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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

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SRCD embraces a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across its scientific programming, publications, and professional development efforts.

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SRCD's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Child development is inextricably linked to, and shaped by, the diversity of human biology, experience, society, and culture. Understanding and investigating this diversity is essential to building a comprehensive knowledge base in the developmental sciences. Integrative developmental science must reflect diversity in the individuals and communities it studies, in the policies and practices it addresses, and in the scientific workforce it engages and trains. SRCD embraces a commitment to and support for diversity in all its forms.

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SRCD Coalition  

The SRCD Coalition for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility is the Society's member-driven body working to advance equity and inclusion in developmental science. The Coalition brings together SRCD's Caucuses, the Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee, the Equity and Justice Committee, the International Affairs Committee, and the Student and Early Career Council — uniting the full breadth of SRCD's member communities around a shared commitment to an inclusive and representative field. 

SRCD Caucuses

Caucuses of SRCD support the goal of integrating diversity in the broader society, as outlined in Goal 3 of SRCD’s Strategic Plan. Caucuses serve the purpose of providing support, networking opportunities, and dissemination venues for research by and about members of groups underrepresented in the study of child development. The Caucuses also advise about and advocate for diverse and inclusive representation on SRCD’s Governing Council, Committees, Editorial Boards, Review Panels, and Task Forces.

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Committees in the Coalition

  • The Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee is responsible for the development and oversight of activities pertaining to the participation of minority scholars in SRCD and for promoting developmental research on ethnic minority children and adolescents.
  • The Equity and Justice Committee is responsible for addressing issues of equity and justice in child development, particularly in an increasingly heterogenous global community.
  • The International Affairs Committee advocates for an international perspective on child development research and theory within the Society and its work.
  • Student & Early Career Council represents student and early career interests on SRCD committees and fosters the development of student and early career scholars who are the future of interdisciplinary research on infant, child and adolescent development in diverse contexts and across life-long trajectories.

Advancing Organizational Equity & Inclusion

The SRCD Anti-Racism Task Force (2023–2024) was charged with identifying how SRCD's leadership, structure, policies, programs, and outreach could work together to address systemic racial inequities. Its final report, released to members in June 2024, established definitions and recommendations that have since shaped organizational policy.

The Implementation Task Force (2024–2025) translated those recommendations — alongside recommendations from the Task Force on Publications and Ethical Behavior — into concrete action. Public outcomes of this work include a new Code of Ethics applying to all SRCD members, and a new Publication Ethics Process governing all authors publishing in SRCD journals.

SRCD Anti-Racism Task Force Final Report 
SRCD Code of Ethics 
SRCD Publications Ethics Process
SRCD Ethics Committee  

Publishing Equity & Accessibility

SRCD is leading efforts to advance equity, inclusion and accessibility in scientific publishing by addressing systemic barriers in peer review, research evaluation, and scholarly communication.  
 

  • Sociocultural Policy Evaluation & Data Tracking – Evaluates SRCD’s publication practices and Sociocultural Policy to promote more transparent, representative reporting of research participants and contexts.
  • Peer Review Academy – An upcoming structured training and certification program designed to expand and diversify the pool of peer reviewers and strengthen equitable review practices.
  • Inclusive Methodologies Initiative – Identifies gaps in the publication of diverse research approaches (including qualitative and community-based methods) and develops strategies to support broader methodological representation.
  • Linguistically Trained Peer Review & Language-Sensitive Review (LSR) – Supports authors whose primary language is not English by integrating linguistically trained reviewers and language-sensitive feedback, ensuring research is evaluated on scientific merit rather than language proficiency.
  • Global Reviewer Zero Pilot – In partnership with Reviewer Zero, SRCD provides training and mentorship in constructive, inclusive peer review, helping expand global participation and strengthen review quality.
  • 2024 Anti-Racist Developmental Science Summit – Convened scholars to advance research, dialogue and training on equity-focused approaches in developmental science.
  • Code of Ethics & Publication Ethics Process – Establishes clear standards and processes to support ethical, transparent and inclusive practices across SRCD journals. 

 

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Professional Development, Mentorship, and Advancement for Underrepresented Scholars in Developmental Science 

  • Horowitz Early Career Scholar Program (formerly the Millennium Scholars Program) was developed as a vehicle to encourage and support scholars from under-represented ethnic/racial groups from North America in pursuing graduate work in developmental science. The program takes place around SRCD Biennial Meetings.
  • LEARN (Leverage Empower Advance Research Network) Mentorship Program – A two-year initiative funded by the Jacobs Foundation that connects early-career scholars from Ghana and Colombia with a network of mentors in research methods, scholarly publishing and peer review. Through integrated training—including SRCD’s Global Reviewer Zero pilot—the program builds research capacity, strengthens peer review skills and advances globally representative developmental science.  
  • SRCD Emeritus Mentorship Program – Connects early- and mid-career SRCD members with Emeritus scholars for mentorship, professional guidance and cross-generational knowledge exchange, supporting long-term career development in the field.
  • "Hidden Figures" in Developmental Science is a project to increase the visibility of leading developmental scientists of color who have made critical research contributions and paved the way, through mentoring and advocacy, for younger scholars of color. Four videos, featuring 12 scholars, outline the narratives of these leaders’ professional trajectories, the challenges they have faced along the way, and their perspective on how diversity enhances the contributions of developmental science.
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Research Highlights & Scholarly Works  

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Inclusive Policies & Practices