asking for diversity statements, in addition to research and teaching statements. According to the University of California at San Diego website , “the purpose of the statement is to identify candidates who have professional skills, experience and/or willingness to engage in activities that would enhance campus diversity and equity efforts ” (emphasis added). In general, these statements are an opportunity for applicants to explain to a search committee the distinct experiences and commitment they bring to the table.

So, how do you write an effective diversity statement? If you are a job candidate who actually cares about diversity and equity, how do you convey that commitment to a search committee? (Note that if you do not care about diversity and equity and do not want to be in a department that does, don’t waste your time crafting a strong diversity statement -- and you need not read any farther in this essay.)

My first piece of advice is: do not write a throwaway diversity statement. Some job applicants think that writing a diversity statement that shows they actually care about diversity and equity may be too political. Thus, they write a blasé statement about, for example, how they encourage students to come to class in pajamas if they feel comfortable. That is not an effective strategy, because it does not show a genuine commitment to diversity and equity.

Of course, it is true that many faculty members overtly reject campus efforts to enhance diversity and equity. However, it is also true that search committee members who do not care about diversity do not read diversity statements. Just like search committee members who do not care about teaching gloss over teaching statements, those who do not care about diversity gloss over diversity statements. So, don’t bother writing a statement directed at faculty members who do not care about diversity. Write one for those faculty members who will take the time to read your statement carefully.

I can assure you that many faculty members truly care about diversity and equity and will read your statement closely. I have been in the room when the diversity statement of every single finalist for a job search was scrutinized. The candidates who submitted strong statements wrote about their experiences teaching first-generation college students, their involvement with LGBTQ student groups, their experiences teaching in inner-city high schools and their awareness of how systemic inequalities affect students’ ability to excel. Applicants mentioned their teaching and activism and highlighted their commitment to diversity and equity in higher education.

Here are seven additional suggestions to consider as you write your diversity statement.

• Tell your story. If you have overcome obstacles to get to where you are, point those out. If, in contrast, you are privileged, acknowledge that. If you grew up walking uphill to school carrying two 20-pound sacks of rice on your back, by all means, tell that story. If you were raised with a silver spoon in your mouth, acknowledge your privilege. Either way, use your story to explain how you can empathize with students who confront challenges on their way to achieving their educational goals.
• Focus on commonly accepted understandings of diversity and equity. Concentrate on issues such as race, gender, social class and sexual orientation. Don’t try to tone down your statement by writing about how it is hard to be a Kansan in Missouri, for example. Instead, write about racial oppression, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or some other commonly recognized form of oppression.
• Avoid false parallels. By that I mean do not equate the exclusion you faced due to being a Kansan in Missouri with the exclusion an African-American faces at a primarily white institution. You do not have to be an African-American to have insight into the challenges they face, but if you do not have experiential knowledge of racism, then do not claim it. Instead, focus on writing about what you do know. If you feel comfortable getting personal, you can write about your own experiences of privilege or oppression. But you don’t have to get personal; you can cite statistics or studies to make your points.
• Write about specific things you have done to help students from underrepresented backgrounds succeed. If you have never done anything to help anyone, then go out and do something. Sign up to be a tutor at an underperforming school, build a house with Habitat for Humanity or incorporate antiracist pedagogy into your teaching. In addition to having a rewarding experience, you can write about it in your diversity statement.
• Highlight any programs for underrepresented students you’ve participated in. If you have had any involvement with such programs (e.g., McNair Scholars Program), describe that involvement in your statement. This involvement can either be as a former participant or as a mentor or adviser to someone who has participated. These kinds of specific examples show that you understand what effective programs look like and how they work.
• Write about your commitment to working toward achieving equity and enhancing diversity. Describe specific ways you are willing to contribute. You can mention your willingness to contribute to pre-existing programs on the campus or you can express interest in creating new programs based on models at other campuses.
• Modify your statement based on where you are sending it. Your statement for a land-grant institution in the rural South should not be the exact same one you send to an elite institution in urban California. Look up the demographics of the institution to which you are applying and mention those demographics in your statement. For example, if the university you are applying to is a Hispanic-serving institution, you should be aware of that. Or if it has a well-known scholarship program for underrepresented minorities, you should mention that program.

Diversity statements are a relatively new addition to the job application packet. Thus, search committees are still developing assessment tools for such statements, and many campuses lack clear guidelines. Nevertheless, you can use this novelty to your advantage by writing a stellar statement that emphasizes your record of contributions to diversity and equity as well as your commitment to future efforts

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Diversity statement examples: what to avoid and what to include

Diversity statements are increasingly important for faculty, both when teaching online and applying for jobs. Pardis Mahdavi and Scott Brooks outline what to avoid and what to include when drafting a diversity statement

Pardis Mahdavi

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Search committees at colleges and universities increasingly require candidates applying for faculty or leadership positions to submit diversity statements. And in the post-Covid online world, where interviews are truncated at best, we are increasingly reliant on applicants’ written materials.

Universities across the US are now considering making diversity statements required for all faculty. Many institutions ask faculty to post diversity statements online for students to read before or during their course to demonstrate the institution’s and the individual’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. Some universities even offer incentives such as merit raises for those willing to do so.

A well-constructed diversity statement is especially important for online instructors who need to provide a carefully considered response to the additional layer of challenges that many students face when studying remotely.

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Here, we lay out some “red flags” to avoid and key frameworks to embed when writing a diversity statement.

What to avoid – red flags

Common mistakes or pitfalls when writing a diversity statement fall into three major categories:

• Diversity by proxy
• Personal stories of redemption
• The exceptionalist argument.

1. Diversity by proxy

Diversity by proxy is when candidates borrow from the success of others, an organisation or programme. Candidates speak specifically about their department’s student demographics or a programme for students of colour that they direct, are part of or appreciate.

Example 1: “_____ (university’s name) is one of the most diverse campuses in the country. We are ____% white, ____% Latin, ____% Asian/Pacific Islander, ____% African American.”

Example 2: Candidates might mention success and claim some responsibility, implicitly or explicitly. “I’m a faculty mentor for the McNair Scholars programme and we have had wonderful, bright students who just need intense mentorship.”

Example 3: The message of “I support success for people of colour” can be followed by surprise and self-congratulation. “We have students who do very well, one or two have even gone on to graduate school at very good schools! One of my students, from Chicago, a first-generation student from a single-parent household, is a first-year PhD student at Berkeley.”

We called this “diversity by proxy” because the candidate’s example relies on numbers that tell us about where they are and not who they are or what they have done. Secondly, they are borrowing identity, status and achievement by linking themselves to the success stories of students of colour or faculty. In this way, they give undue credit to themselves as a saviour.

2. Personal stories of redemption

Candidates write of personal experiences that have occurred outside of the academy and are meant to reflect their appreciation for diversity and inclusion and their dissatisfaction with racism.

Example 1: They may write about an event that solidified their understanding of privilege: “I grew up in a small town where there was only one Indian family and one of the girls from that family became a close friend. And then, in the sixth grade, everything changed. She and I both auditioned for the school play, Annie , and it was clear that another girl got the lead because she was white and looked the part. But my friend was clearly better than everyone else. I felt bad for her but there was nothing I could do. And that is why I really feel so strongly about racism and exclusion and do what I can to help students of colour.”

Example 2: They may also talk about how they work with and learn so much from their colleagues of colour and students of colour. The focus is on their feeling and how they assuage their feelings of social injustice by their engagement, but does this lead to fighting structural issues found in the academy?

The playing field is never level, and so what do they do for those who they do not deem “clearly better”? 

3. The exceptionalist argument

Candidates write that they are in favour of diversity and inclusion but have not been in a position to fight against exclusionary practices.

Example 1: “Diversity is important but I can’t do it because my discipline is based on dead white men.”

Example 2: Or “I believe in diversity, but I have not been in a leadership position where I might make decisions. I would be supportive if there were some people of colour.”

The exceptionalist argument suggests that impact can only be made from certain positions, thereby exonerating most people who do not go against the grain. This obscures the roles that all faculty play in maintaining the status quo and contributing in small and large ways to discriminatory practices and negative outcomes for faculty, staff and students of colour.

Bias can lead to mis-assessing students, even creating unequal learning conditions. A student may be characterised as “low achieving” when they may need greater encouragement or when they come from a high school with fewer resources. In committee work, colleagues may use different adjectives to describe the quality of work of women colleagues and colleagues of colour.  

Are you interested in diversity issues? Check out our EDI channel, which is dedicated to advice and insight about equity, diversity and inclusion from academics around the world

What to include – key frameworks

Some white colleagues ask: “Can white candidates write something that would be acceptable?” This is a valid question. We say: “Of course they can. And some people of colour will write poor statements.” A good statement could come in countless forms. While some may feel that they cannot write from a position of experience, this is absolutely not the case. Their experiences are different.

We identify four elements found in strong diversity statements:

• Diversity as a strategy
• Evidence of addressing structural challenges
• Recognition and underscoring of the invisible labour done by faculty and staff of colour
• Demonstrated enlightened mentoring. 

1. Diversity as a strategy

Creating a plan, rather than simply doing an action, moves people beyond reacting and shows an understanding of intersectionality and the matrices of oppression.

For online teachers, it is especially important to consider the contours of their students’ lives. The strongest statements are ones where they see that there are interlocking issues – food insecurity is connected to student learning, impression management with professors, matriculation and well-being. For example, an online teaching candidate may have buttressed student support with financial and social support and mentoring and even made changes to policies that excluded certain people or groups based on criteria that are unnecessary. The strongest statements are those where candidates articulate how diversity is used centrally in re-thinking budget, curriculum and access.

2. Evidence of addressing structural challenges

Strong diversity statements include examples of candidates advocating for structural changes. They show that they recognise and make systemic changes to address this. Candidates can write about “white space” and how they have educated others and implemented new practices that go against the status quo. They may have found systemic holes and problems that have disparate effects on women of colour. They may have counteracted systemic and institutionalised practices. For instance, strong candidates mention noticing varying language, such as different adjectives, in the evaluations of faculty, staff and students of colour. 

3. Recognition or underscoring of invisible labour 

Supporting faculty and staff of colour must be multifaceted. It is widely known and acknowledged that faculty of colour have different experiences – they are counted on to take on certain services because they are a person of colour; students of colour look to them more than to white colleagues; and they face student racism. 

4. Demonstrated enlightened mentoring

Mentors who are “woke” to and address structural challenges, who use diversity as a strategy, and who recognise or underscore the invisible labour and challenges of faculty, staff and students of colour will mentor in ways that have longer term impacts and that mitigate exclusion and discriminatory practices.  Mentoring is especially difficult in the online world, but candidates who write about ways they have overcome this demonstrate strong commitments to the work of the framework we call JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion).

The JEDI framework is about more than one or two actions, and goes beyond a checklist. Thus, posting a diversity statement online is, in and of itself, not “enough”. However, this is an important part of systemic change when faculty post diversity statements, and these become an integral part of performance reviews and promotion. We are elevating the importance of JEDI work, and taking a step in the right direction of the structural changes needed for social transformation.

Pardis Mahdavi is dean of social sciences at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and directs the School of Social Transformation, and Scott Brooks is an associate professor with the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, both at Arizona State University .

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DEI Statements Faculty Guide: How to Write a Great Diversity Statement

An in-depth look at the purpose of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement. Look for tips on how to write a great diversity statement with examples.

Key Takeaways

• DEI statements are commonly required for candidates seeking jobs, promotions, and tenure in higher education.
• DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
• We provide tips for how to develop an effective DEI statement.

DEI statements are increasingly required for hiring, promotion, and granting tenure in higher education. Here’s what junior, mid-level, and senior faculty need to know about the best practices, underlying assumptions, and compositional process for those who are required to submit diversity statements. 

A Note About DEI

At Academic Influence, we recognize that there are many unique perspectives on the issue of diversity in education. 

Some readers may agree with the societal and educational impulses behind the inclusion statement and are simply wondering how to craft one. We’ll give you actionable steps to that end in this article. 

Others may have questions about the actual positive impact of such a statement, or even the impact of broader inclusion practices or other programs relating to diversity. As such, you may wonder where to begin in writing this document. Our purpose in this guide isn’t to advocate any particular viewpoint but to provide practical insight on this very real issue in education. 

This guide explains one of the keys to thriving in academia today—the ability of faculty to meet the DEI expectations they are likely to encounter at some point in their academic careers. 

What Is a DEI Statement? 

The acronym DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The statement is a formal declaration or assertion of your commitment to embracing diverse voices and fostering a culture of inclusion and equity. 

Types of Diversity Statements 

Today, these diversity statements are used by many people and organizations for many purposes. Corporations often formulate diversity statements that express company values and their commitment to diversity in hiring and in their brand messaging. Nonprofit organizations and government agencies do the same. 

At the college level, institutions as well as individual faculty members often publish their principles, policies, and strategic action plans as diversity statements. 

The kinds of statements we will be focusing on in this guide are those written by individual junior, mid-level, and senior faculty members to be submitted to university committees for hiring, promotions, and tenure decisions.

DEI Statements by Other Names 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is currently the most widely used terminology for statements and documents that express policies and action plans related to these core concepts. 

However, you may also run into different terms and acronyms that pertain to the same or similar topics, including the following: 

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statements, also called DEI statements or DE&I statements
• Diversity & Inclusion statements, or D&I statements
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility statements, or DEIA statements 
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging statements, or DIB statements 
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion statements, or JEDI statements

Does the precise terminology matter? 

On one hand, a college or university that asks for statements that specifically address matters of accessibility, belonging, or justice may want you to cover slightly different content than a standard DEI statement or to approach the crafting of this statement from a perspective concerned with these specific aspects of inclusion. 

However, the broader focus is the same as that of a DEI statement: making the learning, research, and work environment more welcoming and fair for all. 

What Does DEI Include? 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t as narrow areas as they may seem at first glance. Briefly, some of the areas that fall under DEI include: 

The Many Different Dimensions of Diversity Initiatives

The ways in which people are diverse are themselves full of variation, nuance, and, well, diversity. 

Dimensions of diversity, according to Utah State University , include but are not limited to the following: 

• National origin
• Native language
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Socioeconomic status
• Religious beliefs
• Marital status
• Parental status
• Physical and mental ability 

Interestingly, when you step back to take this broad perspective on the dimensions of diversity, you notice that diversity isn’t some status conferred on certain individuals but instead the range of variations among humans. 

There are some dimensions of diversity over which individuals have at least some degree of control, like occupation and marital status. Other dimensions of diversity, like race, gender, and physical or mental disability, are largely out of an individual’s control. 

Of course, there are valid arguments to be made about how biases, social norms, and institutions affect individuals’ opportunities to take action or make choices. 

Does a person born with a serious physical disability really have the option to pursue an occupation as a professional athlete? To what degree are religious, or anti-religious, beliefs really a choice if those beliefs have been inculcated since childhood? 

Regardless, it doesn’t matter whether a dimension of diversity is within or beyond the individual’s control (or somewhere in between). Within the context of this discussion, all dimensions of diversity deserve to be respected, valued, and included. 

Understanding Equity and How It Differs From Equality 

What exactly is equity, and how does it differ from equality? 

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Center for Career Development and Talent Acquisition defines equity as a sense of “fairness.” Practically speaking, this means that schools and faculty need to redress existing imbalances. On the flip side, this means not treating everyone as though those imbalances don’t exist. 

Treating everyone the same is equality, not equity. In a perfect world, equality alone might suffice to foster a fair, just environment that offers the best opportunities to everyone for learning, working, and innovating. 

To emphasize equity over equality is to recognize that in the real world, life isn’t always fair, and that people from different walks of life may face additional challenges. These challenges may arise from a variety of causes, including societal biases and systemic exclusion. 

Running a classroom or laboratory with a focus on equity rather than equality means finding ways to address imbalances in people’s starting points. 

Examples of equity in action in the classroom or academic environment include: 

• Recognizing that incoming freshman students from less privileged backgrounds may not start their college studies with as strong a foundation as those from more privileged backgrounds-and adjusting lesson plans, teaching strategies, and requirements according to the needs of underrepresented groups.
• Making hiring decisions for research assistants in a lab based on substantive requirements and candidates’ aptitude for the job, rather than conventional, yet not directly pertinent, factors such as an overstuffed resume, shiny appearance, and smooth interview style.

Equity doesn’t mean “giving a pass” to those who aren’t putting forward their best effort. Equity is not a backhanded attempt to win token points for diversity. Rather, it mean thoughtfully adapting to diverse students the opportunity and tools they need to succeed.

The Pillars of Inclusion 

What exactly does it mean to include a diverse array of people in an equitable environment? Like diversity and equity, inclusion is more complex and nuanced than it might at first seem. 

It’s not as simple as teaching a course with students from all walks of life in your classroom (as faculty are contractually obligated in any case). Nor is it as simple as considering applications for positions in your research lab from students with diverse backgrounds. 

True inclusion means taking intentional actions across multiple facets of the academic environment you oversee. The point is to address the variety of ways in which individuals may feel hindered in contributing fruitfully to that environment.  

The Inclusion Club , a nonprofit health promotion charity based in Australia, has published a framework for inclusion that consists of seven pillars. Understanding each of these pillars will help faculty members who are putting together a DEI statement for hiring or promotion purposes. 

The seven pillars of inclusion identified by The Inclusion Club are: 

• Access: This pillar encompasses not only physical access to a space but also the cultivation of a welcoming environment for people across all dimensions of diversity, as well as the habits and actions that support inclusive access for all. 
• Attitudes: Attitudes about inclusion go beyond actual behavior. For instance,  grudgingly making accommodations because it is required doesn’t meet the goal of true inclusivity. The ideal is to enthusiastically explore avenues for addressing the challenges individuals from diverse groups face. Meeting this ideal means assessing your attitudes and the attitudes of others that you influence in your environment (such as your classroom or your laboratory). Such a self-assessment can provide important insight into how inclusive your environment really is. Attitudes about the environment, about others, and about yourself can reveal how well you make accommodations for the sake of inclusivity.
• Choice: In truly inclusive situations and environments, people across all dimensions of diversity need to be in the same position to exercise choices as any others in the group enjoy. This power to choose isn’t limited to to the obvious, such as using the only accessible workspace made for a wheelchair to fit, reading the part of a character in a play that matches or differs from one’srace or gender, or writing an essay on a topic that is consistent with or at odds with one’s lived experiences. The power to choose must cover the gamut.
• Partnerships: Effective formal and informal partnerships go a long way toward improving the inclusivity of any environment. Avoiding isolation in the classroom or laboratory is critical for making everyone feel included-and every student can benefit from strengthening connections within the classroom.
• Communication: Without clear and effective communication, no amount of good intentions will allow your efforts to embrace any other pillar of inclusion to achieve their full potential. Effectively communicating positive attitudes toward inclusion, the existence of unfettered access to all educational benefits, the opportunities for choice and for partnerships, and the policies that direct your actions is essential. Otherwise, all the thought and energy you are putting into improving inclusion will remain nothing but good intentions. 
• Policy: Your DEI statement is in large part a written communication of your policy regarding inclusion. Keep in mind that policy isn’t always formal rules and requirements but also the principles that guide your action (and the actions of others that are tolerated in your environment).
• Opportunity: Do all individuals in your environment, across every dimension of diversity, have real opportunities to make progress? When they are offered choices, are the necessary mechanisms in place to support each choice they may make, or are the options supposedly available to them only empty offers? Inclusion requires genuine opportunity.

The best DEI statements take into account each of these pillars of inclusion, even if they don’t explicitly list these pillars. 

Can you put together a DEI statement without touching on each of these aspects of inclusion? A DEI statement needs to reflect that you are earnestly striving to create the best learning environment for all of your students, research assistants, and collaborators. 

Thinking through and articulating these aspects of inclusion will only help to improve your classroom environment and academic impact. And it will also make for a stronger DEI statement.

Why Have a DEI Statement?

Now that we’ve talked about what the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion cover, let’s address why you may need to formulate a DEI statement. 

Reason #1: Because You’re Required To 

More and more job listings from education institutions explicitly mention diversity. More and more institutions and departments are focusing on DEI events, training, and continuing education opportunities. 

According to at 2022 report by media company InvestisDigital , a growing number of colleges and universities are requiring faculty members to submit their formal diversity statement when applying for promotion, tenure, or a new appointment.

Likewise, the requirements to submit a statement “seem increasingly common” for job applicants seeking university faculty posts, according to the American Enterprise Institute . Of nearly 1,000 academic job postings that researchers at the American Enterprise Institute surveyed, 19% explicitly required diversity statements, and 68% of listings mention the word “diverse” or “diversity” in some way. 

Four-year schools had the highest percentage—83%—of job postings that required a diversity statement. The requirement was most common in job listings for full-time faculty positions, 73% of which made a diversity statement mandatory. 

With nearly one-fifth of all faculty positions already requiring statements, including the vast majority of full-time appointments at four-year colleges, these features now play a pivotal role in modern academic life. 

Reason #2: Because Your Students Want You To 

The majority of college students seem favorably disposed toward DEI. A 2022 study conducted by BestColleges produced some interesting statistics that highlight how today’s undergraduate students view diversity and inclusive culture, including the following:

• Among students who were given an opportunity to provide input about on-campus efforts before actual institutional decisions about DEI were handed down, of those that responded, 76% opted to participate. Nearly as large a percentage of students (72%) who were able to give feedback to their colleges after such DEI efforts had been announced intended to do so.
• Nearly three-quarters of students reported believing that diversity among staff will facilitate positive change on campus.
• More than half of the students surveyed expressed the desire to participate in DEI efforts on their college campuses. 

The data suggests that it isn’t only students of certain minority populations that are interested in DEI efforts. Students across all dimensions of diversity and from all backgrounds are increasingly interested in advancing equity, creating more inclusive learning, promoting teaching practices that recognize the importance of diversity. 

Given the longstanding history of college students’ involvement in social justice efforts, it may not be surprising that students of all populations are taking up the cause to make classrooms more inclusive and fair for everyone. 

Your students may never see your actual DEI statement. But all the evidence suggests that they do care about how you perceive diversity, equity, and inclusion and how you implement those principles both in and outside the classroom. 

Reason #3: Because You Already Hold Views on DEI—So You Might as Well Articulate Them  

Even if you have not codified your views on diversity, equity, and inclusion into a written document, you do have a perspective on these topic. Every faculty person does. 

Perhaps your perspective on DEI is along the lines of “I don’t think DEI is really an issue” or “Isn’t it enough that we all just follow the golden rule?” But what if your course content, classroom materials, and teaching style are called into question for failing to be sufficient inclusive, diverse, or equitable?

Students, fellow faculty, and administrators are increasingly likely to pose such questions, and it’s best to have well thought out answers that show how you are working through the underlying concerns for the benefit of all affected parties.

A DEI statement, by formally articulating your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, will shape and challenge your perspective on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

This in turn will enable you to adapt and implement your approach to DEI within your academic environment. As an academic who is both a teacher and researcher, you already know the significance of challenging and revising assumptions and norms. 

What Makes a Good DEI Statement? 

A DEI statement is a written expression of your perspectives, policies, and actions in managing and improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within your sphere of academic influence. 

As in other such written documents, a good DEI statement includes clear and meaningful language that uses concrete examples and lays out specific plans and actionable efforts you plan to make—in this case, for creating a more inclusive, diverse, and fair academic environment. 

What Are Colleges and Universities Looking for in DEI Statements from Faculty? 

A DEI statement needs to address the following topics:  

• Your knowledge about matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Your past experience with activities emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Your future plans for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, particularly in your classroom and lab

The institution to which you are applying, or from which you are seeking tenure or promotion, may provide additional guidelines. 

For example, the University of Pennsylvania Career Services urges applicants for faculty jobs to consider not only the university’s goals and policies but also questions about: 

• Why diversity is important
• How thinking about diversity can or has affected your teaching and research
• How you might effectively interact with diverse groups not just in the classroom but also in advising, mentoring, and other university service roles 

Applicants for university-level jobs do well to think about ways that they can advance diversity. For instance, faculty need to help diverse groups of students to prepare for their careers. This is especially important given the global society in which both industry work and academic research flourish today. 

The content of your DEI statement doesn’t have to be split evenly among the three bullet points just listed. Unless you’re a researcher in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion specifically, it may not make much sense to devote a third of your DEI statement content to your knowledge of these subjects. If you have little past experience working with diverse populations, you may not have much to say on that front. 

What’s more important than striking an even balance among such topics is that your DEI statement addresses matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion authentically. You want to exhibit a willingness to listen and learn, and a commitment to taking action. 

What’s Not Required to Write a DEI Statement 

A good DEI statement needs to be honest and thoughtful. It must not be mechanical and cynical. You therefore want to avoid:

• Blindly and completely following a specific philosophical or political viewpoint
• Giving passing scores, job opportunities, or preferential or “unfair” treatment to individual students or research assistant candidates purely because they belong to different populations across the dimensions of diversity
• Expressing guilt or blame if you don’t fit into historically oppressed groups or if you come from a background or group that is considered to be “privileged” in some way 

What Assumptions Do Faculty Need to Make to Write a DEI Statement? 

Your first assumption must be that colleges and universities are grappling with real issues. Without that assumption, it’s difficult to develop any sort of policy or plan to address those issues. 

Beyond this, it helps in crafting a statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion if you embrace certain other working assumptions. To promote equity rather than simply equality, it makes sense that you would need to assume that students from different backgrounds or in different diverse populations do, in fact, face some unique challenges. 

This may mean adopting or at least considering with an open mind the viewpoints that systemic inequality exists (at least in some situations) and that belonging to certain groups confers privileges that other groups are not given (which, again, can be situational). 

You can, however, write a solid DEI statement even if you approach these assumptions with a more skeptical eye. As a scholar and researcher, as well as an educator, you know the value of revising and correcting existing beliefs in light of new data. And you have also by now developed a certain intellectual nimbleness for being able to get into another’s shoes and being able to see the world from different perspectives. 

Try to understand why this statement may be important to others. 

And what’s important to your colleagues in the academy is, by definition, important to you, as a fellow colleague. If your natural inclination is to be skeptical of DEI statements, encourage yourself to be skeptical of your skepticism. 

How to Write a Diversity Statement

Don’t just sit down in front of the computer and start hitting the keyboard. You need to do some research first.  

Understand the Length and Complexity Expected of Your Statement. 

Some institutional statements, like OHSU School of Medicine’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Strategic Action Plan (2021 - 2025), are dozens of pages long. The required diversity statement for candidates applying for a graduate coordinator role at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is only one page long. 

Before you start writing, understand how long your statement should be. This step can help you plan and outline what you want to say and how deep you need to go into the ideas and research behind diversity, equity, and inclusion. A one-page statement should likely to be more action-oriented, while a lengthier document may more thoroughly address not only the how but also the why of DEI efforts. 

Some academic institutions provide specific information on what a statement should cover. Make sure your statement therefore answers what is actually being asked. 

If you are applying to multiple institutions, you may need to adjust your approach for the separate requests of each school. Indeed, you want to fine-tune your statement to align with the topics and questions you are being asked to cover.

If the academic institution to which you are applying, or at which you are seeking tenure or promotion, doesn’t specify a required or recommended length for statements, two pages or less of single-spaced text is a good rule of thumb, according to The University of Texas at Austin Center for Teaching and Learning . 

Unless otherwise specified, your statement should be written in the first person and include both introductory and conclusion paragraphs, as well as separate paragraphs for each main idea presented, each of which includes a topic sentence that encapsulates the point of the paragraph.  

Read Some Relevant Statements (Including Your School’s). 

Just as you would be wise to look at some templates or example resumes and cover letters before writing your own, you should also familiarize yourself with the typical form and content of other diversity statements before you start composing your own. 

Obviously, you can’t just copy others’ work, but you can draw upon what’s already out there to plan how you will develop your own unique statement. 

Most importantly, if your institution has a DEI statement, you should review that document. As part of that institution’s community, you will ideally have perspectives and policies on DEI that reflect the position of the school. Looking at other examples (we’ve compiled several below) can also help you explore what successful statements can look like and what topics they can cover. 

Keep in mind that the different types of diversity statements aren’t all equally relevant to jobs in higher ed. Private-sector companies now often adopt their own statement requirements. 

While you certainly can read and learn from these statements, they often focus more on the company’s role and responsibilities as an employer of a diverse workforce than on the actions one would take to create inclusive classroom or laboratory environments. 

They may also focus more on brand messaging and bold, attention-seeking headlines than would be expected or appropriate for a candidate’s or faculty member’s diversity statement. 

As you’re reading others’ diversity statements, take notes. What content speaks to you? What do you disagree with? What do you wish the author had elaborated on? What about it would help or hinder a candidate’s new appointment or a faculty member’s promotion? 

When you do start writing, these notes will be valuable reminders of what content you wish to cover in your own statement. 

Brainstorm About What DEI Means to You. 

Now that you’ve done some exploration of the current ecosystem, it’s time to get to work. People undertake the pre-writing process in various ways. Perhaps you prefer free-writing, diagraming your thoughts, or putting together a simple outline. 

Whatever your preference, brainstorm about each of the three main areas of focus: your knowledge; your prior track record of activities; and your future promotional plans for as they relate to equity, inclusion, and diversity.

Use Your Notes and Research to Write a First Draft. 

It’s time to start putting words on the page. If you find yourself feeling stuck, remind yourself that this first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s an opportunity to start putting your ideas down on paper. 

You can and undoubtedly will make revisions, some of them substantial, by the time you get to the final draft—even if the statement you’re putting together is a short one. 

Many writers find it easier to start with an outline that covers what they want to convey. Then you can either work straight through the outline or jump around as inspiration strikes. 

If you’re struggling with an introductory sentence or paragraph, or with headings that break up the text, consider putting in placeholder text for the time being and revisiting these sections after you put together the rest of the draft. 

Often in writing, the best introductions are written last, after writers have fully fleshed out, on paper as well as in their minds, what they want to say. 

Accept That You Don’t Have All the Answers. 

One of the biggest obstacles that can hold you back when writing your is feeling like you need to have all the answers. In fact, no one has all the answers. In fact, this particular field of research is still in its infancy. 

Most colleges and universities aren’t expecting every faculty member to be an expert on DEI. Making it sound as if you already know it all—and aren’t open to continuing to learn and grow in this area—is “supremely problematic,” according to The Chronicle of Higher Education . Above all, make clear in your diversity statement that you are willing to learn with an open mind and to listen to a variety of viewpoints. 

Review, Revise, and Polish. 

Once you finish a draft of your statement, give yourself some time so that you can read it over again with fresh eyes. Don’t be afraid to go through as many revisions as necessary until you can say with confidence that the finished draft effectively communicates your best thoughts, perspectives, and plans on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Different writers may find different methods of editing helpful. Perhaps you want to read the draft on the computer screen and make comments. You may prefer to print the document out and edit it with a pen. It’s always a good idea to read aloud your writing to help you catch mistakes or missing content. Of course, you should run the document through a spell-checker and grammar-checker tool. 

Finally, nothing beats a second set of eyes. Ask someone you trust to read over your work and talk you through it. Demand an honest reaction, and urge your reader to challenge you on any blind spots and weaknesses that may have eluded you in writing it. 

Allow Your Statement to Evolve. 

Your perceptions of diversity, equity, and inclusion can and should change over time. You don’t have to constantly revise your written statement with every new insight or experience you have that is relevant to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

But you should recognize that your thoughts, guiding principles, and policies may evolve throughout your career. It may make sense to update your statement at times to reflect these shifts, especially as DEI concerns are touched on into your course syllabi or research lab policies. 

What Not to Do 

We’ve offered writing tips for what you should do. What about suggestions for what you shouldn’t do? Here are the three most important things to avoid when putting together your statement, whether for a new faculty appointment, or for promotion or tenure. 

DON’T Be Dishonest in Representing Your Own Experiences or Sexual Orientation. 

The point of requiring the diversity or inclusion statement isn’t to hurt the employment or education prospects of individuals who are not part of specific minority groups. Rather, it’s to build a faculty that is committed to making equitable adjustments to improve the inclusion of people across all dimensions of diversity. 

Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not (that is, a member of a group you aren’t truly part of) to suggest that you have firsthand experience with inequity, inequality, or discrimination if you don’t. Similarly, don’t try to equate other instances of mistreatment with the challenges people from historically oppressed backgrounds experience. 

These experiences may certainly be valid and can even help you develop empathy, or at least sympathy, for individuals who face challenges due to inequity and non-inclusivity. However, beware of comparing different forms of mistreatment or oppression.

What should you say if you can’t truthfully speak to having firsthand experiences with prejudice, discrimination, or systemic inequality based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, or other dimensions of diversity? The answer will be different depending on your lived experiences. 

You might discuss your own history of working with diverse populations in the field or classroom. You might cite some empirical research findings related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and explain how your knowledge of this research has affected your worldview and interaction with students and colleagues. 

You might opt to focus less on your past activities with diversity, equity, and inclusion (especially if your firsthand experiences here are sparse) and instead focus on your future plans for prioritizing DEI in your classroom or lab. 

Does having a documented history of taking effective action to counter racism, sexism, and other biases and bigotry look good? 

Of course. However, if the honest answer is that you have only recently begun to dig into the different dimensions of diversity and how they affect access to education and occupational opportunities, that’s the answer you should choose. 

DON’T Pander or Placate—Plan and Act. 

Do not attempt to write simply what you believe your reviewer wants to hear. You can try that, but you won’t get away with it. 

Avoid including language that panders or placates. This type of language comes across as inauthentic. It undermines your credibility as well as your integrity. 

If you really want a new academic job or really want to be promoted at your existing academic job, ask yourself why you want to be at that host institution in the first place. And then write your statement as a good-faith effort.

Your DEI statement is a perfect example of an occasion where “show, don’t tell” is good advice. Focus on planning for the kind of inclusive environment the school and department want you to create in your classroom and research laboratory. What actions can you take? What policies will foster the environment you are being charged with producing as a professor? 

Focusing less on the philosophy and more on what’s actionable can help make the prospect of writing a DEI statement more agreeable to an instructor who might otherwise be reluctant to undertake this task. 

Approaching your DEI statement more as an action plan than a treatise on what diversity means to you allows you to treat it more objectively, as just one more part of the application package or employment requirements. 

DON’T Use Vague Language. 

The best, clearest, most effective communication occurs when you use specific rather than vague language. In fact, some rubrics, like the University of California, Berkeley’s “Rubric for Assessing Candidate Contributions to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging ,” urges hiring committees to give candidates who use vague language the lowest possible scores. If you discover that your statement uses vague language, consider adding concrete examples or telling a concise yet compelling story as part of your DEI statement. 

Often, writers include vague language when they don’t have positive feelings or firsthand experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion. People in an overrepresented group may feel that they have little more to say on the topic besides “having more people from [insert underrepresented group] would benefit the field.” 

Vague sentiments like this are not enough. If there’s an imbalance between over- and underrepresented groups, what can you do specifically to help rectify that imbalance. You won’t be able to resolve the problem, to be sure, but what can you do to make a positive contribution? 

On the occasions when you have encountered more diversity in your field, what perspectives or insights have individuals with different backgrounds and experiences been able to add? Posing and answering such questions requires you to think critically about the specific ways that increasing diversity and inclusion in your field and promoting equity in your classroom could be valuable. 

Vague language that appears in a statement often consists of platitudes about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academic world. But it’s also possible to use vague language in describing the actions you plan to take. 

Vagueness about your plans to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion can suggest that you lack concrete ideas about what to do here and that your statement is essentially lip service—that you aren’t committed to actually doing anything. 

To avoid this perception, think through in more detail what you actually intend to do to advance these causes. Look for concrete steps and examples that you can reasonably include in your plans, such as establishing internship and mentorship opportunities, holding dialogues and panels, presenting leadership training opportunities, and laying the groundwork to establish communities of support. Don’t just use words like celebrate, empower, grow, welcome, and authentic. Make them mean something.

Example Statements

If you want to read real examples of faculty statements, you’re in luck. To guide and help applicants and current faculty members, numerous colleges and universities have published examples of statements that have actually been submitted to them. 

• The University of California-San Diego  
• The University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• The University of Georgia  

If you’re curious about what sort of diversity statements exist outside of academia, check out Included Software Inc. ’s roundup of statements from leaders in the software industry, many of which are household names. 

Sample Answers to DEI Questions 

We’ve emphasized the need to use concrete examples and avoid vague language. It’s only fair if we follow our own advice in this guide to writing them. Read on for a diversity statement samples (and explanations) of bad, good, and middling answers such as might be a part of your statement. 

Bad Answers

Here are some responses that aren’t likely to score well on a diversity and inclusion statement, based on rubrics like the University of California, Berkeley’s Rubric for Assessing Candidate Contributions to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging : 

• “I don’t think DEI is really a problem anymore.”
• “Isn’t it enough that we all just follow the golden rule?”

When people say things like “I don’t think DEI is really a problem anymore,” they tend to mistake progress that has been made for progress has yet to be made. 

For example, it’s true that physical access to learning environments is not barred by race, ethnicity, and gender as it once was. Nor are students in the United States (specifically, those accepted to a school or degree program) turned away from a classroom because of their race, gender identity, orientation, or disability status. 

However, inclusion has other important facets where progress remains to be made, For instance, students arrive at college with varying degrees of preparation. Some can hit the ground running with more difficult courses. Others may need more help to get up to speed. Will you help such students get up to speed or will you write them off as the products of a poor high school educational experience? And what specifically will you do to help bring them up to speed? 

In any case, if you find yourself writing things like “DEI is not a problem” or “just follow the golden rule”, you need to dig deeper. Familiarize yourself with the literature on DEI. Think about obstacles people because they come from different groups. Take some more time to research the experiences of diverse populations in education, scholarship, research, and the workforce. 

• “Diversity is important for the field.” 
• “The field needs more people of [insert minority group].”  

Vague language is the problem with these statements. You may think that by acknowledging DEI as a real issue in your field that you’re helping your cause. However, this sort of vague language reflects such superficial thinking that the University of California, Berkeley’s rubric awards a maximum of one or two out of five points to writers who use such language.

Although you’re impulses may be in the right direction, you would do well to explore more deeply why such diversity matters, what it can bring to your field, and how it might be achieved. 

Good Answers

Every diversity statement is unique, but those with the best answers invariably come across as authentic, articulating specific plans and concrete details.    

• “I will actively seek opportunities in research, teaching, and service to enhance diversity and opportunity for individuals from historically under-represented backgrounds, specifically by...” And then include specifics such as mentoring students, helping them find and procure scholarships and fellowships, becoming affiliated with DEI-focused centers and extracurricular activities, launching targeted outreach programs, etc.
• “My commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as demonstrated by my past experiences and strategic plans, align with the institution’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion as a fundamental part of its mission.” And then include specific examples of past activities and future plans.

Middling Answers

As the name suggests, middling answers fall somewhere between the best and the worst responses. Often, middling answers arise when the writer has some appreciation and even enthusiasm for DEI. But this same writer hasn’t thought through the underlying issues deeply, and thus is not yet in a position for formulate a cogent plan of action to advance DEI. 

• “I will develop an outreach program.” Without specifics as to who will be targeted by the program, what the faculty member’s role will be, how the outreach will be implemented, or what outcomes the writer hopes to produce, this is at best a middling answer.
• “I actively participated in ...” Without specifics about the area of activity and how one’s efforts have made a palpable difference to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, this is at best a middling answer. 

Middling answers show that you’re on the right path, but you have some more work to do. This may mean getting more actively getting involved efforts to promote inclusion and equity. 

DEI Beyond the Statement 

Your statement lays out your views on this important subject. But schools and departments don’t just want to see good intentions. They want to see that what you write in that statement is also implemented in your academic life and work. 

What Activities Should Faculty Be Taking Part in (and Avoiding) 

Schools and departments like to see their faculty advance DEI through activities like the following: 

• Participate in formal continuing education and professional development opportunities offered by your school, including workshops, panels, and expert lectures. 
• Make time for reading up on pertinent issues. Many colleges and universities offer a list of recommended reading (as well as other media, like podcasts) on the subjects. If your school doesn’t have its own recommended reading list, consider the books and articles on the recommended reading list of the nonprofit organization EDUCAUSE . 
• You can also view publicly available recommended DEI reading lists compiled by institutions such as The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University , the University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries , and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University . 
• Take part in on-campus efforts, clubs, centers, and mentorship opportunities. 

At the same time, schools and departments discourage their faculty from undermining DEI through activities and attitudes like the following: 

• Outright cynicism about the institution’s perspectives and policies on DEI-for example, saying things like “Isn’t it enough that we all just do top quality work?”
• Letting biases get in the way of intentional efforts to promote diversity.
• Casting yourself in either a “savior” or “victim” role. Certainly, your personal experiences are valid, but the purpose of your efforts isn’t to draw attention to yourself. Rather, the focus should be on providing an academic environment in which all are welcome, given opportunities, and can thrive.
• Being unwilling to listen to other perspectives or learn from new research. Our understanding of DEI is itself evolving, just as research in every area of the academy. Schools and departments want to see an openness to DEI. They want to see a willingness to accept diverse individuals and learn from their lived experiences. They want their faculty to integrate such knowledge and experience into their academic lives. 

Ultimately, your statement isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about shifting your mindset so that you make intentional efforts to improve outcomes in your teaching, mentoring, research, scholarship, service, advising, and professional collaborations, and communications. 

Conclusion 

The prospect of writing a diversity statement can seem formidable. If you’re up for a promotion or for tenure, it can be disconcerting to find that your school now suddenly wants a diversity statement in addition to all the other materials you need to pull together. Likewise, if you’re a freshly minted PhD whose energies have been focused overwhelmingly on research, you are stressed enough as it is in looking for a new faculty appointment. To write this statement may therefore seem like a big additional challenge. The reality is, however, that if you’re planning for a future in academia, you will likely have to confront this challenge. 

The good news is, now that you understand the best practices, the actual process of writing a solid statement is quite doable. As an academic who has experienced personal and professional success, you’ve met other challenges, and you can meet this one too. 

For all kinds of interesting articles and helpful tips, check out our Blog for students at every stage of the educational journey.

Or find study tips, learning tools, tips for campus life and much more with a look at our Student Resources Headquarters .

How to Write an Effective Diversity Statement for Graduate School

By ProFellow Founder, Dr. Vicki Johnson

I mentor many graduate school applicants in my Fully Funded Course and Mentorship Program who are seeking to enter fully funded PhD and master’s programs. A trend I have seen in recent years is the request for a required or optional “diversity statement” as part of the graduate school application. This essay is distinct from the personal statement, which is a document that describes your personal and academic background, your goals and your motivations for graduate study. The diversity statement typically prompts you to respond to questions about how you will contribute to the diversity of the student population. When graduate schools say “diversity”, they mean characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, language, abilities/disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, academic and professional backgrounds, political beliefs, and geographic region, to name a few.

Why graduate schools ask for a Diversity Statement

The purpose of a diversity statement is to help universities form a student body that includes people of different demographic backgrounds and experiences – particularly one that is more inclusive of people from groups that have faced institutionalized discrimination and oppression. It is also a measure used to uphold the institution’s mission to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion, which may be a relatively new value set that was established in response to social injustice in academia and wider society.

Before preparing your diversity statement, it can be helpful to understand the history and meaning of the university’s mission statement and values. Often, universities don’t want only to achieve a more diverse student body; they also want to select students who themselves are committed to addressing inequity and forms of historical and institutional discrimination, no matter what background they come from.

Because of this, it’s important to take the diversity statement just as seriously as the other components of your application. The diversity statement gives admissions committees a window into what you will uniquely bring to the university beyond your academic work and how you will engage in the university’s mission to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in society as a student and alumnus.

How to address Diversity Statement questions

Questions about diversity can be overwhelming. However, they all boil down to two objectives: 1) demonstrate the diversity you would bring to the student body and 2) explain how you address diversity, equity, and inclusion in your own life.

For the first part, you’ll want to discuss the diversity that you would add in the traditional sense, such as race, gender, socio-economic background, and identity. Diversity can also be expressed through your personal experiences, such as being a first-generation college student or an international student, having a military or service background, being a part of a religious minority, losing a parent at a young age, having a disability, being a single parent, having a medical diagnosis, or having a unique upbringing. Don’t assume that you have nothing to bring in terms of diversity – think about what unique experiences you have had, and you will almost certainly find something to highlight.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that your diversity statement is not a place to detail traumatizing experiences of discrimination and injustice. Instead, it is a place to discuss what you learned from these experiences and how those experiences have influenced and inspired your own social impact work. Application committees are seeking to understand the worldview you hold and identify if that worldview is aligned with their values and mission. Frame your personal experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion with this in mind so that the application committee feels inspired by your story , rather than wondering if you’ll be committed to helping them further their mission of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus.

The second part of the diversity statement is showing how you are actively creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society through professional and personal pursuits. Here are a few questions you can speak to:

• Where do you volunteer?
• Who do you mentor, professionally or casually?
• What are you doing to promote policies that create greater equity and access to opportunities at school and work and in your community?
• What issues have you fundraised or advocated for?

The best diversity statements use specific examples to show a personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Demonstrate your compassion for those suffering injustice – and then show how that compassion informs your research, teaching, professional work, activism, and community involvement.

Final tip: Educate yourself

As you write your diversity statement, be sure to acknowledge your privilege if you have benefited from advantages beyond your control – whether that is white privilege , socio-economic privilege, educational privilege or other types of privilege. Privilege can be described as “benefits that belong to people because they fit into a specific social group or have certain dimensions to their identity.” If you feel ignorant to concepts of privilege, now is a good time to educate yourself ! This piece of your application is an exercise to test if you understand the true costs and impacts of social inequity in the world.

Applying to graduate school and seeking funding opportunities? Get our FREE Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards here!

Dr. Vicki Johnson is Founder and CEO of ProFellow, the world’s leading online resource for professional and academic fellowships. She is a four-time fellow, top Ph.D. scholar, Fulbright recipient and an award-winning social entrepreneur. She is the Creator and Director of  Fully Funded , an award-winning online course and mentorship program for graduate school applicants seeking to find and win full funding. 

© ProFellow, LLC / Vicki Johnson 2021, all rights reserved.

Related Posts:

• Register Now: Personal Statement Bootcamp with Dr. Vicki Johnson
• 5 Myths About Grad School Personal Statements
• What Makes a Great Personal Statement?
• How to a Write Personal Statement for Graduate School
• #6: Prepare a Compelling Personal Statement

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• 9 Inspiring Diversity and Inclusion...

9 Inspiring Diversity and Inclusion Statement Examples

What is a diversity and inclusion statement?

What should a good diversity and inclusion statement include?

• Start with the actual statement. A diversity and inclusion statement is short and to the point. As such, it’s a great way to let visitors to your page immediately know your organization’s stance on DEIB. 
• Add data. If you have the data on your company’s current diversity and inclusion progress, include it within your statement. This provides more tangible evidence of your DEI position. Consider, for instance, the percentage of women or people of color holding leadership positions in your organization or info about the gender pay gap (if there is one). Be transparent. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that your organization isn’t quite there yet regarding its DEIB goals. Or that you should have started working on them a bit sooner. As long as this doesn’t become a standard company line, with little intention of improving or achieving these goals. 
• Specify your commitments. Define your commitments, whether in brief or expansively. In the examples included, some companies published their main DEIB commitments with an in-depth description of each initiative. Others preferred brevity when describing their DEI commitments. 
• Add resources that enrich your DEI statement. Some (large) organizations have resources they use to help support their DEI work that they include on their DEI statement page. Consider including documents on representation and pay, workforce diversity reports, racial equity strategies, etc. Additionally, including employee or candidate testimonials can further enrich the statement.  
• Ensure your website is accessible. Inclusivity shouldn’t just extend to the workplace, but also across your owned media. Ensure that your webpage has been developed to be accessible to people with different needs/preferences and disabilities and that it meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines .    

9 Inspiring diversity and inclusion statement examples

1. workday .

What we like about this statement

DEI statement top tip Connect your DEI statement to your company’s mission and goals. 

What we like about this statement  

DEI statement top tip Formulate a powerful title for your diversity and inclusion statement. 

4. T-Mobile 

DEI statement top tip Make your DEI statement evocative by including emotive words that help bring your words to life.

What we like about this statement 

DEI statement top tip Consider your target audience when writing your DEI statement. Does your company prioritize its internal audience (your employees) as well as the external audience (communities, customers, suppliers, etc.,)? Your DEI statement should speak directly to these audiences instead of in general terms.  

6. Target 

DEI statement top tip If possible, link your company values/purpose to a broader societal purpose. 

7. Spotify 

DEI statement top tip A DEI statement is a serious and public commitment, but it doesn’t have to be dry and unimaginative. Personalize your DEI statement to your brand by using language that illustrates what your company does.

DEI statement top tip Include information to back up your DEI statement.  Do you have a DEIB initiative that you are particularly proud of or areas you are making great strides? Take the opportunity to showcase these on the DEI statement page.  Statistics indicating your progress are compelling when illustrating what you as an organization are achieving.

DEI statement top tip Don’t be afraid to be transparent about your DEI progress as an organization. 

9. LEGO Group

DEI statement top tip If relevant, link your DEI statement to your company’s future vision and goals.  These goals can be internally or externally focused but must be related to developing diversity, equity and inclusion. 

How to write a DEI statement: Best-practice principles

• Come up with a strong title . This doesn’t mean you need to spend hours developing a clever title. But try to have something other than ‘Diversity and Inclusion at X’ as your title. ‘Adobe for All’ is an excellent example of a strong title that says it all without being too creative. Spotify’s ‘Don’t just work here. Belong here.’ is another original title.
• Keep things short and sweet. Try to encapsulate the essence of your organization’s DEI mission statement in one or two sentences. Both the T-Mobile and Nike examples have done this very well. 
• Link it back to your mission & values. This is something that we see in almost all of this article’s diversity and inclusion statement examples. Workday, Target, and LEGO Group (among others) have achieved this well.   
• Consider your target audience. Based on your company’s DEI goals, consider who you as a company is targeting. Are you internally focused on your employees, or has your company also prioritized the social communities, your customers and your suppliers? Highlight your target audience when crafting your DEI statement. 
• Add your company’s unique view. Adding your organization’s unique sauce to the DEI statement is one of the things that can set you apart. This could be achieved through including company-specific language (as used in the Spotify, LEGO, and Nike examples), but also conveyed through your sincerity (such as HubSpot and Adobe) or in the form of specific focus areas (as with Boots and its focus on its employees). Importantly, it should reflect your company’s identity. 
• Be honest. Sounds obvious? Perhaps it is. But with so many eyes on your organization’s DEI statement (employees, candidates, customers, business partners, etc.), it can be tempting to write something that paints an unreal picture of your actual DEI status. Being honest about where you are and where you want to be will ring truer within the marker.     

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How to Write a Diversity Statement

A diversity statement gives you the chance to show that you understand the barriers that underrepresented groups face. It’s also a way to tell if an institution is committed to diversity and equity.

The hiring committee will use your statement to determine whether you have the skills, experience, and willingness to contribute to a culture of inclusion.

Why it Matters

Diversity, inclusion, and equity are important concepts in our highly interconnected world.

While diversity speaks to the presence of differences between people or groups in a given setting, inclusion ensures that people of different backgrounds feel valued and receive a seat at the table. Equity ensures that everyone is a full participant, with acknowledgment of the advantages and barriers that exist for different people. For participants to feel that they belong in a given setting, their contributions and perspectives must be welcomed and encouraged.

Social scientist Scott Page has examined how groups of people with diverse perspectives are more innovative and better at problem-solving . His work demonstrates that cognitive differences and differences in identity lead to better performance and improved results. Economist Richard Freeman, meanwhile, has demonstrated that ethnically diverse groups of scientific collaborators receive greater numbers of citations .

You may have recognized the importance of cognitive diversity in your own field, be it from interdisciplinary forays or the impact of bringing new perspectives to bear on an issue.

If a hiring committee requires a diversity statement, it informs you that there is an existing conversation happening in that department around cognitive diversity and the importance of supporting underrepresented groups.

When considering how to write a diversity statement, you’ll want to think through your personal history and professional involvement. Use that experience to effectively communicate your attentiveness to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Consider Your Story

Think about obstacles you have overcome to get to where you are. Acknowledge, too, ways in which you may be privileged.

This is an opportunity to recognize and communicate how you empathize with those who confront challenges. Do not, however, create false parallels between your experiences and the challenges of marginalized groups you are not a part of.

Build from your personal experience overcoming challenges to think about how you would contribute to departmental culture. There may be committees and professional societies you can be involved in, and ways you can extend opportunities to students.

If you do not have first-hand experience of marginalization or underrepresentation, approach that honestly. You can demonstrate how your education and contributions seek to support inclusion efforts.

If you need more experience working with diversity, find ways to get involved and become familiar with the conversation. Your diversity statement could discuss the research and data on the impact of diversity.

Research & Define the Issue

A diversity statement should speak to commonly accepted understandings of diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, equal employment opportunity laws provide protection from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, and genetic information. Consider, too, socioeconomic and first-generation status.

Equally important is your ability to understand intersectionality (e.g. a person can be both a woman and minoritized). Remember the importance of appropriate language as well as context.  For example, a group may be large in population but underrepresented in a given setting due to structural barriers. We refer to such a group as minoritized, rather than as a minority group, to highlight the systemic inequality that creates underrepresentation.

Your diversity statement will need to be tailored to each institution to which you apply. Review how the institution defines its commitment to diversity (for example, the UL Lafayette Strategic Plan for Inclusive Excellence ) and how the institution has implemented those plans. Find out what initiatives the institution offers, and identify how you would contribute and become involved.

Finally, define what diversity means in your discipline. You may be able to look at the ways in which major conferences and prominent organizations in your field approach diversity and inclusion efforts. Get Specific Your diversity statement should describe how your research, teaching, and service have contributed to a culture of diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Rather than enumerating your efforts, however, focus on showing how you have helped people from underrepresented and/or diverse backgrounds succeed. Remember that actions speak volumes.

Hone in on your commitment toward achieving equity and enhancing diversity, and specify how you will continue to be an ally and advocate.

Keep Learning

The conversation and research around diversity, inclusion, and equity continue to evolve, so take the time to track down resources that will keep you informed. Scott Page ’s work, as mentioned, provides a deep dive into the impact of diversity.

The Modern Languages Association’s webinar on how to write a diversity statement offers further tips on communicating your professional and personal experiences effectively.

On campus, you can look into Project ALLIES , which works to foster a campus climate in which all members of the University community, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, may feel safe, supported, respected, and affirmed. The University also offers a Courageous Conversations workshop series on diversity and inclusion issues.

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Graduate College

How to write an effective diversity statement (essay).

Tanya Golash-Boza gives faculty job applicants eight tips for writing a stellar diversity statement that stands out to search committees. 

https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2016/06/10/how-write-effective-diversity-statement-essay