The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Outreach Group Corner is a regular component of Amstat News in which statisticians write and educate our community about JEDI-related matters. If you have an idea or article for the column, email the JEDI Corner manager at jedicorner@datascijedi.org.

Lydia Gibson is a second-year, master’s-level graduate student at California State University East Bay, where she is president and cofounder of their American Statistical Association student chapter. Gibson served as the 2022 co-chair of the ASA JEDI Outreach Group Student and Young Professionals Committee, alongside Robert Tumasian III. In her free time, Gibson enjoys learning about data visualization, attending workshops and other events to deepen her knowledge of the R programming language, and hanging out with her classmates.

The Student and Young Professionals Committee of the ASA Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Outreach Group was established in 2022 to address the unique challenges faced by students and young professionals—those within five years of their highest terminal degree—as they navigate the statistics community. The committee provides students and other early-career folks the opportunity to build a diverse, inclusive, and respectful community to connect and share ideas with like-minded individuals as they develop their career aspirations. Through collaborating with other JEDI committees, the committee members publicize and address their JEDI-related concerns and interests and learn how to advocate for their unmet needs within their institutions, whether at school, work, or elsewhere.

Vision

In February of 2022, Robert Tumasian III and I were featured in the JEDI Corner article titled, “Cochairs Discuss Plans for Student and Young Professionals Committee,” in which we shared our vision for what we hoped to achieve during our one-year tenure as co-chairs. Our goals included compiling a repository of scholarship and fellowship opportunities for underserved and historically excluded groups in the statistics community; encouraging and providing resources for students to build ASA student chapters at their schools; and sharing resources and useful tools for career preparation, internships, and job applications. We envisioned building a lasting community for students and young professionals intent on upholding the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in all their institutions and other communities.

Community

The JEDI Student and Young Professionals Committee held meetings in March, June, September, and December of 2022. During the first meeting, Robert and I announced the establishment of the committee Slack workspace, where members can discuss JEDI-related topics between quarterly meetings.

Following the second meeting, Robert and I began hosting a series of 30-minute coffee chats on Slack, which allowed members to discuss JEDI and ASA events, as well as other relevant topics of interest.

Previous coffee chats included discussions about our experiences with networking and attending conferences and tips for applying to graduate school, along with factors to consider and how and from whom to request letters of recommendation.

The Slack workspace has grown to include more than 50 student and early-career committee members.

Collaborations

Committee members are active participants in many of the other JEDI Outreach Group committees, including the awards, communications, professional development, and program committees. From its inception, the JEDI Outreach Group Student and Young Professionals Committee Awards Working Group collaborated with the JEDI Awards Committee to tabulate a list of non-ASA funding opportunities to make available on the ASA website.

Our members also help manage JEDI Outreach Group social media accounts, marketing upcoming events and sharing JEDI-related content.

In collaboration with the Professional Development Committee, the Student and Young Professionals Committee launched a three-month pilot mentorship program in October of 2022 to provide students and young professionals from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to learn from early, mid-career, and senior professionals, as well as gain career insights into their sector of interest.

Committee members also played a vital role in developing and executing the JEDI Outreach Group Fall Webinar, which focused on graduate school admissions. Two members served as co-moderators for the event.

Future

The work of a Jedi is never done, so committee members continue to address pertinent JEDI-related issues and pursue initiatives that allow students and young professionals to thrive in the statistics community. One such initiative is advocating to make networking opportunities such as in-person conferences more accessible by addressing the financial, geographical, and other barriers students and young professionals face in attending.

As I prepare to graduate from my MS statistics program this spring, I look forward to passing the torch to the future committee co-chairs and continuing as a committee member.