Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy for IAI Scientific Projects and Capacity Building Activities

The Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) established a Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Policy in June 2022 to mainstream EDI considerations into its scientific projects and capacity-building activities. The policy aims to increase the participation and leadership of underrepresented groups—including women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized groups, and LGBTQ+ communities—to improve the quality of regional science and public policy related to global change.

• The IAI identifies several underrepresented groups that the policy aims to support, specifically including "women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minority/racialized groups, and members of LGBTQ+ communities."
• Historical data from IAI-supported scientific projects between 2002 and 2021 reveals a gender gap in leadership: only 22 out of 75 (29%) Principal Investigators were women, while women researchers in all roles accounted for 194 out of 527 (36%).
• IAI capacity-building activities have shown more equitable gender participation. The Science, Technology, Policy (STeP) Fellowship Program enrolled 33 female and 13 male fellows, and from 2012-2019, women made up 51.5% (467 out of 906) of participants in 24 training events.
• The policy outlines five primary objectives: promoting EDI in science, mainstreaming EDI in IAI activities, reducing imbalances and biases in project selection, establishing an inclusive research environment, and increasing regional capacities to improve EDI in the sciences.
• To reduce bias in project selection, the IAI will ensure the panel of experts is representative and that these experts "will receive EDI training in advance of their duties to address issues such as unconscious bias."
• The IAI intends to support researchers' work-life balance by managing grant agreements with flexibility, including the potential for "grant period extensions and extra funding" for those requiring medical or family leave, depending on available resources.
• The policy maintains a zero-tolerance stance toward "bullying based on protected characteristics, racism, or sexual harassment," noting that such violations may lead to the termination of financial support or the contract for the project.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2022). Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy for IAI Scientific Projects and Capacity Building Activities. https://archive.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-Policy-EDI.pdf

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy for IAI Scientific Projects and Capacity Building Activities. 2022. https://archive.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-Policy-EDI.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy for IAI Scientific Projects and Capacity Building Activities |date=June 2022 |url=https://archive.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-Policy-EDI.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2022gender, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Gender, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy for IAI Scientific Projects and Capacity Building Activities}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://archive.iai.int/administrador/assets/images/ckfinder/files/IAI-Policy-EDI.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }