The University of Kentucky Human Development Institute seeks to cultivate a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) with disability as its main focus. In service to our mission and employment priority area, a resource titled Supporting People of Color (POC) in Employment, authored by Sincere Holmes, Stuart Rumrill, Stefani Whaley, and Nicholas L. Wright is available to hiring officials and job seekers. This resource explains the additional obstacles, challenges, and effects that POC may face in the workplace and in hiring due to systemic racism and unconscious biases, as well as open prejudice, and breaks down ways these problems can be addressed. “It aims to provide essential information and support to help POC thrive in their careers and create a more inclusive and equitable career landscape,” Wright said.
While the team creating the article did significant research, they also found the creation of this resource a rather personal process. “It made me think about past experiences in different realms of employment,” Holmes said.
Though HDI’s primary focus is disability, equity and inclusion for all people are parts of its culture, and the members of the team that constructed this resource indicated that breaking down barriers is important to that work – and those barriers don’t need to be limited just to discussions around disability.
“HDI’s goal is support,” Whaley said. “In thinking about this particular project, support through research and representation…As we are researching, who else is at the table? I think that is at the heart of HDI.” The article can be found here:
